Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament

by John D. Currid, Kenneth Kitchen (Foreword)

An enlightening guide to Egyptian influences on Israelite history. Includes illustrations.

Genres: History, Christian, Biblical Studies, Archaeology, Old Testament, Reference

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

About the author

Dr. Currid has been part of the RTS Faculty for 20 years, serving as both Chair of the Biblical Studies Division in Jackson and Professor of Old Testament in Charlotte. Prior to coming to RTS, he served as Associate Professor of Religion at Grove City College. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies in Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Currid serves as Project Director of the Bethsaida Excavations Project in Israel (1995-present). He lectures and preaches in many countries including Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Australia, and Brazil.

Reviews

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though this book is almost twenty years old, I don't know of any more recent work that covers the same material, though Kenneth Kitchen's On the Reliability of the Old Testament includes some similar coverage. The Introduction gives a brief overview of the relationship between Egypt and the Old Testament as well as a summary review of Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) cosmologies. The remaining four parts are: Egyptian Elements in the Pentateuch; Contacts Between Israel and Egypt in the Historical Books; Egyptian Wisdom Literature and the Poetical Books; and Egyptian and Israelite Prophecy. The whole book is well done. Currid's treatment is careful and balanced, noting where there is diversity of opinion and giving a fair presentation of differing views. The most important part of the book is the first, in that Currid shows that the biblical cosmogony in the opening chapters of Genesis is much closer in character to that of Egypt than it is to the Mesopotamian cosmogonies. This is particularly important in light of the recent works of such scholars as John Walton, who trace the influences on the opening chapters of Genesis from the Mesopotamian sources. Such a fundamental misapprehension calls into question the conclusions that Walton draws. Other significant contributions of Currid's work are the treatment of the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7-10), the Israelite wilderness itinerary (Numbers 33), and the relationship between Proverbs 22-24 and the Egyptian "Instruction of Amenemope." Highly recommended to all students of the Bible, though it should be noted that this is a technical, and would be heavy going for those with little background in the field.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good concise treatment of the subject. Its many footnotes provide the curious with numerous sources for further study.

[Andre · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time! I reccommend this book to any christian, once you have read this book you will NEVER see the Exodus and the events surrounding it the same. More importantly, I believe you will have a more awe-inspiring picture of God as presented in the Exodus, which is more important than just the accumulating of information regarding the parallels of Egytp and Jewish theology contained within the Exodus account.

[R. Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good scholarship, very well-researched. It convincingly demonstrates its basic thesis that Ancient Egypt is more important for Old Testament backgrounds and interpretation than is presently acknowledged. If there's one flaw, it's that the author feels the need to disparage or minimize the significance of other Ancient Near Eastern cultures and traditions for Old Testament study.

I would say this is a solid work of OT background scholarship. 3.5 / 5

[TheRose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had the information I was looking for, plus a lot more. It was very interesting material, but the author's writing style was very dry. Also, I was annoyed by some of his forays into unimportant (in my opinion) and superfluous information.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned alot about Egyptian culture. The book explores the idea of how Hebrew culture was influenced more by the Egyptian culture than the Mesopotamian.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book by a Biblical archeology professor at Reformed Theological Seminary.

[Charity U · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging and helpful; a classic in its field. I got it primarily as an extra resource while studying Exodus, but it has pertinent information for the rest of Scripture as well.