L/V 10+ Tip of the Day #153 Bible parallels in non-Biblical literature

MJ. Smith

Another tip of the day (TOTD) series for Logos/Verbum 10. They will be short and often drawn from forum posts. Feel free to ask questions and/or suggest forum posts you'd like to see included. Adding comments about the behavior on mobile and web apps would be appreciated by your fellow forumites. A search for "L/V 10+ Tip of the Day site:community.logos.com" on Google should bring the tips up as should this Reading List within the application.

This tip is inspired by the forum post: L/V 10+ Tip of the Day #152 Non-gospel New Testament parallels/harmonies - Logos Forums

The final category of parallel passages has no special tools and scant resources although the indexes of some books are hidden treasure troves. The latter, however, is sometimes hampered by the index not being included in the Logos/Verbum edition. Examples of the parallels I would like to see:

• Quran-Bible parallels
• Josephus parallels (available)
• Philo parallels
• Dead Sea Scrolls parallels (available)
• Jubilees (Little Genesis) parallels and more broadly pseuedpigrapha parallels
• Near Eastern/Egyptian literature parallels (available across multiple resources)
• Nag Hammadi parallels (available)
• New Testament apocrypha (think Irish, Armenian, etc.) parallels
• Rabbinic literature parallel ... at least for the stories

In short, any case where written or oral tradition underpins or expands upon the Biblical account - think of it as the literary social context of the Bible. Examples that I have identified in my library include:

• Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls: Bible Reference Index. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2011.
• Evans, Craig A., Robert L. Webb, and Richard A. Wiebe, eds. Nag Hammadi Texts and the Bible: A Synopsis and Index. Leiden; New York; Köln: E. J. Brill, 1993.
• Friedeman, Caleb T., ed. A Scripture Index to Rabbinic Literature. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Academic, 2021.
• Sparks, Kenton L. Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible: A Guide to the Background Literature. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2005.
• Ramage, Craufurd Tait. Scripture Parallels in Ancient Classics; Or, Bible Echoes. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1878.
• Sievers, Joseph. Synopsis of the Greek Sources for the Hasmonean Period: 1–2 Maccabees and Josephus, War 1 and Antiquities 12–14. Vol. 20. Subsidia Biblica. Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2001.

I'd love additional suggestions.

However, the situation is not as dismal as I have made it sound. The contents of the Ancient Literature Bible reference passage guide section may be sorted either by work or by type. These contain categories coded as follows:
[quote]Available Corpora

Logos has access to many different sources that may be of interest. These sources have been gathered in groups, typically representative of a corpus or genre.

• Ancient Near-Eastern Material (Ugaritic material, Context of Scripture, Ancient Near-Eastern Texts, Amarna Letters, etc.)
• Apostolic Fathers
• Church Fathers
• Dead Sea Scrolls (Sectarian Material)
• Judaica (Babylonian Talmud, Jerusalem Talmud, Mishnah, Mekhilta, etc.)
• Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
• Nag Hammadi Codices
• New Testament Apocrypha
• Works of Josephus
• Works of Philo

Types of References

There are different sorts of relationships between the canonical text and ancient literature that can be seen as referring to it or to similar subject material. Knowing the reason for the reference is perhaps as important as the reference itself.
Therefore, in addition to gathering references by group, references have also been classified based on a restricted yet relatively wide vocabulary. Relationships include:

• Citation: An explicit reference to scripture with a citation formula (e.g. “It is written,” or “the Lord says,” or “the prophet says,” or something along those lines).
• Quotation: A direct reference to scripture, largely matching the verbatim wording of the canonical source but without a quotation formula.
• Allusion: An indirect but intentional reference to scripture, but likely intended to invoke memory of the scripture.
• Echo: A verbal parallel evokes or recalls a scripture (or series of scriptures) to the reader, but likely without authorial intention to reproduce exact words.
• Historical: A specific referent is in common with scripture.
• Topical: A general referent in common with scripture, but not exactly the same word or phrase.
• Lexical: A word or phrase in common that could be useful for lexical studies, but no intertextual reference intended.

Rick Brannan, Ancient Literature Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2015).

Note that the types of references fit nicely with the categories used in New Testament Use of the Old Testament and the historical and topical types may indicate parallel passages more generally. When doing research, you may have to dig harder but you haven't been left completely in the lurch.

Donovan R. Palmer

@M.J.  I just sent you a P.M. through this forum software. In case you don't or can't receive it, thank you for your many years of contribution to this community.