Issue of Borrowing

One issue that typically arises in a study of the writing and transmission of the OT 'core' material, is that of 'borrowing'. This issue concerns to what extent the OT writers 'borrowed' ideas, theology, laws, religious practices from their 'pagan' neighbors, maybe even to the point of being dependent on those pagan ideas. There are those who claim that Judeo-Christianity is a 'copycat' religion, being created by massive plagiarism of the other (perhaps more basic and 'truer') religions of the world. Since many of the alleged 'borrowings' occurred in the Wisdom Books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, I thought it would be good to survey these allegations, as well as to sketch out the nature and extent of Israel's borrowings from her neighbors in the ANE (Ancient Near East). [Old Testament Studies] [Answers & Evidence] [Bible History]

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