“The earliest and most celebrated example is the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story”

“The importance of such a conversation is highlighted when we consider other well-known examples: the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story, the parallels to the flood story (e.g., Atrahasis and Gilgamesh epics); the Code of Hammurabi and its relationship to biblical law; The Sargon birth story and Moses’ birth in Exodus 2; Egyptian wisdom and portions of Proverbs.”

“Near Eastern data or post-mosaica. But rather than offering a persuasive alternative to the modern paradigm, it focused mainly on the salvaging of an older one. And the reason for this, to me, is very important to understand. It is because the survival of the Gospel itself was seen to be dependent upon the success of the “older model.”

“needed– rather than maintain, the “it’s possible” argument can come across as obscurantist, and the “be patient” argument can seem more like stalling for time –or perhaps worse, “don’t bother me with details.””

“Whereas the Enuma Elish has influenced how we understand Genesis, the Dead Sea Scrolls (or Targums, or Jubilees, etc., etc.) have influenced how we understand how Paul understood Genesis.”

[Theological Exegesis – Peter Enns]