Moses, according to tradition, was the compiler of the first five books of the Bible. Jesus recognized him as the author of “the law” (Luke 24:27 and 44), which was the first five books of the Bible according to the Jewish division of the Old Testament. The New Testament makes it clear that Moses was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as he wrote these early books for “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).
Many scholars and theologians take issue with this view. The discovery of ancient Mesopotamian literature dealing with creation and the flood has given rise to the theory that the early chapters of Genesis were derived from Babylonian sources. Within the last few years, however, as scholars have taken a closer look, opinion is changing according to a recent article by Dr. Thomas C. Hartman of the University of Wisconsin.
The latest comprehensive work on Genesis is a translation and analysis by the late E.A. Speiser for the ANCHOR BIBLE (Volume 1, 1964). The ANCHOR BIBLE is a new translation which attempts to make available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the Biblical record. According to Hartman, Speiser presented a “cautious and judicious view” with regard to the connection between Genesis and Mesopotamian accounts.
Another example is a paper entitled “A New Look at the Babylonian Background of Genesis” by scholar W.D. Lambert (JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES, Volume 16, 1965). In it, Hartman says, “Lambert calls for a total reconsideration of the Babylonian background for this book”.
In his own article, Dr. Hartman discusses the relationship between the Sumerian King List and Genesis 5 and 11b. Because of a number of similarities between the geneological lists in Genesis 5 and 11b and the Sumerian King List, scholars have claimed that the Biblical lists were based on the King list.
The Sumerian King List records the rulers of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia, prior to and following the flood. It has been invaluable in reconstructing the history of Sumer, one of the earliest civilizations of mankind. Historians have determined that the list was first compiled between 2250 and 2000 B.C. This considerably predates Moses, who lived around 1400 B.C.
Several copies, and portions of copies, of the list have been found over the years. The most complete is the “Weld-Blundell Prism”, purchased on the antiquities market in Iraq soon after the First World War. It is now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. From internal evidence it appears that the prism was written in about 1817 B.C. at the city of Larsa.
BSP 1:3 (Summer 1972) p. 85
The Weld-Blundell Prism, the most complete copy of the Sumerian King List.
The Weld-Blundall prism begins: “When kingship was lowered from heaven kingship was (first) in Eridu.” It then lists eight kings who reigned before the flood, together with the length of reign of each king. (Other versions list ten kings before the flood.) Following the list, a summary is inserted: “These are five cities, eight kings ruled them for 241,000 years. (Then) the flood swept over (the earth).” After the flood “when kingship was lowered (again) from heaven, kingship was (first) in Kish.” The list then proceeds to name the rulers, and give the length of each reign, of various Sumerian dynasties following the flood.
In the Bible, the patriarchs who lived prior to the flood are listed in Genesis 5. This is followed by the account of the flood in chapters 6 to 8. The patriarchs who lived after the flood are then listed in Genesis 11b.
The similarities between the Genesis lists and the Sumerian King List are the following:
1. The flood referenced in both is considered to be the same flood (see BIBLE AND SPADE, Vol. l, No. l, Page 19).
2. The format is the same: (A) pre-flood list (B) discription of flood (C) post-flood list.
3. The number of pre-flood patriarchs from Adam to Noah (10) is the same as the number of pre-flood Sumerian kings in several versions of the King List.
BSP 1:3 (Summer 1972) p. 86
4. The length of Sumerian reigns and the lifespans of the patriarchs were extraordinarily long. The pre-flood Sumerian kings ruled between 18,600 and 43, 200 years each. Methusalah was the oldest of the pre-flood patriarchs, living to a ripe old age of 969. (Although the Biblical lifespans were long by modern standards they were relatively short compared to the Sumerian reigns.)
5. In both the Sumerian and Biblical lists the general tendency is toward shorter lifespans as time goes on.
Because of these similarities it is easy to see how scholars could conclude that the Biblical geneologies stem from the Sumerian list. But what about the differences? Dr. Hartman believes that “the differences between the two are more remarkable than their similarities”.
The first major variance between the two, Hartman said in his article, is that the purpose of each list was different “…. we would have to conclude that the purpose of the King List was not to say anything in terms of absolute beginnings, but rather to trace the passing down of kingship since the time of its introduction on earth, i. e., since the beginning of civilization. The Hebrew list, on the other hand, traces an unbroken line of descent from the creation of man by God, on down to Abram.”
Dr. Hartman went on to say “A case for Hebrew indebtedness has been argued from the number of antediluvians [pre-flood rulers] which in both the Sethite listing [Genesis 5] and the King List stands at ten.” After studying geneological patterns among other peoples, Hartman concluded “The possibility seems real, indeed, that the number of ten antediluvians is more closely tied to this West Semite (Amorite) penchant for a ten-generation pattern than it is to inspiration arising from the Sumerian King List”.
In other words, Hartman sees a closer similarity between Genesis and the geneological lists of the peoples native to Palestine than between Genesis and the Sumerian King List. “Furthermore,” Hartman said, “the wide difference between the number of the postdiluvians in the respective lists — ten from Shem to Abram [Genesis 11b], 39 in the Sumerian King List — reinforces this view.”
Regarding the apparent similarity of the decreasing longevity, Hartman noted that this “is observable for only a small part of the entire list”. He considers the resemblance to be merely coincidental.
Although there is a superficial similarity in format, Dr. Hartman concludes that “the Sumerian King List and Genesis 5 and 11b seem to differ significantly enough as to suggest a denial that the Sumerian document served as a source for the latter.”
The geneological lists in the Scriptures are more than fabricated family or national historic records. They trace the lineage of a Chosen People, a lineage that culminates in the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons “ (Galatians 4:4, 5).
(JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, Vol. 91, No. 1, March, 1972)
BSP 1:3 (Summer 1972) p. 87