Gleanings From Herodotus Christian Reflections: Book Two

By Richie Cooley

This is a survey of Egypt from the famous Grecian historian. Unlike the first instalment from the series, this booklet is more formulaic and methodical. Students of the Bible can learn a lot from the Histories of Herodotus.

(This series does not have to be read in order.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richie Cooley
• Release date: Feb 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463583746

Richie Cooley

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Gleanings from Herodotus

Christian Reflections: Book Two

by Richie Cooley

Licensed by:

Richie Cooley (February, 2020); [edited: (April, 2020)]

Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International

Email: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

I. A Slightly Different Classic

II. The Survey

III. Biblical History

IV. Citations

V. Works by Me

Before getting started, let’s review a few notes that are common to my writings…

Bible Versions…

*Old Testament Scripture is normally taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® (NASB), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

*New Testament Scripture is normally taken from the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament: Third Edition (ALT3). Copyright © 2007 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry. Previously copyrighted © 1999, 2001, 2005 by Gary Zeolla.

*For the sake of harmonizing the format, slight changes are sometimes made to the NASB and ALT3 verses.

*The ALT3 distinguishes between singular and plural second-person pronouns by means of an asterisk (*).

Writing Style…

*British spelling is often used, except for the quoted material, which normally employs U.S. spelling.

*The terms LORD, GOD, and Hashem are all ways to describe the personal name of God, also rendered as Yahweh or Jehovah.

*Divine pronouns are normally not capitalized, unless they appear that way in Bible versions or other quotes.

*As a general rule, words that appear in brackets within quotes are not found in the original texts, and were added by the translators or are my personal comments, etc.

Regarding This Series:

As for the text…

In the interest of copyrights/fair use, I often use an older translation by George Campbell Macaulay. However, other translations are also employed for the sake of variety and modernity. Proper attribution will be indicated within the body of the writing (as opposed to within the citations section).

De Selincourt, Aubrey and John Marincola. Herodotus: The Histories. London: Penguin Books, 2003.

Godley, A.D. The Complete Works of Herodotus. East Sussex: Delphi Classics, 2015.

Grene, David. Herodotus: The History. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 1987. [This is my default version for numbering and comparison.]

A quick biography of Herodotus:

Herodotus (c. 484-425 B.C.) is largely regarded as being one of the first historians of a more impartial class, having no ties to religious orthodoxy or powerful benefactors. He travelled far and wide, conducting thorough research and collecting a treasure-trove of local traditions. He wrote in the fifth century B.C., largely using the succession of important Persian rulers (such as Cyrus and Cambyses, etc.) as an outline. His interests were very broad however, as the Persian backdrop provided a fertile springboard to discuss at length the Greeks and other neighbouring peoples.

Students of the Bible will recognize that Babylon gave way to Medo-Persia, which in turn gave way to Greece/Macedonia—and then ultimately the power shifted to Rome. Herodotus, from Asia Minor (a Greek by New Testament standards), focused on the history of the Medo-Persian Empire; thus, he was stuck right in the middle of the Bible’s four great kingdoms.

He spent a lot of time reporting on customs and traditions, largely without passing judgment, thereby providing us with a very rich, authentic account of antiquity from a humanistic perspective.

Epigraph:

…But whence the several gods had their birth, or whether they all were from the beginning, and of what form they are, they did not learn till yesterday, as it were, or the day before. -- Herodotus

I. A Slightly Different Classic

After nearly a year I’ve decided to restart my series on Herodotus. I hope to make it further into the tome this year, having a bit of time on my hands. So to restart this massive project afresh, I’ll again address the question of, why Herodotus?

First of