quote:
Though I'm not sure that it qualifies as a religious text, Gods are mentioned a lot in Hammurabi's laws, which are dated to the early 2nd millennium BC.
Actually, it's been remarked before on how the Code of Hammurabi bears resemblance in ways to the Mosaic Law. According to the Scofield reference notes
seen here:
quote:
21:13 bondwoman. Many features of Abraham's treatment of Hagar seem strange to a modern reader, but they are exactly in accord with the provisions of the Code of Hammurabi, the great Babylonian law code of Mesopotamia, the region from which he had come. Before the discovery of this code many critics had questioned whether so complex a code as that of Moses could have been written at so early a time. However, the Code of Hammurabi is more complex than that of Moses and comes from a much earlier period. The Mosaic Code was not derived from it, but many of the customs of the Book of Genesis show that its prescriptions were familiar in Abraham's day.
The Scofield
also remarks on how the book of Job appears to be one of the oldest books of the Bible and written during this time of Abraham:
quote:
Although the book does not name its author, Ezekiel 14:14,20 and James 5:11 refer to Job as an historical person. That he may have lived in the patriarchal period is inferred from his great age, various geographical references in the book, and the absence of mention of the law and the Tabernacle or Temple. The presence in this book of lofty Biblical concepts of God, man, Satan, righteousness, redemption, and resurrection may show, in view of this probable early date; the wide extent of revelation even before the writing of Scripture.
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