---
product_id: 2247992
title: "Old Testament Parallels (Fully Revised and Expanded Third Edition): Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East"
brand: "victor h. matthewsdon c. benjamin"
price: "KD 14.74"
currency: KWD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.com.kw/products/2247992-old-testament-parallels-fully-revised-and-expanded-third-edition-laws
store_origin: KW
region: Kuwait
---

# Old Testament Parallels (Fully Revised and Expanded Third Edition): Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East

**Brand:** victor h. matthewsdon c. benjamin
**Price:** KD 14.74
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** Old Testament Parallels (Fully Revised and Expanded Third Edition): Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East by victor h. matthewsdon c. benjamin
- **How much does it cost?** KD 14.74 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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Old Testament Parallels (Fully Revised and Expanded Third Edition): Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Worth purchasing.
  

*by D***D on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 8, 2012*

This is the type of book that is probably best used as a reference book, but worth reading through in its entirety. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the "parallels", although in the majority of instances that word is used very loosely.  As the authors make clear in their introduction: "There are genre parallels, motif parallels, social institution parallels, plot parallels, and parallels in historical events."As you read through the text you will be treated to an introduction to each ancient document that usually discusses it's origin, date, and reason for its inclusion in the book. In addition to this, as you read through each selection you will be treated to referenced biblical texts for comparisons. Although the referenced biblical texts strewn throughout each ancient selection often seemed quite awkward when presented as parallels. I flipped open the book randomly and pulled up an example of this.  This particular ancient text reads as follows:"Then I will travel with you to safe harbor, Then we shall live together forever" pg229The parallel text is Psalm 94:19 which reads as follows: "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul." KJV.As you can see, I was left scratching my head as to how this was a parallel, but others are slightly more applicable, dealing with similar topics(ie: food, life, oxen, etc.) as we see in the biblical texts.Now to the primary topic, the stories/texts themselves! Many of these stories are thematically similar(ie: laments, poems, stories about brothers, laws against crimes, stories about barren women, etc.) to the biblical narratives, but often strikingly different in actual content and intent. The most notable exception to this is the flood story of Gilgamesh. However, this is difficult to determine if this is due to a common tradition of a real event, a borrowed tradition from one culture to another, or something else entirely. As the authors themselves make clear: "Establishing the correct connection between related biblical and non-biblical traditions is never easy. Simple solutions are generally misleading solutions." (Forward xiii).The most enjoyable parallels were those that demonstrated grammatical and stylistic similarities of the texts - it is a beautiful reminder that the Hebrew people were a real people, in the real world, who interacted with their cultural peers.That said, I learned quite a bit from this volume and I have accumulated a few pages of notes for further study.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Nice little anthology
  

*by E***S on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 31, 2009*

*Old Testament Parallels* is indeed a useful anthology of ANE texts with perspicuous translations for the casual reader. The selections, short albeit, are actually very enjoyable, and as I read them I was reminded of just how beautiful, crude, wise, and diverse the world of ANE literature can be; from the raw vagaries of the Baal cycle, through the mundane social interactions of the Nuzi Texts, to the practical and epigrammatic sapience of Anksheshonq...the parallels are engaging enough on their own without minding their comparisons with the Old Testament at all. Many of the bible passages adjacent to the lines in the ANE selections often don't seem to relate or to be of any real consequence anyway.Nevertheless it is still a delight when they do. The selections follow the order of the books of the Old Testament, although some of them are misplaced. The 'Stories of Sinuhe' contain striking parallels to Moses' exile in Midianite territory from Egypt and to David and Goliath, but nothing apparently from Joshua-Judges, the section it's found under. Likewise with the 'Gezer Almanac'. And I certainly can't discover what the 'Yavne-Yam Letter' is doing under the prophets section. The authors were also remiss to inform the reader where it is preserved today. I'm inclined to withhold a star, but I'd recommend to anyone.The book includes three brief outlines of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Israelite history, bibliography for each text and for the pictures, and an index of over 1,300 Old Testament parallels.Fun Facts:* Yes, I counted the items in the index out of boredom!* The island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean is conspicuously missing from the map on p. 177.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    For those seeking deeper insights into the Bible
  

*by A***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 18, 2014*

This book provides translations of recovered tablets, etc. from the regions covered in the Old Testament and some in the New Testament, ranging from Babylon, Ur, Egypt, and others.  The words on those artifacts have parallels to Old Testament stories and doctrines, showing the cultural origins of such.  Whenever there are parallels, the authors cite scriptural chapter and verse for the reader to locate the corresponding place in the Bible.  As an example, in an Egyptian story from around 2300 B.C.E., a farmer uses the phrase that one should do to others as they would have done to themselves.  I found that moral code, which parallels Jesus' words "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you," to be fascinating to learn of its antiquity.  Another example is the doctrine in Ur that a man with a barren wife could choose to have a child by a servant, showing that the custom in Ur where Abram and Sarai were from, was followed when Abram took Hagar and she conceived a son, Ishmael.  This book is mostly dry, however, and should be read by one who is knowledgeable of the Bible and who wishes to expand their knowledge.

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*Product available on Desertcart Kuwait*
*Store origin: KW*
*Last updated: 2026-03-16*