Book Review: Old Testament Parallels
A few months ago, I received a perfect gift, the revised and expanded second edition of Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East. Few other readers will be quite so pleased by the book as I was, but for those who are interested in mythology from Egypt, the Akkadians, and other ancient cultures, this is an easy-to-read primer. Authors Dr. Victor H. Matthews of Missouri State University and Dr. Don C. Benjamin of the Kino Institute of Theology wrote the book with the intention of creating “a readable, affordable, and portable anthology of ancient Near Eastern law and stories”, beginning with their first edition published by Paulist Press in 1991. I read the 1997 edition, which includes black-and-white illustrations and runs about 380 pages in length. Along with this book, the authors co-wrote The Social World of Ancient Israel 1250-587 B.C.E. in 1993, while Dr. Matthews published Manners and Customs in the Bible in 1988.
I knew a considerable amount about the ancient Near East prior to reading this book but continued to learn plenty about the laws, customs, and beliefs from that region. The illustrated replicas of Sumerian cylinder seals, Egyptian paintings, and Assyrian stone reliefs; diagrams of Phoenician and Babylonian cities; and maps of how ancient people understood the world were fascinating additions to my knowledge. The authors wisely chose to create chapters paralleling a specific book or a group of books in the Old Testament, as this is the most familiar reference point for the intended audience. For example, the first chapter on Genesis demonstrated similarities between the creation stories found in the first chapters of the Bible and the Egyptian worship of Ptah and Ra, while the story of Noah and the flood parallels the story of Utnapishtim within the Epic of Gilgamesh. At the beginning of each chapter, the authors describe the discovery of the artifact containing the text and its current location, often the British Museum in London, England; the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq; or the Louvre in Paris, France.
Timelines of several ancient Near Eastern cultures, including the whole of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Israel, appear at the end of the book. Bibliographies of texts and illustrations provide additional sources to learn more about the topics in the book. The most unique section at the end is an index of every parallel between the Bible and another ancient text with a number code describing if the parallel is based on genre, identical word or phrase, literary motif, social or scientific belief, plot point, or historic event. The index is useful for crafting an academic paper but difficult to navigate for a casual reader. Interestingly, the index contained parallels to the Apocrypha and New Testament, not just the Old Testament.
The format and writing of the book make its material accessible to college students and mature high school students. The graphic descriptions from myths and criminal punishment may upset some students. Concerned professors and teachers, especially those who work with younger children, could easily copy a few short sections to share rather than providing the entire book. Overall, Old Testament Parallels is an excellent resource. History buffs, museum nerds, Bible geeks, and generalist autodidacts will all love this fact-filled book for its methodical formatting, “plain English” translation, and carefully constructed transliteration combining ancient text and illustrations with stories of artifact preservation.
Abby Epplett’s Rating System
Experience: 9/10