Plagiarism In The Old Testament (Part 1)

Not only is the Bible filled with historical inconsistencies and contradictions [Full Discussion], but it is also packed with plagiarism. As we shall see in this Article (and the one that follows), the Bible cannot lay claim to uniqueness or originality. On the contrary, it actually literally stole much of its teachings—and even its stories—from pre-existing sources, and “heathen” sources at that. This is especially troubling since the Bible vehemently condemns what it calls “heathenism” on its every page. Bible plagiarism begins right in its first book, Genesis, with the story of creation, which borrowed heavily from the Sumerians. In their creation myth, preserved as a seven-tablet epos known as Enuma Elish, we are told that man was created from dirt and brought to life through a divine breath of air breathed into his nostrils. This legend even contains the biblically-familiar phrase “In the beginning.” The argument cannot be made that the Sumerians were copying from the book of Genesis, because the Sumerian culture, along with its creation myth, existed long before any part of the Bible was ever written (with the possible exception of the book of Job).

The order of events in both of these creation stories are also strikingly similar. On day one of the Genesis story, light was created. In the Sumerian version, the first thing that happened in creation was that light emanated from the gods. On the second day of the Genesis story, the dome of the sky was set in place, whereas in the Sumerian account, the creation of the firmament (or dome of the sky) occurred next as well. Dry land was formed on the third day of the Genesis story, and the Sumerian version concurs here again. On the fourth day of both stories, “lights in the heavens,” or “heavenly lights” (stars), were formed. The fifth day is the one exception, where there is no congruity between the two stories. But the plagiarism resumes with the sixth day. Here both stories agree that man was brought into existence at this time. And finally, the book of Genesis talks about the seventh day being the time that God rested from his work of creation. In similar fashion, the Sumerian record speaks of the gods resting and celebrating the completion of their work of creation with a banquet.

This seventh day is said to have been blessed by Yahweh, which he called the Sabbath. He later required his people to observe this day every week by abstaining from work on it, in commemoration of creation. But the careful observer discovers that this “holy day” is not endemic to the god of the Bible. The ancient Babylonians, long before the Hebrews, also had a holy day that they observed every seventh day, which was called, interestingly enough, Sabattu. This word carried the meaning of “to cease,” “come to rest,” or “pause.” It could also be interpreted as “completion” or “culmination.”

Another thing that the Bible borrowed from the Sumerians was the story of the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden. In the Sumerian version, we find that Enki was given a curse of death by the great mothergoddess Nisnhursag, because he had eaten from the eight forbidden plants. An even closer parallel is found on an old Babylonian cylinder seal, which depicts a tree with hanging fruit. To the right of the tree is a man, and to the left is a woman, both of which are portrayed as reaching for the fruit of the tree. Meanwhile, a serpent lurks behind the woman

The tale of Eve being formed from Adam’s rib is no exception to the plagiarism rule either. This was lifted, albeit in a more obscure fashion, from the same Sumerian myth cited at the beginning of the last paragraph. In this myth, Enki, as a result of eating the eight forbidden plants, became very ill from his curse of death. Eight parts of his body—one for each of the eight plants that he ate—became diseased, one of which was his rib. The goddess Ninhursag then disappeared so as to not let sympathy for Enki change her mind about her sentence of death upon him. But she finally relented and returned to heal him. She created eight healing deities—eight more goddesses—one for each of Enki’s ailing body parts. The goddess who healed Enki’s rib was Nin-ti, a name that in Sumerian meant “lady of the rib.” While there are some obvious differences here from the Hebrew version, we can still discern faint connections enough to show us that there truly was some borrowing from this Sumerian source, from whence also the story of the fall into sin was taken, as we just saw. 

An even further connection emerges when we realize that the name Ninhursag (also known as Nintu and Mami) bore the title of “Mother of All the Living.” This was a role, of course, that was later assigned to Eve in the book of Genesis.

The narrative of the Flood of Noah is a story that is not unique to the Bible. It has appeared, in various forms, in just about every ancient culture the world over. But one of the oldest versions of this tale, and probably the ultimate source that was borrowed from in the Genesis account, is the Akkadian / Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, originally dating to about 2600 BC—long before the alleged time of Moses, whom Bible believers claim was the author of the book of Genesis. Anyway, the story of Gilgamesh relates how “the gods” were angry with humans because of their evil doings, and thus sent a flood upon the earth to cleanse it of all sinners. Utnapishtim was selected to build a boat that would enable only its occupants to survive the coming disaster. Those who wound up boarding it, says the story, were Utnapishtim himself, naturally, along with his family members and representatives from all manner of land animals—enough to perpetuate each species after the deluge. The vessel contained one door and at least one window, and it was coated with pitch to make it waterproof. This story even talked about how, after the flood, as the waters began to dry up and recede, a dove was released to see if dry land was nearby. The boat finally landed on a mountain, after which time a sacrifice was offered. Notice the many similarities here with the story of Noah. 

After the tale of the flood in the book of Genesis, another story is related about the confusion of languages that supposedly occurred at Babel. The Sumerian cuneiform text known as Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Epic renders this strikingly similar tale: “Then Enki, lord of abundance, whose commands are trustworthy, the lord of wisdom who understands the land, the leader of the gods endowed with wisdom, the lord of Eridu, changed the speech in their mouths, bringing contention into the speech of man, which until then had been one [speech, or language].”  

