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Book of the Dead

Egyptian Funerary Text

About this book

The Heart at the Balance

Chapter 30B

My heart from my Mother, My whole heart from my birth, Let no evidence block my claim, let me face no obstacle from the divine Circle; do not turn against me in the presence of the one at the Balance.⁠ You are my spirit, at my side, the maker who keeps my limbs healthy. Come out to the happiness we are heading toward; Do not let those officials who treat a person according to how they lived bring disgrace on my name. The joy of the Weighing of the Words is pleasant for us and for the listener. Do not let lies be spoken in the presence of the great god, Lord of the Amenta. Look how great you are [as the Triumphant one].

Texts in conversation

Compare Book of the Dead 30B and Apocalypse of Zephaniah 8:5

Ancient Near East, Egyptian · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

The Egyptian Book of the Dead describes a balance used for judgment after death. The Apocalypse of Zephaniah describes good and evil being weighed, a similar image based on these Egyptian traditions.

Passages

Book of the Dead 30B

Ancient Near East, Egyptian · Egyptian Funerary Text
My heart from my Mother, My whole heart from my birth, Let no evidence block my claim, let me face no obstacle from the divine Circle; do not turn against me in the presence of the one at the Balance. You are my spirit, at my side, the maker who keeps my limbs healthy. Come out to the happiness we are heading toward; Do not let those officials who treat a person according to how they lived bring disgrace on my name. The joy of the Weighing of the Words is pleasant for us and for the listener. Do not let lies be spoken in the presence of the great god, Lord of the Amenta. Look how great you are [as the Triumphant one].
1550 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Book of the Dead

Apocalypse of Zephaniah 8:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 They took my hand and lifted me into that boat, 2 and thousands upon thousands and tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of angels began to sing before me. 3 I too put on an angel's robe, and I saw all those angels praying. 4 I too began to pray together with them, and I understood their language, which they spoke with me. 5 So now, my sons, this is the contest in which the good and the evil are weighed on a scale.
100 BCE – 175 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah

References

“... Since the author wrote in Greek, he may well have resided in a Jewish community outside of Palestine, somewhere in the hellenistic world. Evidence favoring Egypt is strongest. Two separate manuscripts have survived in Egypt. The Coptic (Budge) Apocalypse of Paul probably contains a quotation from a third Egyptian manuscript (see fragment B, n. c), attesting to the popularity of the text in Egypt. The only remaining Greek fragment of the work is the quotation by Clement of Alexandria. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that the work was produced in that city. The comment regarding the weighing of good and evil (see ch. 8, n. b) also reminds one of an Egyptian motif, but such a comment could scarcely be decisive. [...] The mention of weighing good and evil in a balance reminds one of the Egyptian prototype for judgment in the underworld. ...”
O. S. Wintermute, “Apocalypse of Zephaniah,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), 501, 514.
“... The righteous could enter heaven, but only after an examination of their deeds and an extremely dangerous ordeal at the hands of the Accuser and his minions. This motif of a postmortem trial to ascertain or prove one's worthiness was common in many Greco-Roman religions. This motif surfaced long before in ancient Egypt (see chapter i) where the ancient Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead all describe similarly dangerous postmortem trials. ...”
J. Edward Wright, The Early History of Heaven (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 157.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Book of the Dead 30B and Apocalypse of Zephaniah 8:5

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