Nice article Jeff! I did a piece for a Sperry Symposium volume a couple of years ago that addresses this very topic. It uses some findings from my dissertation to show deep similarities between the earliest Egyptian ritual sequence and the sequence of the Israelite temple. You can access it online from BYU here: https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/ascending-mountain-lord-temple-praise-and-worship-old-testament/context-old-testament
John KammeyerApril 20, 2018
I’ve done my own study of Exodus as a “temple” text, although not as thorough as yours. People get wrapped around the axel to find the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, sound a lot like the Book of the Dead Chapter 125. “Oh, no, no, no,” they say, “Ex 20 was a revelation from God, not a crib from BD125!”
Well, why not? BD 125 is a negative confession, “I have not done this, that, or the other thing,” before being admitted into the Egyptian afterlife. If you visualize the Ten Commandments as the same thing, “I have not taken thy name in vain, I have not worshipped other gods,” etc, then it makes perfect sense. You are supposed to observe the covenants of Ex. 20, and then confess them before admittance to the Israelite afterlife. It’s the conclusion of an “Israelite endowment.”
Comments | Return to Story
John ThompsonAugust 1, 2018
Nice article Jeff! I did a piece for a Sperry Symposium volume a couple of years ago that addresses this very topic. It uses some findings from my dissertation to show deep similarities between the earliest Egyptian ritual sequence and the sequence of the Israelite temple. You can access it online from BYU here: https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/ascending-mountain-lord-temple-praise-and-worship-old-testament/context-old-testament
John KammeyerApril 20, 2018
I’ve done my own study of Exodus as a “temple” text, although not as thorough as yours. People get wrapped around the axel to find the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, sound a lot like the Book of the Dead Chapter 125. “Oh, no, no, no,” they say, “Ex 20 was a revelation from God, not a crib from BD125!” Well, why not? BD 125 is a negative confession, “I have not done this, that, or the other thing,” before being admitted into the Egyptian afterlife. If you visualize the Ten Commandments as the same thing, “I have not taken thy name in vain, I have not worshipped other gods,” etc, then it makes perfect sense. You are supposed to observe the covenants of Ex. 20, and then confess them before admittance to the Israelite afterlife. It’s the conclusion of an “Israelite endowment.”
ADD A COMMENT