Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Henry Churchyard <churchyh AT ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>]

> Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 21:20:46 -0400 (EDT)
> Author: <gs02wmr AT panther.Gsu.EDU>
> Subject: Re: b-hebrew digest: July 15, 1999 (fwd)

> Speaking of Canon - When I was a member of a local BBS here, on one
> of the religious message boards - a gentleman posted a message
> stating that the book of Dabariym(Deuteronomy) was a 'patent fake'
> and that 'reputable scholars' had found evidence, archaeological or
> otherwise, that it was copied from Sumerian and Babylonian(or
> Akkadian?) tablets of which remnants existed in a cave near
> Qumran. I know there are many similarities between the Pentateuch
> and those fantasy "epics"....but the guy that wrote this message
> claimed it was entirely ripped from those tablets and there was no
> such thing as Aaron collecting the words of

Someone's a little confused here -- it's the creation and flood
accounts in Genesis which are suspected of having been influenced by
Mesopotamian literature (_not_ found near Qumran, though).
Deuteronomy is suspected by many of not going back any further than
the reign of King Josiah in anything like its present form (and
possibly of having undergone further editing and revision since then).

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       % Henry Churchyard         http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/