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101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History

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The use of the word "myth" in the title of this book is perhaps unfortunate. Readers who associate the word "myth" with falsehood may pass this interesting book by. The author has examined the biblical stories that we are all more or less familiar with and located earlier versions of those same stories in other cultures, particularly that of ancient Egypt. The evidence turns out to be surprisingly compelling.

This is not a book that attempts to debunk the Bible, but rather treats the stories sympathically. While this approach may offend the strict literalistic reader, other believers will be struck by the mythic power that these stories possess. It is also true that the open-minded reader will be impressed by the evidence that connects Bible stories to earlier accounts of the gods of the Egyptians and others. To me this was fascinating stuff!

One more point: The organization of this book makes it very easy to read. By having each chapter deal with a very specific story or "myth" and by presenting the antecedent myths and related evidence with the confines of the chapter, this book is very easy to read. One can turn to any chapter at random and read it with a complete understanding of the author's contention on that particular story. This makes the book an easy and informative read.

101 Bible Myths

The title is a wee bit misleading... if you think that the author is going to take 101 stories from the Bible and debunk them, you will be surprised. What he does is take 101 stories from the Bible and shows elements of their origin; from pre-existing mythologies of other ancient peoples, mostly Egyptian. There are too many similarities between various tales for one to believe that the Bible stories were original. He seeks to understand, not debunk. It is a trivial exercise to find contradictions in the Bible. But a scholar can illuminate them, showing how and why they arose. Understanding is then increased. This promotes, rather than denigrates, the Bible.

The author, Gary Greenburg carries impressive credentials; i.e. he is not just another writer pushing his own view. He is also a scholar, a member of SBL, AIM and Pres of New York BAS. And a trial lawyer. His major contention is that scholars have neglected Egyptian influence upon the early Hebrews.

Consider: Abraham lived in Egypt for awhile. Later the entire people (or at least some of 'em) lived there for a prolonged period. Joseph married an Egyptian. His half Egyptian sons, Ephriam and Manasseh, went on to inherit the divine promise, to found the kingdom of Israel in the north. Moses was raised and educated as an Egyptian. Solomon married an Egyptian, built Egyptian temples in Jerusalem. Jeroboam fled for protection to Egypt before founding the northern Kingdom. This can only mean that the Hebrews were exposed to Egyptian myths for prolonged periods of time.

In discussing the Egyptian (and Babylonian) origins of many Biblical tales, Greenberg has occasion to explain the Documentary Hypothesis. JEPD differ because they were written at different times by different people for different purposes. If you have not read "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard Friedman, this will serve as an introduction to the concept. Peter G. Roode, M.D.

I have mixed feelings about this book.

On the one hand, it's accessibly written, conveniently formatted, and has good introductory discussions on the origins of many of the stories in the Bible. I've found it useful as a handy reference to certain issues.

On the other hand, a lot of the author's personal theories are presented as fact, and are not convincingly backed up. Generally he draws too many parallels with Egyptian mythology where there are far more parallels with Babylonian and especially Canaanite mythology. The parallels between the first tale of Creation (Genesis 1-2:4a) and Egyptian mythology, for example, are pretty weak.

In summary, much of it is a good read, and I'm not sorry to have bought it. But the author would have done well to be less assertive about his pet theories.

I've read close to 20 books on religion in relation to politics in the past several years, and two books have consistently fallen behind in my stack: this one, and Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (Plus). Of the two, this one, published in 2000, five years earlier than Misquoting Jesus (but not mentioned at all in the latter) is vastly better organized, more interesting, and more pointed.

I note that the publisher and Amazon do provide the entire table of contents above (101 myths, each listed in the table of contents) and I recommend that the table of contents be considered as helpful to my recommendation that anyone interested in religion and/or virtue buy and read this book.

