Search Results for: gmirkin

After the introduction (covered in my previous post) Russell Gmirkin divides chapter three of Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible, “Biblical, Ancient Near Eastern and Greek Laws” into thematic sections: laws relating to homicide, laws relating to assault, to theft, to marriage and inheritance, to sexual offences, to slavery, to social legislation (concerning resident … Continue reading “Plato and the Hebrew Bible: Homicide Laws”

[These Laws] will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to … Continue reading “Mosaic Laws: from Classical Greece or the Ancient Near East?”

Also he says that “Exodus to Joshua: depict the Elders and Assembly as “national democratic institutions . . . subordinate to . . . Moses and Joshua.” Democratic? Really? From what does Gmirkin extrapolate any meaningful form of democratic process? Austendw questioning a point made in relation to the post The Bible’s Assemblies and Offices Based on … Continue reading “Primitive Democracy in Ancient Israel”

Is it possible that the Bible’s account of priests and prophets contains hints of borrowing from the Greek world? Not that those Hellenistic features mean we have to jettison entirely sources and influences closer to the Levant. Let’s look at another section of Russell Gmirkin’s Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible (2016).   Previous posts: Plato and … Continue reading “Bible’s Priests and Prophets – With Touches of Greek”

Continuing my series on Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible by Russell Gmirkin in which it is argued that the Pentateuch owes a heavy debt to the Greek philosophical and political writings of the Greeks located in the Great Library of Alexandria. Previous posts: Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible The Pentateuch’s … Continue reading “The Inspiration for Israel’s Law of the Ideal King”

This post covers just one small set of details addressed by Russell Gmirkin in Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible, legal proceedings. I am keen to get to the next chapter where laws themselves are compared, but to take the question of “Biblical” links with the Greek world as distinct from the Near … Continue reading “Similarities between Biblical and Greek Judicial Systems”

Russell Gmirkin continues to argue for much of the Old Testament having been written as late as around 270 BCE in his new book, Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible. (He first made the argument in Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus, – link is to archived posts addressing various points in that work.) The … Continue reading “The Bible’s Assemblies and Offices Based on Greek Institutions?”

The Bible’s narratives evidently share much of the cultural heritage of ancient Syria and Mesopotamia but zoom in for a more detailed study and one arguably sees many signs of a distinctively Greek influence. That’s the argument of Russell Gmirkin in Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible. Previous posts in this series that … Continue reading “The Tribes of Israel modeled on the Athenian and Ideal Greek Tribes?”

After too long a hiatus I am excited to at last return to writing about Russell Gmirkin’s new book, Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible. The previous two posts: Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible The Pentateuch’s Debt to Greek Laws and Constitutions — A New Look The following post is … Continue reading “David, an Ideal Greek Hero — and other Military Matters in Ancient Israel”

For the previous post in this series examining Russell Gmirkin’s new book see Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible —o0o— Ancient Greeks of the Classical and Hellenistic eras loved a good foundation story. Such a story typically began with severe troubles leading to a hopeful solution or escape by sending out a group … Continue reading “The Pentateuch’s Debt to Greek Laws and Constitutions — A New Look”

Russell Gmirkin in his new book, Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible draws attention to striking similarities between the Pentateuch (the first five books of the “Old Testament”) on the one hand and Plato’s last work, Laws, and features of the Athenian constitution on the other. Further, even the broader collection of writings that … Continue reading “Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible”