The original source of the Ten Commandments:
Many religious liberals believe that In all three cases, the original source of the Ten Commandments was an ancient document that predated the work of "E," "J," and "D."
bullet Hittites: The original texts appear to be similar to "treaties imposed by Hittite kings on their vassals in the 14th-13th centuries" BCE. 6,7 The Hittite documents and the Ten Commandments appear to be both divided into the same six sections: stating the name of the ruler, his status, benefits to the people, detailed description of their obligations, "Heaven and earth and various natural features... called to witness" the treaty, 6 and sanctions for non-compliance.
bullet Egyptians: Part of the Egyptian religion's Book of the Dead (a.k.a. the Papyrus of Ani) bears an amazing resemblance to the Ten Commandments. They involve prohibition of adultery, murder, theft, lying, cursing God, false witness, abandonment of parents. 8 Since the Book of the Dead predates the date attributed to the Jewish Exodus from Egypt, and since the Ten Commandments postdate the Exodus, it would appear that the Book was the source of the Decalogue rather than the opposite. Of course, the similarities between the two might have been coincidental. If an ethical person of any era and any religion were asked to compose a minimal set of moral behaviors, they might well come up with a similar selection of commands. More details.
Thus, many religious liberals and secularists assume that the Hebrew Scripture's Ten Commandments were based on documents written by the Hittites, Egyptians, or some similar neighboring Pagan group.
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References:
1. P.N. Benware, "Survey of the Old Testament", Moody Press, Chicago IL, (1993) Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
2. Larry Richards, "Bible Difficulties Solved," Revell, Grand Rapids, MI, (1993), Pages 13 to 15.
3. C.M. Laymon, Editor, The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Abingdon Press, Nashville TN (1971), P. 122
4. R.E. Friedman, "Who Wrote the Bible?" Harper Collins, San Francisco, CA, (1997). Read reviews or order this book
5. "Deuteronomist," Answers.com, at:
http://www.answers.com/
6. C.M. Laymon, Editor, "The Interpreters One-volume Commentary on the Bible," Abingdon, (1971), Pages 53-55.
7. Ronald Youngblood, "Counting the Ten Commandments," Biblical Review, 1994-DEC. See:
http://www.bib-arch.org/brd94/counting.html
8. "Ten Commandments: Origins," Wikipedia, 2006-JAN-04, at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/
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Copyright © 1999 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2006-JAN-05
Author: B.A. Robinson
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