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Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature: Difference between revisions
Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature (view source)
Revision as of 12:23, 18 June 2025
, 18 June→The Drowning of Pharaoh: Have added some more late antique parallels from Angelika Neuwirth's latest book. And put the Moses and Pharoah based one's under their own heading (with sub-headings) to tidy up the page.
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(→Abel's words to Cain: Highlighted another direct extra-biblical tradition aspect not in the bible appearing in the Qur'an) |
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One cannot be too dogmatic about this parallelism, as the dating of Targum Sheni is not beyond doubt. Nevertheless, it is likely that the story of the Queen of Sheba pre-dates the Qur'an as the Targum is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud. It is also clear that the post-Quranic dates often ascribed to Targum Sheni are that of the final redaction and not necessarily that of the Queen of Sheba myths. | One cannot be too dogmatic about this parallelism, as the dating of Targum Sheni is not beyond doubt. Nevertheless, it is likely that the story of the Queen of Sheba pre-dates the Qur'an as the Targum is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud. It is also clear that the post-Quranic dates often ascribed to Targum Sheni are that of the final redaction and not necessarily that of the Queen of Sheba myths. | ||
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==Jacob tells his sons to not enter through one gate== | ==Jacob tells his sons to not enter through one gate== | ||
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Unlike the bible, which does not mention the ark as a sign for future generations, Neuwirth (2024) notes the salvation of Noah is made physically plausible to the listeners through the reference to the material verifiability of the ark, which could be taken from various late antique traditions, for example Flavius Josephus (b. 37AD) reports in the ''Jewish Antiquities (I 3.5 § 92)'' of the existence of the remains of Noah’s ark in Armenia (Clementz 1959: 22).<ref name=":0">Neuwirth, Angelika. ''The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 2.1: Early Middle Meccan Suras: The New Elect (p. 62).'' Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.</ref> She also notes that the appeal to the willingness of the listeners to be admonished by the sign (āya) of Noah’s ark is also reminiscent of the Talmudic story (bSanhedrin 96a) of the death of Sennacherib, who was led to a fateful decision by seeing the remains of Noah’s ark.<ref name=":0" /> | Unlike the bible, which does not mention the ark as a sign for future generations, Neuwirth (2024) notes the salvation of Noah is made physically plausible to the listeners through the reference to the material verifiability of the ark, which could be taken from various late antique traditions, for example Flavius Josephus (b. 37AD) reports in the ''Jewish Antiquities (I 3.5 § 92)'' of the existence of the remains of Noah’s ark in Armenia (Clementz 1959: 22).<ref name=":0">Neuwirth, Angelika. ''The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 2.1: Early Middle Meccan Suras: The New Elect (p. 62).'' Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.</ref> She also notes that the appeal to the willingness of the listeners to be admonished by the sign (āya) of Noah’s ark is also reminiscent of the Talmudic story (bSanhedrin 96a) of the death of Sennacherib, who was led to a fateful decision by seeing the remains of Noah’s ark.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
==Moses not suckled by Egyptians== | == Moses and Pharaoh == | ||
Alongside the biblical account of Moses and the Pharoah, there are some key aspects that match Jewish Rabbinic and Christian non-biblical traditions. Even the place where Moses communicates with God in the story of the burning bush, the word used ''ṭuwan'' in e.g. {{Quran|20|12}} (for the folded land, implying double the holiness)<ref>See; Neuwirth, Angelika. ''The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 2.1: Early Middle Meccan Suras: The New Elect (p. 199).'' Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. | |||
