The Sunday Mail
Shingai Rukwata Ndoro Chiseling the Debris —
IN many theological texts, there is a claim that the Greek Septuagint is a “translation” of some traditional texts of the Hebrew Scriptures yet there are no known scripts, scrolls, parchments, writings or texts that one can call “Hebrew Scriptures” before the 3rd century BCE.
The oldest record of the complete text of the Hebrew Scriptures is the 3rd century BCE Greek “Septuagint” although the oldest one in Hebrew language only came into existence in the 10th century CE as the Masoretic Text.
Before the 3rd century BCE Greek Septuagint, there were only “hieroglyphs and cuneiform, on the pyramids and papyri of ancient Egypt and on the clay tablets of Sumer…and the myths of ancient Egypt and the epics of Sumer.” Dr. Ashraf Ezzat, “Hebrew Bible: Plagiarized Mythology and Defaced Monotheism” (August 2012). A thorough study of these could have been the pre-Masoretic Text source material used by the “Sopherim” (400 BCE – 200 CE) led by Ezra the Priest and the Dead Sea Scrolls (200 BCE) is needed by serious theological scholars.
Since Hinduism is older than Hebrew Scriptures, an attempt will be made to approach its scriptural texts for some details.
The origins of Hinduism are in Indus River Valley civilization or called Harappan civilization (c. 2,200-1,700 BCE). Indus Valley is the area occupied today by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some regions in northeast Afghanistan.
As an organised religion, Hinduism is the modern descendent of early Brahmanism, the religion of the priestly class or Brahamans who performed the Vedic sacrifices.
The teachings of Hinduism arose from anonymous ancient sages, seers of thought or “rishis” who transmitted knowledge orally. With time, the oral teachings were committed to four orthodox writings, the Vedas.
The Sanskrit word ‘Veda’ means “knowledge” or wisdom. Literally, Vedas means the Books of Knowledge.
There are four Vedas: “Rig-Veda” (ritual knowledge), “Yajur-Veda” (ceremony and sacrificial formulas knowledge), “Sama-Veda” (melodious and singing knowledge) and “Atharva-Veda” (medicinal and magical knowledge).
The Rig-Veda is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns composed in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, most likely between c. 1,500 and 1,200 BCE.
Within the Rig-Veda, one finds the “Nasadiya Sukta,” also known as the “Hymn of Creation.” It is the 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rig-Veda (10:129). It is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the universe.
The “Nasadiya Sukta”
Then even nothingness was not, nor existence,
There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it.
What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?
Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?
Then there was neither death nor immortality nor was there then the torch of night and day.
The One breathed windlessly and self-sustaining.
There was that One then, and there was no other.
At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness.
All this was only unillumined water.
That One which came to be, enclosed in nothing, arose at last, born of the power of heat.
In the beginning desire descended on it – that was the primal seed, born of the mind.
The sages who have searched their hearts with wisdom know that which is kin to that which is not.
And they have stretched their cord across the void, and know what was above, and what was below.
Seminal powers made fertile mighty forces.
Below was strength, and over it was impulse.
But, after all, who knows, and who can say Whence it all came, and how creation happened? the gods themselves are later than creation, so who knows truly whence it has arisen?
Whence all creation had its origin, he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not, he, who surveys it all from highest heaven, he knows or maybe even he does not know.
If one studies the pre-creation moment of the cosmology presented in the Hebrew Scriptures of Genesis 1:1-2 using the thinking of Isaac Luria, one would be forgiven to think that it came from the Indian“Nasadiya Sukta.” The pre-creation moment of anything is the “infinite plenum of possibility” of all things. This is akin to the mental state of an architect just before commencing a plan.
In conclusion, the Hebrew Scriptures are not unique and are far from being original.
References:
Michael Witzel, “The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu,” Harvard University, in Witzel (1997), pp. 259–264www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/canon.pdf
Friedrich MaxMüller, “India: what can it teach us?” A course of lectures delivered before the University of Cambridge, (1892)
http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_veda/naasadiiya.pdf> A. L. Basham
Sri Aurobindo, “Rig Veda – Hymns to the Mystic Fire” (1946),
Feedback: [email protected] or Twitter @shingaiRndoro. A gallery of previous articles is found at www.sundaymail.co.zw/author/shingairukwata