The author himself captures the highlights in his own preface:

+ Africa and Egypt provided most of the raw material for the Biblical stories, i.e. neighboring cultures, not "God" or even the disciples, provided the original information
+ The stories were part of a long0running propagandaa war between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel
+ The author focuses on contradictions, clear and compelling evidence of Bible myths originating in earthly cultures, and stories that simply cannot be true (e.g. cities claimed destroyed that did not exist)
+ Although explained more ably by "Misquoting Jesus," the book clearly shows how the Bible is NOT original, nor is it even accurate. It consists of stories whose origins are earthly, rewritten over and over again, and imbued with false authority.

For me, the greatest humor and wisdom came from Israel being firmly rooted in Arab (Egyptian) myths, yet being unable to be it's brother's keeper, instead genociding the Palestinians and stealing Arab water thorugh long underground pipes.

Below are other books I recommend, and two DVDs, one on Gandhi and one on Tibet. I have come to the conclusion that organized religion is inherently a sham, illegitimate and corrupt, but that the values that religion seeks to impact are good in so far as they can be adopted by communities. This is not rocket science--the Golden Rule and the Great Law of Peace actually create prosperity and well-being.

The Complete Conversations with God (Boxed Set)
Gandhi (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion
The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right
God's Politics LP
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America
Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors

Greenberg's exploration of the myths comprising much of the Old Testament is very enlightening. Granted, sometimes you may wonder if he pulled a muscle reaching for some of his conclusions (I still don't understand why the Hebrews, trying to distance themselves from Egypt, would deliberately create stories that symbolized Egyptian political struggles), and some even contradict each other (such as when he concludes the Flood is a myth and then uses it as a reference date to discredit other stories), but most are at least plausible. And his theories as to the origin of the twelve tribes are fascinating.

Also, Greenberg focuses almost exclusively on similarities, meaning biblical apologists will undoubtedly jump on the differences to debunk his work. It would have been nice if he had touched on that to head off such attacks because many of his points are valid if speculative.

"101 Myths" should not be taken as a scholarly study (Greenberg's occasional sarcasm clearly indicates his bias, and his citations often consist of the phrase "many Egyptian myths"), but for the reader with casual to moderate interest in the subject, the book is a fascinating read.

I am a born again Christian who is interested in thinking outside the religious box. This was the book that opened the box for me. It didn't disprove my faith in God, it settled those nagging questions about the Sunday School stories we've all taken for granted. I hated for this book to end.

In his introduction to _101 Myths_, Greenberg begins by explaining the Documentary Hypothesis and noting that it is just "one important way" to look at the origins of the Bible. J, E, P, and D were the scribes who wrote much of the Bible, and they were scribes who had to take into account what neighboring nations to Israel had to say about times and places also mentioned in the Bible. This idea came to the forefront of biblical studies on Dec 3, 1872, when Assyriologist George Smith presented an account of the Genesis flood stories that were written in Akkadian, a language older than Hebrew. Here was a flood story written from a polytheistic rather than monotheistic point of view. Greenberg ponders whether such parallel stories corroborate the biblical accounts.

Many people believe that the Bible was inspired. But there are many "footnotes" in the Bible such as the Book of Jasher (found at Joshua 10.13 and 2 Samuel 1.18), the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel(found at 1 Kings 14.19 and nine other locations), and many more. Greenberg notes that we have not found any of these source materials so we can not evaluate the reliability of the citations. Some sources are known by citation within the Bible. Greenberg goes on to say that the myths and legends know from other ancient Near East cultures may be added to this list. Were such myths falsehoods? No, whether one believed in one god or many, "one could still believe that the underlying act occurred."

Genesis 1-11 offers an insight as to how the Bible evolved. J and P presented accounts of events which originally developed from separate Egyptian traditions. J's roots go back to Heliopolis. Jacob's son Joseph was married to the daughter of the chief priest of Heliopolis. P adopted the theology of Thebes. Israel learned the Egyptian creation stories while in Egypt and produced a new theology. After moving to Canaan, Israel was exposed to new traditions from Babylon. Out of respect for Babylonian wisdom, the Hebrews were forced to refine their earlier ideas even though those ideas had become divorced from their Egyptian originals.