The ancient Egyptians had a myth about the gods Horus and Set fighting in their mother’s womb over who would become leader of the nation of Egypt. This tale, we can safely say, served as the template for the storyline of Jacob and Esau, who, according to the book of Genesis, wrestled for dominance in their mother’s womb.

The story of Moses’ birth precisely parallels that of the birth of King Sargon of Akkad, circa 2800 BC. Of him it is said that, as a baby, he was placed in a basket, set adrift in the Euphrates River by his mother, and was later rescued and raised by a water-drawer named Aqqi. A slightly later Assyrian text relates this story as follows: “Sargon, mighty king, king of Akkad, am I. My mother was a high priestess, my father I knew not; My father’s brothers live in the mountains; My city is Azupiranu, situated on the banks of the Euphrates. My mother, the high priestess, conceived me, in secret she bore me; She placed me in a basket of rushes, she sealed the lid with bitumen; She cast me into the river which did not rise over me; The river bore me up and carried me to Aqqi, the water-drawer. Aqqi, the water-drawer, lifted me out as he dipped his bucket; Aqqi, the water-drawer, adopted me, brought me up; Aqqi, the water-drawer, set me up as his gardener. As a gardener, Ishtar loved me; For 55 years I ruled as king.” 

There are still more parallels: At the time of Moses’ birth, as found in the biblical record, the pharaoh ordered the slaughter of Hebrew babies. A similar slaughter was also ordered at the time of Sargon’s birth. As fate would have it, a parallel story of Moses as a baby also existed in ancient Egypt (also preceding the time of Moses). It involved Horus as a baby, who had been placed by his mother Isis in a reed boat and sent off into the Delta marshland to save him from his enemy, Seth.

The Bible states that Moses, later in life, became known as a law-giver—the one who delivered the “divine law” to his people. This same theme popped up all over the ancient world, and it began long before the alleged time of Moses. In Egypt, for example, there was Mises (note the phonetic similarity to “Moses”) who carried stone tablets that contained thereon the laws of “the gods.” In Crete, Minos got laws from Zeus on the sacred Mount Dicte. That all sounds so very familiar.

Bible enthusiasts for centuries on end have endearingly read the story of Samson and his superhuman strength—a strength that was dependent upon him maintaining his long hair. Belief in this myth still persists to our day, even though it sounds like something right out of a comic book (like Superman losing his superhuman powers if exposed to kryptonite). To prove that the story of Samson is pure fantasy, we should not even need to consult ancient sources outside the Bible to see if it was plagiarized from other myths, since the biblical account itself is so nonsensical. Take the following Samsonic incident, for example, where Samson ostensibly killed, all in one day, one thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey, as recorded in Judges 15:15, 16: “Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he [Samson] grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. Then Samson said, ‘With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.’”

This makes no sense whatsoever. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that there was such a person named Samson who did indeed possess phenomenal strength. How many people would he have been able to kill with a donkey’s jawbone before the rest of the mob swarmed him and stabbed him with their swords? To say that Samson killed a thousand men is simply beyond incredible. By the way, a similar story is recorded in 2 Samuel 23:8, where Joseb Basebeth is alleged to have killed 800 men in a single day with a spear. Again, baloney

But aside from arguments of sheer logic, which very often have no effect on the Bible believer, we can prove that Samson is a myth by comparing other stories about him with those of other, preexistent mythological characters. Consider the tale of Samson pulling down a Philistine temple with his bare hands, for instance. This was borrowed from an Egyptian myth about Re-Herakhte, who was taken to a temple of Aten to be sacrificed. Once in the temple, he used his great strength to take down the entire building, killing everyone inside, including himself. Not only did the Bible borrow from this story, but so did the Greeks, later on, with their myths of Hercules and Atlas. We do not accept such stories today as history, so why do so many accept the tale of Samson as such? Why are exceptions made for the Bible—a book that is filled with inconsistencies and contradictions—while other mythical works from around the world get tossed aside? If we are going to believe in myths at all, would it not make sense to believe the older, original versions of them, from which the Bible plagiarized? 

How about the story of David and Goliath? In his 2008 book Archaeology of the Bible, archaeologist and historian James Karl Hoffmeier made these comments about this biblical legend: “This type of duel between two champions who represent their respective nations or tribes finds a parallel in the Egyptian story of Sinuhe, who during the early second millennium BC was challenged by the champion of another tribe. The two dueled. The challenger threw javelins at Sinuhe which fell harmlessly short. So Sinuhe struck him down with an arrow to the neck and then finished him off with his own axe….In the story of the Trojan War set in western Anatolia, Paris killed Achilles. In recent years, a Hittite text from central Anatolia was discovered that contains a David and Goliath-like story.” 

Not only is the tale of Jonah spending three days in the belly of a whale (or “huge fish”) outlandish—a real “fish story”—but it, too, has been stolen from an older myth. The Greek tale of Hercules describes how he was swallowed up by a whale, and we are informed that he had first departed on his boat trip from Joppa, just like Jonah. Also, no surprise, as is likewise the case with the Jonah story, Hercules is alleged to have spent three days in the belly of the whale that he encountered.