Ṭuwā stands for the holy Mount Sinai or Horeb (cf. KU, 124ff.; FVQ, 206ff.; BEQ, 255ff.). The word was long thought to be a rhyming transformation of Aramaic ṭūrā (“the mountain”), but now, based on rabbinic tradition and in agreement with traditional exegetes, Uri Rubin has convincingly interpreted bi-l-wādī l-muqaddasi Ṭuwā to mean “in the doubly hallowed valley” (see Rubin 2014). (The Sinai is in a sense the “folded Holy Land” [ṬWY = “to fold”].) | |||
Citing: Rubin, Uri, 2014, ''[https://urirubin.com/assets/docs/Tuwan.86132451.pdf Moses and the Holy Valley Ṭuwan. On the Biblical and Midrashic Background of a Qurʾanic Scene],'' Journal of Near Eastern Studies 73, 73–81.</ref> does not have a parallel in the bible,<ref>''[https://urirubin.com/assets/docs/Tuwan.86132451.pdf Moses and the Holy Valley Ṭuwan: On the biblical and midrashic background of a qurʾānic scene.]'' Rubin 2014. Ibid. pp. 75.</ref> but does in other Judeo-Christian (later) works.<ref>Ibid. pp. 76-78</ref> And the idea of eschatology in Moses's story such as {{Quran|20|15}}, with reward in the afterlife being mentioned, is not contained in the biblical story of Moses, Neuwirth (2024) notes moves the story into a late antiquity interpretation.<ref>Neuwirth, Angelika. ''The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 2.1: Early Middle Meccan Suras: The New Elect (p. 199).'' Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. </ref> Key details in the stories include: | |||
=== The prophecy of baby Moses === | |||
Alongside the scene of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%201%3A8-2%3A10&version=NIV Exodus 1:8-2:10] where the Hebrews in Egyptian bondage are told to kill all male babies to control the growing Israelite population, where Moses's mother places his basket in the Nile to escape; Neuwirth (2024) citing Speyer, notes that ''the prophecy to Moses’s mother that an enemy—of Moses as well as of God himself—would take him in reflects a Midrashic interpretation of Exodus Rabba (1:31: “So the daughter of Pharaoh raised the daughter, who was once to take revenge on her father”). The event is explicitly based on a divine intention, namely, to make Moses his chosen one.''<ref>''The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 2.1: Early Middle Meccan Suras: The New Elect'' Ibid. pp. 201. </ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|20|37-39}}|We have bestowed Our favour on you before this, When We told your mother what We relate: 'Put him in a wooden box and cast it in the river. The river will cast it on the bank. An enemy of Ours, and his, will retrieve it.' We bestowed Our love on you that you may be reared under Our eyes.}} | |||
And similarly the next verse unlike the bible focuses on the emotional impact of the event on Moses’s mother, Neuwirth notes is comparable to Midrash Exodus Rabba 1:25.<ref>Ibid. pp. 201-202.</ref> Moses's salvation from persecution after manslaughter is commemorated with similar consideration of Moses’s mental condition.<ref>Ibid. pp. 202.</ref> | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|20|40}}|When your sister walked up [to Pharaoh’s palace] saying, “Shall I show you someone who will take care of him?” Then We restored you to your mother, that she might not grieve and be comforted. Then you slew a soul, whereupon We delivered you from anguish, and We tried you with various ordeals. Then you stayed for several years among the people of Midian. Then you turned up as ordained, O Moses!}} | |||
=== Moses not suckled by Egyptians === | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|28|12|13}}|And We had prevented from him [all] wet nurses before, so she said, "Shall I direct you to a household that will be responsible for him for you while they are to him [for his upbringing] sincere?" So We restored him to his mother that she might be content and not grieve and that she would know that the promise of Allah is true. But most of the people do not know.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|28|12|13}}|And We had prevented from him [all] wet nurses before, so she said, "Shall I direct you to a household that will be responsible for him for you while they are to him [for his upbringing] sincere?" So We restored him to his mother that she might be content and not grieve and that she would know that the promise of Allah is true. But most of the people do not know.}} | ||
