Torah parsha “Va-Ethannan”-Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
By Irv Jacobs
LA JOLLA, California The most memorable passages in this parsha are the Ten Commandments, the classic epitome of Jewish contribution to Western civilization. But are the Commandments original? Do these famous lines have precedents in earlier ancient cultures?
In fact, the ideas of the Commandments made an early appearance in the “Pyramid Texts,” the first examples of which were inscribed in the pyramid of Unas (2375-2345 BC) in the form of ‘spells.’ By 1500 BC, the spells were copied onto rolls of papyrus and placed within coffins, and came to be known as “The Book of the Dead.” (hereafter abbreviated as BoD in this article). This precedes the Hebrew Ten Commandments by 300 years.
It should be remembered that Egyptians believed in a second life after death. One’s ‘spiritual nature’ persisted after death, where he/she faced a trial in the underworld before the god Osiris and his 42 judges. One’s physical body was preserved through mummification, ultimately to also journey in the underworld.
Spell 125 of BoD reads as 42 negative confessions in an example of the above trial. They include: I have not stolen; I have done no murder; I have not spoken lies; I have not lusted nor defiled the wife of any man; I have never cursed God; I have not envied or cared for that which belongs to another. Additional interpretations of others of the 42 have been loosely attributed to indicate: never to have taken God’s name in vain, and have not failed to remember and observe the appointed holy days.
Even earlier than the BoD are the 42 principles of Ma’at, a much earlier predecessor in ancient Kemet dating back 2000 years before the Ten Commandments. Kemet is an early name for Egypt meaning “The Black Land,” so named because of its black fertile soil due to the Nile’s annual inundation. It is believed that the number 42 corresponds to the 42 districts of ancient Kemet. Kemet’s religion also included 10 enumerated categories of sins.
These writings of course were not intended to be monotheistic, as the Egyptians had multiple gods. However, the Bible describes Moses as having been raised among Egyptian royalty, which suggests that he learned all the above, including the then recent story of the Pharoah Akheneton (1370-1352 BC). Akheneton had tried unsuccessfully to change Egyptian religion to an exclusive worship of the Sun God, i.e. an early form of monotheism.
There were other later ancient codes, e.g. that of the Babylon emperor Hammurubi (1792-1750 BC), which also suggest antecedents to our 10 Commandments.
The Hebrews likely took the above negative confessions, reduced them to 10, did some editing, and turned them into the form of the Commandments we have received in our Torah.*
Jacobs is a freelance writer interested in religion. He often delivers a commentary on Torah at Congregation Beth El and to his chavurah.
Jacobs is a freelance writer interested in religion. He often delivers a commentary on Torah at Congregation Beth El and to his chavurah.
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