Literary Borrowing, Shared Tradition, or Polemic?
When readers notice similarities between the Old Testament and older Egyptian, Mesopotamian or Canaanite texts, the first reaction is often to ask, “Did the Bible copy this?” That question is understandable, but it can be too narrow. Ancient writers did not always create stories from scratch, and they did not always borrow in a simple, word-for-word way. They often worked with ideas, themes and literary patterns that had been circulating for generations. There are at least three useful ways to understand these similarities: literary borrowing, shared tradition and polemic. Literary Borrowing Literary borrowing happens when a writer seems to know a particular earlier text and adapts it for a new audience. This is more than two stories having a similar theme. It usually involves a close sequence of ideas, matching images, unusual wording, similar structure or a strong historical connection between the two cultures. The more specific the similarities are, the stronger the ...