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::Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women? Why just 'of the Hebrew women'? - It teaches that they handed about to all the Egyptian women but he would not suck. He said: Shall a mouth which will speak with [God] suck what is unclean! (b. Sotah 12b)"<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, ''The Qurʾān and Bible'' p. 598</ref> | ::Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women? Why just 'of the Hebrew women'? - It teaches that they handed about to all the Egyptian women but he would not suck. He said: Shall a mouth which will speak with [God] suck what is unclean! (b. Sotah 12b)"<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, ''The Qurʾān and Bible'' p. 598</ref> | ||
== Moses's speech impediment == | === Moses's speech impediment === | ||
Moses has some kind of speech impediment when going to speak to Pharaoh in the Qurʾān.{{Quote|{{Quran|20|24-28}}|"Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed."( Moses) said: "O, my Lord! Expand me my breast,” ease my task for me, <b>And untie the knot from my tongue,</b> so they may understand what I say.”}}Biblical Scholar James Kugel (1997)<ref>Kugel, James L.. The Bible As It Was (Kindle Edition. pp. 432-433). Harvard University Press.</ref> notes that later Jewish and Christian commentators found it necessary to explain Moses's statement in the Old Testament “''Oh my Lord, I am not a man of words … but I am heavy of speech and heavy of tongue''” ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%204%3A10&version=NIV Exodus 4:10]), as he was believed to be a highly educated man who had been supposedly been schooled in every branch of wisdom, including eloquence. | Moses has some kind of speech impediment when going to speak to Pharaoh in the Qurʾān.{{Quote|{{Quran|20|24-28}}|"Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed."( Moses) said: "O, my Lord! Expand me my breast,” ease my task for me, <b>And untie the knot from my tongue,</b> so they may understand what I say.”}}Biblical Scholar James Kugel (1997)<ref>Kugel, James L.. The Bible As It Was (Kindle Edition. pp. 432-433). Harvard University Press.</ref> notes that later Jewish and Christian commentators found it necessary to explain Moses's statement in the Old Testament “''Oh my Lord, I am not a man of words … but I am heavy of speech and heavy of tongue''” ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%204%3A10&version=NIV Exodus 4:10]), as he was believed to be a highly educated man who had been supposedly been schooled in every branch of wisdom, including eloquence. | ||
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Others even added stories on how he might have acquired that deformity, such as Josephus in Jewish Antiquities 2: 232– 236 (published ~93/94 AD), connecting their explanation of Moses’ speech problems to the tradition of Pharaoh’s wise men and their warnings about a boy that might grow up and save Israel.<ref>Ibid. pp. 433 - 434 (Kindle Edition)</ref> | Others even added stories on how he might have acquired that deformity, such as Josephus in Jewish Antiquities 2: 232– 236 (published ~93/94 AD), connecting their explanation of Moses’ speech problems to the tradition of Pharaoh’s wise men and their warnings about a boy that might grow up and save Israel.<ref>Ibid. pp. 433 - 434 (Kindle Edition)</ref> | ||
=== The Drowning of Pharaoh === | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|10|90|92}}|And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them in tyranny and enmity until, when drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims." Now? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters? So today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign. And indeed, many among the people, of Our signs, are heedless}} | |||
Reynolds comments, "The question of Pharaoh's survival appears in an opinion found in the (late fourth century AD) ''Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael'' (cr. Gavin McDowell): | |||
::"And the waters returned and covered the chariot etc. [Exo 14:27]. Even Pharaoh, according to the words of R. Judah, as it is said, 'The chariots of Pharaoh and his force, etc.' [Exo 15:4]. R. Nehimiah says: ''Except for Pharaoh.'' About him it says, 'However, for this purpose I have let you live' [Exo 9:16]. Others say that in the end Pharaoh went down and drowned, as it is said, 'Then went the horse of Pharaoh, etc.' [Exo 15:19]. (Beshallah 7)"<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, ''The Qurʾān and Bible'' p. 339</ref> | |||
==Allah keeps the heavens and the birds from falling== | ==Allah keeps the heavens and the birds from falling== | ||