Ancient Israel’s laws (the “Ten Commandments” and the Mosaic civil law code) are stated in the Bible to have been unique, and that they were delivered directly by God to Moses. But this simply is not true. Israel’s laws originated from a far more down-to-earth source—the Babylonian Code of Himurabi. Like the “Ten Commandments,” the Babylonian Himurabi Code was prefaced by a claim that it was divinely ordained. Just as God told the Israelites that what he commanded them was “for their own good,” the Himurabi Code stated from the beginning that its purpose was “to promote the welfare of the people...to cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak…” The Himurabi Code ended off, like the book of Deuteronomy, with a series of curses upon those who violated these divine decrees. 

Some of the regulations in the Hebrew and Babylonian law codes had exact parallels, while others shared cultural and social values in a more general way. A couple examples follow: 

• There were laws in both codes that called for a “get even” policy that did not allow punishments for offences to be more severe than the initial offense itself. Code of Himurabi 197 states: “If he [the offender] has broken a [landowner’s] bone, they shall break his bone.” Compare this with Leviticus 24:19, 20: “Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered.”  
• Both law codes established honor and respect for parents to extreme levels. Code of Himurabi 195 declares: “If a son has struck his father, they shall cut off his hand.” Similarly, Exodus 21:15 proclaims: “Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death.”

It so happens that ancient Hebrew legislation shared similarities with other contemporary Near Eastern law codes. Here are a few key samples: 

• False charges brought against others were considered serious breaches of community in all Near Eastern cultures. If the charges could not be sustained, the accuser himself had to suffer the penalty for the alleged crime. We find this same thing in Deuteronomy 19:15-21. 
• Middle Assyrian laws (from the 16th to the 13th centuries BC) required that a married woman wear a veil, but that a prostitute not do so. This practice was also common in Israel, up into New Testament times, as we see from 1 Corinthians 11:4-16.
• Laws regulating ownership and transfer of land, property, and slaves were also very similarly delineated between the ancient Assyrians and Hebrews. Middle Assyrian Code B:1 states: “If brothers divide the estate of their father…the orchards and wells on the land, the oldest son shall choose and take two portions as his share…” In like manner, Deuteronomy 21:17 says: “He [a bequeathing father] must acknowledge him as firstborn…giving him a double portion of all that he has; since he is the first issue of his virility, the right of the firstborn is his.” 

Coming back to the “Ten Commandments,” it appears that some additional borrowing was done from the Egyptian Book of the Dead—specifically from chapter 125, where we see these moral affirmations: “I have not killed” (which became “Thou shalt not kill”), “I have not lied” (which became “Thou shalt not bear false witness,”), and “I have not stolen” (which became “Thou shalt not steal”). 

The Hebrew dietary laws, particularly in regards to the forbiddance of eating pork, appear to have also been stolen from the Egyptians. Herodotus, a fifth century BC Greek historian who had spent a lot of time in Egypt documenting its ancient traditions and practices, stated that the pig was considered unclean there since archaic times, and was only eaten on rare and special occasions, when offering certain sacrifices to Osiris and the moon. Aelian, a second century AD Roman historian, made these similar observations, which indicate that this tradition had indeed been carried on in Egypt for a very long time: “The Egyptians are convinced that the sow is an abomination to the sun and the moon. Accordingly when they hold the festival of the moon they sacrifice pigs to her once a year, but at no other seasons are they willing to sacrifice them either to her or to any other god….”

Bible believers insist that the tithing system—rendering one-tenth of one’s earnings to the Levitical priests—was something ordained by the Hebrew god under Moses, to cover priestly living expenses. However, the Egyptians were also required to render 10 percent of their wages to their priest-kings, and long before the ancient Israelite version of this had come into play. The practice of circumcision goes back to Sixth Dynasty Egypt (2345 to 2181 BC)—a considerable amount of time before the alleged era of Abraham (whom the Bible claims this custom was first introduced under). 

Among the ancient Hebrews, it was forbidden for anyone to enter the holy of holies (or most holy place) in the temple, except the high priest who was only able to do so on one day of the year—the Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur)—at which time he would perform a special ritual therein, to offer atonement for the people for the previous year’s collective sins. This custom was also borrowed from ancient Egypt. At the Temple of Edfu, we find this inscription: “No man may ascend to it [the innermost chamber] except he who is the great priest and who is to perform the divine ritual.”

A throne chair found in Meggido, an ancient city in northern Israel, depicts a lion with wings on either side. Found along with it was a footstool that was once stored under the throne when not in use. This matches up with what we read in 1 Kings 10:19—that King Solomon’s throne had armrests with figures of lions. But were such thrones endemic to Israel? Of course not. Like everything else we have been looking at, this too was borrowed from other surrounding cultures, particularly the Egyptians. For, as it turns out, King Tutankhamen’s throne had falcon wings on either side thereof, with lion heads in front of each armrest, along with a footstool that could be stored beneath it.

