Patriarchs and Profits

Chapter 7 - Alfred Edersheim

by Dirk Anderson

Alfred Edersheim (1825–1889) was a Jewish-born Austrian scholar who converted to Christianity and became a prominent Presbyterian minister and Anglican scholar in England. Celebrated for his deep mastery of Rabbinic literature and ancient Jewish history, he authored monumental historical works including the seven-volume The Bible History: Old Testament (1876–1887). His writings were in Ellen White's library and became a primary, uncredited source for some of her major books.

Walter Rea identified Alfred Edersheim as an author that Ellen White plagiarized heavily from. This analysis will highlight parallels not already published by Rea. By now the pattern scarcely needs explaining. A new commentary appears on Ellen White's shelf. Years later, its distinctive details appear in Patriarchs and Prophets.

Parallels to Edersheim

1. The Laws of Caste

Willie's explanation of his mother's use of books — highlighted in Chapter Three — is that God providentially guided her to reliable sources. Even if she borrowed from commentators, the Holy Spirit supposedly led her to the truth, giving her the discernment to separate what was correct from what was erroneous. Put more simply, God was supposedly an accessory to the theft. But that defense collapses the moment the prophet takes not only the commentators' "truth," but their mistakes as well.

Genesis 43:32 gives a simple explanation for why Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians ate at separate tables: "the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians." Nothing more is said.

That is exactly how Ellen White explained the passage in 1864:

Joseph did not eat at the same table with his brethren, for the Egyptians considered it an abomination for them to eat bread with the Hebrews.¹

By 1890, however, the explanation had changed.

Notice that both writers introduce caste. Both explain the tables the same way. Both distinguish Joseph's separation as a matter of rank.

The difficulty is that ancient Egypt had no caste system. The idea came from a long-standing misunderstanding of Herodotus and was repeated throughout nineteenth-century literature. Modern Egyptology rejects it. Egyptian society was highly stratified, but it was not governed by hereditary caste laws.

Notice what happened. In 1864 Ellen White repeated the biblical explanation. By 1890 she had adopted Edersheim's extra-biblical "law of caste" explanation — including his historical error.

The SDA defense requires that God chose this explanation from Edersheim. However, the explanation is wrong. The error belongs to nineteenth-century scholarship, not to Genesis.

In 1864, Ellen White simply repeated Scripture. By 1890, she had added Edersheim's extra-biblical explanation — including his mistake. That is exactly what we would expect if she was copying Edersheim without any divine assistance.

2. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Jacob, dying, calls Judah a lion's whelp. Genesis says nothing further — no king of the forest, no line of descent, no homage of nations.

Four elements, in the same order: the lion as king of the forest; the descent from David to the Son of David to Shiloh; the title Lion of the tribe of Judah; and the homage of the nations. It is not in her 1864 account. This is pure plagiarism from Edersheim with slight rewording.

3. “Exacted”

Genesis 47:29–31 says Jacob asked Joseph to put his hand under his thigh and swear. Both White and Edersheim choose the same extra-biblical word to describe this event:

Neither the word Exacted or oath appears in the biblical passage. These are Edersheim's words. Spiritual Gifts does not use them.

4. Checking the Curse Against Numbers

This may be the most revealing example in the entire chapter because it is not an extra detail, a colorful description, or a moral lesson. It is a research step.

Jacob pronounces a curse upon Simeon and Levi, declaring that they will be divided and scattered in Israel. Genesis ends there. Anyone wishing to know whether the prophecy was fulfilled must leave Genesis altogether and search the biblical record.

That is exactly what Edersheim does.

This is the second time we have seen Ellen White reproduce not merely a commentator's conclusion but his method. Earlier she followed the Columbian Bible's comparison of Genesis 5:1 and 5:3. Here she follows Edersheim's decision to verify Jacob's prophecy by consulting the census in Numbers.

Notice what has happened. Neither writer is describing Jacob's blessing. Both are interrupting the narrative to verify its fulfillment by consulting the census recorded in Numbers 26. Both arrive at the same observation: Simeon had become the smallest tribe in Israel.

That is not the sort of information a witness at Jacob's bedside would naturally report. It is the sort of information a Bible scholar discovers by following cross-references and comparing passages.

5. Mizpah: A Watchtower

Jacob and Laban part ways and seal their truce with a pillar of stones. Genesis 31:49 gives only the wordplay behind the name:

Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

The verse never actually states what the word means in English. Rather, it simply juxtaposes the name with a saying that sounds like it. Edersheim and White go beyond the biblical text with explanatory details:

Both writers supply the same English translation that the verse itself withholds, in the same place, attached to the same quotation. The meaning of Mizpah was reasonably common property in nineteenth-century Bible reference works, so it cannot be pinned to Edersheim specifically. However, it is a translation that neither Genesis nor Spiritual Gifts supplies, but Edersheim does.

Conclusion

None of these five examples are the sort of thing a witness at the scene would report, or a vision would need to supply. They are the marks of a writer working from a shelf of books, not a vision of the events themselves.

In the most devastating example, the caste system, the borrowing carried Edersheim's mistake along with his words. The claim that God directed White to the exact words to steal from other authors has been proven false. She copied mistakes along with truths.

The next chapter turns to a well-known source.