So Greenberg's first myth is that in the beginning the earth was without form and void. In reality, says Greenberg, Genesis uses the Hermopolitan creation scheme. The four Egyptian male deities have been removed from the Genesis story but their characteristics have been retained in unformed space, darkness on the face of the waters, the Deep, and a wind that hovered over the Deep. So myth #28 is that the serpent was more subtle than any beast. In reality, Genesis modeled the clever serpent upon the Egyptian god Set who took a serpent form and was the enemy of Re. So myth #96 is that David killed Goliath. In reality, Elhanan killed Goliath. Elhanan was one of the "30," King David's elite guard.

Greenberg's book is both enticing and provocative, but quickly moves from subjects to conclusions without even the benefit of footnotes. There are a few pages on suggested reading at the end of the book, but these are standard references such as the _Anchor Bible Dictionary_ and _Mythologies of the Ancient World_. We may be able to check Greenberg's sources but we can not check his methodology.

Most of us have wondered at some point in our lives, "Who wrote the stories in the Bible and where did they come from?" Obviously no one was around to interview Adam, Eve, Noah, Moses or King David, what they did much less what they said or thought. Divine inspiration is the only "explanation" and even then there are some serious problems in regard to historical reality. The bigger question is "WHY" these books came into being in the first place. The Bible is obviously a collection of ancient works that the authors (or editors) edited into a seemingly seamless unity. This facade was cracked upon applying scientific methods (linguistics, archaeology, historical writings, etc and the underlying stories were at last revealed.

The flood is a good example. The same story was found on ruins of at least three different civlizations, replete with an ark, animals and the rain. Obviously this story had universal appeal. The author notes that many tales in the Torah come in pairs that contradict one another - Ten Commandments, Creation, flood, heroic deeds. One version uses "Yahweh" while the other uses "Elohim" indicating dual sources for the stories. The author is not attempting to point out Biblical "myths" such as a man living in a fish for several days or rain covering the Earth or the sun "standing still" or a donkey talking. Instead, it's about discovering the underlying myth behind the various stories in the Torah and he suggests they come from the Egyptians where the Israelites lived for so long.

The tone is respectful as the author calmly shows that behind all the great stories is an original cultural myth originating usually in Egypt and given a Hebrew twist. The first Creation story is a jewel of explication: Egyptians held that four male gods and four female gods created the Earth. These represented earth, wind, light and water - exactly what is mentioned in the opening verses. The structure is simple - after an introduction as to the various myths (some are from Persia, others from Babylon or Assyria) the 101 myths are listed. The Biblical version and the "real" (underlying mythical) version. Differences and similarities are discussed and the evidence varied from conclusive to sketchy. Over all, an excellect work for the layman.

Gary Greenberg, who is president of the New York Biblical Archeology Society, explains how most of the stories in the Old Testament were actually derived from earlier Egyptian and Sumerian myths, with many of the gods being converted into human characters to fit the monotheistis belief system that the ancient Hebrews had gradually evolved from their polytheistic roots. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the Bible in the context of how it was actually written.

I, too, have mixed feelings about this work. It is a good work, but has some controversial, disputed points that deserve greater study. I believe one major premise of the book -- that the Jews borrowed their monotheism from the monotheistic sun worshipper, Ahkenaten, of the Egyptians, has plenty of merit upon deeper consideration.

The many comparisons made by Greenberg are often clever. For instance, he points out that the Samson legend is absolutely based on heathen sun myths. He draws out some very astute comparisons and shows he has done his homework.

However, he also relies a little too heavily on the Horus-Set Egyptian myth comparisons, sometimes drawing strained schools of thought from them. I question some of his statements and alleged facts, but this is me being hard on the book.

Overall, it is an excellent read and quite informative. I would recommend it as a good thought-provoking work (just be sure that any views you draw from it have firm, solidified roots in other scholarly works.).

(JH)

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