In ancient Israel, the name of the deity, Yahweh, was believed to be so sacred that it was forbidden to be fully written out or spoken. This practice must also have originated with the Egyptians who, long before the Israelites, had assigned secret names to many of their gods, which were also not to be spoken or written. And speaking of the name Yahweh, it is quite apparent that this name for the Hebrew deity was borrowed from a nomadic Near Eastern tribe known as the Shasu. Inscriptions made by this group of people in the ancient Sudan, which date to long before the time of the Hebrews, refer to their chief deity, along with his female consort, as “Yahweh and his Asherah.”

The Old Testament contains substantial amounts of literary borrowings—sometimes nearly verbatim— from pagan and other “uninspired” sources. These phenomena, it goes without saying, simply should not exist in a book that alleges to be “God-breathed.” Still, there they are, beckoning for our attention. So we move forward now to shine a spotlight on some of the more glaring examples thereof. A common theme found throughout the Old Testament (and the New also) is the abandonment by God of his people when he was not happy with them. As a case in point, in Jeremiah 5:19 Yahweh told Jeremiah: “And when the people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’” Likewise, Isaiah 59:2 says: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Now we will peruse some striking pagan parallels to these passages:

• An ancient Babylonian lament addressed to the chief deity Marduk stated: “My god has forsaken me and disappeared, my goddess has failed me and keeps at a distance. The good angel that walked beside me has departed.”
• Here is another line from a Marduk prayer, dating to the same period: “My god has not come to the rescue in taking me by the hand, nor has my goddess shown pity on me by going at my side.”
• A further example along this same line, from the same culture, same god, states: “May the gods who have thrown me off give help, May the goddess who has abandoned me show mercy.” 
• This next example is a lamentation from a Babylonian prayer to the goddess Ishtar: “How long, my goddess, wilt thou be angry with me, wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long, my goddess, wilt thou be offended, and thy heart be full of wrath? Turn thee unto me again, him whom thou didst cast off, Incline thy countenance to a word of pity; Let thy heart be assuaged, like the soft-flowing waters of the river. Suffer me to tread upon mine enemies, as I tread down upon the dust; Them that hate me cast down, and let them grovel at my feet. My prayer and my supplication, let them come before thee, Thine abundant mercy, let it be granted unto me. They that meet me in the way shall extol thy name, I myself will praise thee before the adversaries, thy godhead [divine headship] and power will I glorify.” Psalm 13 similarly states: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.”

In the Syrian Ugaritic texts, the god Baal was referred to as the sovereign lord and creator of all things: “Indeed our creator is the Eternal, indeed the Everlasting is he who brought us into being….Our king is Baal, our sovereign second to none.” Does this not sound like a hymn addressed to Yahweh in the book of Psalms?  Is not Yahweh hailed with the titles of “Eternal” and “Everlasting”? Is he not called “sovereign lord” and “creator of all things”? And is he not also alleged to be the one who “brought us into being”? But remember that this Syrian Ugaritic passage long predated the writing of the Old Testament. Baal and Kothar, in an ancient Near East text, are portrayed as disagreeing over whether a window should be made in Baal’s palace, and then Kothar says: “[As for Baal] his house is built, [as for Hadd] his palace is raised…from Lebanon and its trees, from Sirion its precious cedars.” Now compare this with what we find in Psalm 29, which was written about Yahweh: “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox” (verses 5 and 6).

There are many parallels between hymns to Yahweh and Baal. One hymn to Baal states: “Now, too, the seasons of his rains will Baal observe, the seasons…with snow; and he will peal his thunder in the clouds, flashing his lightnings to the earth.” And here is what was concurrently stated about Yahweh in Job 37:5 and Psalm 29:7: “God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power….The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.” As another example, a Ugaritic Baal text proclaims: “Let me tell you, Prince Baal, let me repeat, Rider on the Clouds: Now, your enemy, Baal, now you will kill your enemy, now you will annihilate your foe. You will take your eternal kingship, your dominion for ever and ever.” And here is the biblical version: “Behold, your enemies, Yahweh, Behold, your enemies have perished, all evildoers have been scattered….Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, your rule is for ever.” - Psalm 92:9; 145:13.

Baal, amongst other things, was considered a sky deity, as the last two Baal hymn citations plainly reveal. This same “sky god” imagery was applied to Yahweh all throughout the Old Testament, which was, no doubt, borrowed from the Baal worshippers that the ancient Hebrews had come into contact with. Here are some select Old Testament passages of this very sort:

•  “Clouds are a hiding place for him [Yahweh], so that he cannot see; And he walks on the vault of heaven.” - Job 22:14.
• “Do you know how God establishes them, And makes the lightning of his cloud to shine? Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, The wonders of one perfect in knowledge?” - Job 37:15, 16.
• “He obscures the face of the full moon and spreads his cloud over it.” - Job 26:9.
• “Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thundering of his pavilion?” - Job 36:29.
• “Also with moisture he loads the thick cloud; he disperses the cloud of his lightning.” - Job 37:11
• “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is his way, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.” - Nahum 1:3.
• “The waves of death swirled about me [David], and torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of Sheol coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to Yahweh; I called out to my Elohim. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his canopy around him, the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. Yahweh thundered from heaven, the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot arrows and scattered the enemies, bolts of lightning routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of Yahweh, at the blast of breath from his nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me.…He rescued me from my powerful enemy…” - Psalm 18:4-16.  
• “Sing to God...extol him who rides on the clouds....When you went out before your people, O God...the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain...” - Psalm 68:4, 7, 8.
• “Sing to God...to him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with a mighty voice. Proclaim the power of Elohim, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies.” - Psalm 68:32-34.

