# Before Genesis: What the Old Testament Borrowed from Mesopotamian Stories

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/misquoting-jesus-with-bart-ehrman-5766307/before-genesis-what-the-old-testament-borrowed-from-mesopotamian-stories.md
Podcast: [Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman](https://stenobird.com/podcast/misquoting-jesus-with-bart-ehrman-5766307)
Published: 2026-05-26T06:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://85ecb3fd-1888-48aa-b467-6ad79dc89799.libsyn.com/before-genesis-what-the-old-testament-borrowed-from-mesopotamian-stories
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/85ecb3fd-1888-48aa-b467-6ad79dc89799/MQJ188.mp3?dest-id=3693024
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Duration seconds: 2414

## Resource

The Old Testament wasn't written in a cultural vacuum, but who and what influenced its writers. Today we're talking about the cultural background of the Old Testament and how the literature and societies of the surrounding cultures impacted its creation.

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## Transcript

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