We could continue on to cite many more passages like these. But you should already have gotten the point by now that Yahweh was portrayed as a sky deity in exactly the same manner that Baal was. But in case you are still not convinced enough, here are several more related passages to look up in your own time: Psalm 77:17, 18; 97:1-4; 104:1-3, 7, 13; 135:6, 7; 144:5, 6; 147:4, 8, 16-18; 148:8; and Isaiah 29:5, 6. 

In addition to Baal being fashioned as a sky deity, he was also revered as a volcano god, as was the case with many ancient chief deities. One hymn written to him states: “Then Baal opened a break in the clouds, Baal sounded his holy voice, Baal thundered from his lips…the earth’s high places shook.” The mention of “high places” here referred to mountains (or, more specifically in this context, volcanoes). By associating high places shaking with Baal’s thundering voice, a connection was being made between him and volcanic eruptions. A further connection is made between Baal and the volcano theme in the Bible. In Numbers 25:1- 15; Deuteronomy 4:3; Hosea 9:10; and Psalm 106:28 Baal is referred to under the title of Baal-peor, with Peor being a reference to a mountain that this deity was lord over. But Peor was no ordinary mountain—it was a volcano—and the name Baal-peor can be translated as “Lord of the opening,” with “opening” being a reference to the opening, or mouth, of this volcano. At any rate, in the next couple passages about the appearance of Yahweh at Mount Sinai, watch how this deity is undeniably portrayed as a volcano god as well: 

• “On the third day when the morning came, there were peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, dense cloud on the mountain and a loud trumpet blast; the people in the camp were all terrified….And Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because Yahweh had descended upon it in fire….And the whole mountain trembled violently.” - Exodus 19:16-18. 
• “When all the people saw how it thundered and the lightning flashed, when they heard the trumpet sound and saw the mountain smoking, they trembled and stood at a distance.” - Exodus 20:18
• “…and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.” - Exodus 24:16, 17.

Other places where Yahweh was featured as a volcano deity are Numbers 11 and Psalms 11, 18, and 97. But Psalm 18 is particularly noteworthy, where we read: “The earth heaved and quaked, the foundations of the mountain shook; they heaved, because he was angry. Smoke arose from his nostrils, devouring fire came out of his mouth, glowing coals and searing heat.…Thick clouds came out of the radiance before him, hailstones and glowing coals.…He shot forth lightning shafts and sent them echoing.” Verse 13 says: “The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out: a rain of ice and fire.” Do not passages from the Old Testament like this absolutely reek of primitive mythological imagery?

Throughout ancient mythologies, the chief volcano / sky deity was often depicted as battling it out with a chief adversary—a dragon figure—and vanquishing him with lightning blasts. Babylon and Sumer, for starters, had Marduk (mentioned earlier) who saved the world from the evil Tiamat by zapping him with thunderbolts. Similarly, Akkadian mythology talked about Ninurta as the hero who slaughtered the dreadful dragon named Anzu, again, with lightning. In Egyptian mythology, Ra was the victor who snuffed out Apep in a battle that involved thunder crashes. No doubt, the Greeks later incorporated these earlier mythical stories into their own legends. Take Apollodorus, who wrote thusly about a battle in the heavens between Zeus and Typhon (also known as Typhoeus): “[Typhon] out-topped all the mountains, and his head often brushed the stars. One of his hands reached out to the west and the other to the east, and from them projected a hundred dragons’ heads. From the thighs downward he had huge coils of vipers which...emitted a long hissing....His body was all winged...and fire flashed from his eyes. Such and so great was Typhon when, hurling kindled rocks, he made for the very heaven with hissing and shouts, spouting a great jet of fire from his mouth.... “[Zeus pursued Typhon], rushing at heaven. Zeus pelted Typhon at a distance with thunderbolts, and at close quarters struck him down....[Again] Zeus pelted Typhon with thunderbolts...a stream of blood gushed out...”

Just as the Greeks copied from the Egyptians, who had undoubtedly copied from the Sumerians before them, so too did the Hebrews copy this same imagery and apply it to their god Yahweh. Job 26:11-14 carries this precisely parallel account: “The pillars of heaven shook and were astounded at his [Yahweh’s] roar: By his power he stilled the sea, and by his understanding he smote Rahab [the dragon]....By his wind the heavens were made fair, his hand pierced the twisting serpent....Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways; and how small a whisper do we hear of him....But the thunder of his power, who can understand?”

As an interesting side note, we find this same theme in the New Testament book of Revelation, where Michael the archangel battled it out with another dragon, the devil: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (12:7-9). Who but a Bible believer could see this as anything else but mythology? 

We have already seen Yahweh portrayed as a volcano god, a sky god, and a warrior god battling the dragon figure, all of which are themes borrowed from pre-existent pagan religions. But how about the sun god theme, which was also featured prominently in ancient pagan beliefs? Was Yahweh portrayed as a solar deity as well? He most certainly was: 

• “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” - Psalm 84:11.
• “His [Yahweh’s] seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.” - Psalm 89:36.
• “[Yahweh] is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth.” - 2 Samuel 23:4.
• “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.” - Malachi 4:2.

Still more pagan imagery is associated with Yahweh, this time with the moon god theme, and it originated, once again, with ancient Egypt. The earliest Egyptian moon god was known as Yah, or Iah. Do observe the similarity between the name Yah and Yahweh. Perhaps the nomadic Shasu, who were the first to use the name Yahweh for their chief deity, originally adopted this name from the Egyptians. You will be interested to know that the high point in Yah’s (or Iah’s) popularity occurred just after the Middle Kingdom, when many people immigrated from the Levant. This would have definitely put many Hebrews in touch with Egyptian culture, at which time they doubtlessly picked up a lot of Egyptian religious beliefs that ultimately found their way into the Bible (many more examples of which we will be looking at).

The Babylonian lunar god was likewise known as “Iah,” or “Yah,” and, similarly, the Hebrew word for moon is “yareah,” or “yah-re-akh,” which itself is quite similar to “Yahweh.” While all of these facts are thought-provoking, and even quite disturbing, the question still remains: 

Was Yahweh himself actually a moon god? Well, in a sense, yes, because he was portrayed in the Bible as being obsessed with the moon. Many of his “holy days” were / are centered around the lunar cycle, with a special emphasis being placed upon the New Moon, as the passages that follow will demonstrate: 

• “Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.” - Numbers 10:10. 
• “With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year.” - Numbers 28:14.
• “Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.” - Psalm 81:3, 4.

Here are a few more references along this line: Ezekiel 46:1-3; 1 Samuel 20:5; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 8:12, 13; 31:3; Ezra 3:5; Nehemiah 10:33; Ezekiel 45:17; and Isaiah 66:23.

No surprise, the ancient Egyptian calendar was likewise filled with lunar “holy days.” One occurred during month #1—the Festival of Min—which lasted for 4 days and began on the New Moon. Month #2 contained the Festival of the Valley, which was also celebrated at the New Moon.  

The Ancient Hebrew Religion—A Fertility Cult

Most religions of the ancient world, particularly in the Near East, were fertility cults—religions that centered around agriculture. Since food, being of such prime importance for the sustenance of life, was not always easy to come by in this arid region, rites, beliefs, and holy days of the religions there were focused heavily on securing divine favor for a coming successful planting season, or to express thankfulness for a previous bountiful one. A big part of this was a festival, or multiple festivals, at which time people would gather from all over to (along with other things) offer a special sacrifice to appease their god (or gods). And so it was with the ancient religion of the Hebrews. The Old Testament reveals that a good deal of the beliefs and practices professedly delivered to this people by Yahweh were nothing but an echo of the surrounding contemporary fertility cults.

The agricultural cycle of ancient Israel revolved around two harvests, one in the spring and the other in the fall.

At the springtime harvesting of grain, a ceremony called First Fruits (or Bikkurim) was performed in the tabernacle that involved a waving before the Lord by the presiding head priest of a sheaf of grain from everyone’s first harvest. This was followed by a blood sacrifice and food offerings. The specific stipulations for this observance are thusly laid out in the book of Leviticus: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live’” (23:9-14).

Many ancient cultures, dating from long before the time of the Hebrews, had their version of First Fruits, and the food offerings that were brought, as was the case with the Hebrews, were not just for appeasing the deity (or deities). They also served as a hidden tax for providing the priesthood with a lucrative income source, as this food was later sold ostensibly for the upkeep of the local temple or tabernacle. This was a common custom, not just in the Near East, but among the Greeks and later the Romans as well. 

Israel’s fall celebrations likewise involved food offerings, naturally. For instance, Yahweh gave these instructions regarding the Day of Atonement: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God.’” - Leviticus 23:23-28.

Sure enough, another fall festival, the Feast of Tabernacles, similarly incorporated food offerings: “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.’” - Leviticus 23:34-36.

Fifty days after the First Fruits festival, still another agricultural holiday (Shavuot) took place that involved an additional grain offering to mark a late spring harvest. We read about it in Leviticus 23:15, 16: “From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.”

A further agriculturally-related phenomenon in ancient Israel was its obsession (and its god’s obsession) with threshing floors. What were threshing floors? They were locations where people performed the activities of threshing and winnowing grains. Threshing was the process of releasing grain from harvested crops by crushing, while winnowing involved tossing or waving stalks in the wind so that the lighter chaff would blow away, leaving behind the heavier grains that fell to the ground. Threshing floors were hard, flat surfaces situated usually on high ground, in order to take advantage of the open air and high winds that were needed for winnowing.

Since threshing floors were so important in food production, they also became revered as holy places in many agriculturally-based societies in ancient times. The gods were believed to dwell there, who were seen as the sustainers of life. Thus, when there was a good crop year, with activity bustling at the threshing floors, this meant that the gods were pleased with the people. This very imagery is found in the Old Testament book of Joel: “Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil” (2:23, 24).

On the other hand, when a bad crop year ensued, and the threshing floors sat dormant, this was interpreted as the gods being angry with the people. Hence we find Yahweh saying this in Hosea 9:1, 2: “Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor. Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them.”

As well as being used for threshing and winnowing, threshing floors were also places for sacred gatherings and celebrations. In fact, this idea was just implied in the above-cited Hosea text, where Yahweh told the Israelites that they were not to celebrate at the threshing floor like the other nations, because they were in rebellion and were apparently using threshing floors as meeting places for prostitutes, thus defiling them. Another passage that hints at threshing floors having been used by Israel for their festivals is Deuteronomy 16:13: “Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.”

The people of the ancient city of Ugarit (located in what is now Syria) were among those in ancient times who held sacred festivals on threshing floors. One tablet exhumed by archaeologists described food and drink offerings being made at these very spots. The reverse side described apparitions, or spirits, arriving at the threshing floors to bring blessings. Another inscription bore this announcement: “Sacrificial meal to Athtartu, communal feast on the threshing floor.” As with all the surrounding pagan cultures, threshing floors were of prime significance to the Israelites (and to Yahweh), serving many functions across the board, which these next several scriptures illustrate: 

• “Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.” - 1 Kings 22:10. This passage tells us that threshing floors were epicenters for political activities, as well as religious. 
• “When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, ‘The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.’ That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.” - Genesis 50:10, 11. This reveals that threshing floors also served as sanctuaries for ritualistic mourning.  
• “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land to which I am taking you and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to the Lord. Present a loaf from the first of your ground meal and present it as an offering from the threshing floor.’” - Numbers 15:17-20. Just like with the people of Ugarit, the Israelites also presented food offerings at threshing floors.
• “…The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” - 2 Samuel 24:16. Recall a moment ago how a Ugaritic text stated that “spirits” attended festivals at the threshing floors. Does this 2 Samuel passage not mirror that same concept?
• “On that day Gad went to David and said to him, ‘Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.’” - 2 Samuel 24:18. Threshing floors also functioned as worship spots for the Israelites.
• “…So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.” - 2 Samuel 24:24, 25. Like the people of Ugarit, as archaeology has revealed, the Israelites also, as we can see here, offered sacrifices at threshing floors. Incidentally, 1 Chronicles 21:18 informs us that it was the “angel of the Lord” who initiated the building of this altar on this same threshing floor: “Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” We also discover that this particular threshing floor, apparently being viewed as the most sacred of all of them, was later the site upon which Solomon built his temple: “Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunaha the Jebusite, the place provided by David. He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.” - 2 Chronicles 3:1, 2.

Is it not safe to assume that the religion of ancient Israel, amongst other things, was indeed a fertility cult, just like so many other ancient religions in the surrounding region that the Israelites copied from?

So much from ancient Egypt found its way into the Bible. Another example comes to us from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which thusly declares triumph over death: “Homage to thee, O my divine father Osiris, thou hast thy being with thy members. Thou didst not decay, thou didst not become worms, thou didst not diminish, thou didst not become corruption, thou didst not putrefy, and thou didst not turn into worms....I shall not decay, and I shall not rot, I shall not putrefy, I shall not turn into worms, and I shall not see corruption before the eye of the god Shu. I shall have my being, I shall have my being; I shall live, I shall live; I shall germinate, I shall germinate, I shall germinate; I shall wake up in peace; I shall not putrefy, my intestines shall not perish; I shall not suffer injury; mine eye shall not decay; the form of my visage shall not disappear....My body shall be established, and it shall neither fall into ruin nor be destroyed on this earth.” The Psalmist echoed similar sentiments in the contemplation of death: “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you [Yahweh] will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” - Psalm 16:9-11.

Egyptian instructions on sacrifice and worship dating to the Tenth Dynasty, under King Merikare (circa 2000 BC), contain this affirmation: “More acceptable to God is the virtue of one that is just of heart than the ox [of sacrifice] of him that doeth iniquity.” This was unquestionably the source for this statement attributed to Yahweh: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” - Hosea 6:6. Though the words are different, the spirit and essence of both passages are precisely the same.

Now we venture on to discuss an example of biblical theft of ancient Egyptian wisdom from Pharaoh Amen-em-ope’s Instruction of Amen-em-ope, which dates to around 1000 BC. We will be looking at three quotes from this work, with each one followed, in turn, by the plagiarized biblical version thereof (from the book of Proverbs, ascribed to King Solomon). It should be mentioned that Solomon supposedly reigned from 970 to 931 BC, whereas Amen-em-ope died in 992 BC, decades earlier. So the claim cannot be made that Amen-em-ope was copying from Solomon. It needs to be realized that this work of Amen-em-ope was divided into thirty chapters, with each one being an elaboration on one of a total of thirty different admonitions. At the end of this work, in chapter 30, line 539, the pharaoh wrote: “Look to these thirty chapters; they inform, they educate.” Likewise, in Proverbs 22:20 we read these shocking plagiaristic words: “Have I not written to you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge?” Can there be any doubt that direct literary theft was underway here? 

Now come the three above-mentioned Amen-em-ope passages, along with the biblical thefts thereof:  

• “Listen to what I say, learn my words by heart. Prosperity comes to those who keep my words in their hearts. Poverty comes to those who discard them! Enshrine my words in your souls, lock them away in your hearts. When the words of fools blow like a storm, the words of the wise will hold like an anchor. Live your lives with my words in your heart, and you will live your lives with success.” 

And here is Solomon’s stolen version: “Incline your ear and hear my words, and apply your mind to my teaching; for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the Lord, I have made them known to you today—yes, to you…to show you what is right and true, so that you may give a true answer to those who sent you…” - Proverbs 22:17-21. 

• “Do not steal from the poor, nor cheat the cripple. Do not abuse the elderly, nor refuse to let the aged speak. Do not conspire to defraud anyone yourself, nor encourage anyone else’s fraud. Do not sue those who wrong you, nor testify against them in court. Injustice can turn on fools quicker than floods eroding the bank of a canal, north winds bearing down on a boat, storms forming, thunderbolts cracking, crocodiles striking. Fools cry out. They shout to the gods for help.” 

Here is Solomon’s echoing: “Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them. Make no friends with those given to anger, and do not associate with hotheads, or you may learn their ways and entangle yourself in a snare. Do not be one of those who give pledges, who become surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?” - Proverbs 22:22-27.

• “Do not treat fools the way fools treat you, pull the fool up out of high water, give the fool your hand. Leave the punishment of the fool to the gods. Feed them until they are full, give them your bread until they are ashamed.” 

Now comes Solomon’s literary heist of this piece: “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.” - Proverbs 25:21, 22.

The Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton’s Hymn to the Aten declares: “Thou appearest in beauty on the horizon of heaven, Thou living Sun, the first to live. Thou risest on the eastern horizon, Suffusing all lands with thy beauty. Glorious art thou, and mighty, Shining on high o’er the lands; Thy rays encircle the countries. To the farthest limit of all thy creation; Thou art Re reaching out to their uttermost border, Subduing them for thy beloved son. Far off art thou, yet thy beams touch the earth; Thou art seen of man, but thy pathway they know not. Thou settest in the western horizon, And the earth becomes dark as death. Men rest in their chambers, With head enveloped, no eye sees aught. Should their goods be taken that lie under their heads, They would fail to perceive it. The lion comes forth from his lair, And the serpents bite. Darkness rules, and the earth is still, For he that made all rests in the horizon. When the earth becomes light, thou risest on the horizon, And, as the sun, dost illumine the day; The darkness flees when thy rays thou dost spread; The two lands rejoice, They awake, stand up on their feet, When thou hast raised them up; They cleanse their bodies and clothe themselves, Their arms give praise, for thou hast appeared. The whole earth goeth forth to labor. The cattle are satisfied with grass; The trees and the herbs grow green, The birds from their nests fly forth, With their wings they offer thee praise. The beasts spring up on their feet, The birds and every flying thing live, when thou art risen. There go the ships, down-stream, up-stream, All paths are free, since thou art arisen. The fish in the sea leap up before thee, For thy rays penetrate to the ocean’s depths.” Psalm 104 borrowed heavily from this hymn, although it is too lengthy to cite here. But for those wishing to take the time to look it up, as rightly they should, they need to pay special attention to how it makes reference, as does the above Akhenaton quote, to things like “light,” “heaven,” “the foundation of the earth,” “beasts of the field,” “birds of the heaven,” “man,” “the lions,” “the darkness of night at the setting of the sun,” “the sea,” “the ships,” “the ocean,” and “fish” (or sea creatures). The textual correlations here are multitudinous. 

Other plagiarisms of Akhenaton exist in the Old Testament. In the “talatat” inscriptions, which were originally carved on the walls of Akhenaton’s Aten Temple at Karnak, the Aten deity is addressed using such familiar affirmations as: 

• “Thou art what thou art, radiant and high over every land,” which echoes a famous statement attributed to Yahweh in the book of Exodus: “I am that I am” (3:14). 
• “O great Aten, god almighty, who furnished man’s sustenance.” “God Almighty,” of course, is a title often affixed to Yahweh.
• “O great Aten, god most high, who drivest away the dark.” This calls to mind the many instances in the Old Testament where Yahweh is addressed as “God Most High,” or “Most High God.” 

A Babylonian hymn to Marduk proclaims: “O mighty god to whom there is no rival in the assembly of the great gods….Then come the great gods for trial before thee.” A startlingly similar declaration is made in Psalm 82:1: “Yahweh takes his stand in the council of gods: In the midst of gods he judgeth.” Do you really think there is a “council of the gods,” or that “God” stands in the midst of “the gods” to judge? As much as you may want to believe that the Bible is the “inspired word of God,” can the deduction be avoided that this book is nothing but shamelessly copied ancient folklore? (Much more later on.) 

Ahiqar was an advisor to King Sennacherib of Assyria, who reigned from 704 to 681 BC. Here are a few examples of his writings, along with their accompanying Solomonic plagiarisms: 

Ahiqar 9:137: “Whoso takes no pride in the names of his father and mother, may the sun not shine upon him.” 
Proverbs 20:20: “Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.” 

Ahiqar 6:81: “Withhold not thy son from the rod, else thou wilt not be able to save him from wickedness.” 

Proverbs 13:24: “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” 

Ahiqar 7:105: “Soft is the utterance of a king; yet it is sharper and stronger than a two-edged knife.” Proverbs 25:15: “Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.”