Was The Desire of Ages Plagiarized? -- Part 3

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Color Key

Material that is an exact, word-for-word match of the alleged source.

Words that are a match of biblical material as well as of the source.

Material that is represented in Rea's comparison by an ellipsis.

Material that was ignored in Rea's comparison.

Material dropped from the beginning or end of the paragraph of the alleged source by Rea.

Material clipped from the beginning or end of a sentence in Rea's comparison, without giving the reader any indication of such. (Either a capital letter or a period appears where it should not, hiding the fact that material is missing.)

Faulty capitalization or abbreviations by Rea.
An Analysis of the Literary Dependency of Desire of Ages, chapter 5

contributed by David J. Conklin

Paragraphs 4 through 8 (analysis of pp. 322, 323 of White Lie)

Unfortunately, the analysis on this web page may seem more confusing than most of the others, since it analyzes five different comparisons from the White Lie at one time. This is necessitated by the fact that the first paragraph from Hanna was used in three of the five, and the second paragraph from Hanna was used in the other two, one of which was the first of the five.

In an effort to restore these selections back to their original form, the bold and italics highlighting given by Rea to the six blocks of Scripture texts below, three each in White and Hanna, have been removed. To one skimming Rea's text, his highlighting implies that White got her wording from Hanna when she really got it from Scripture. In order to avoid giving such a false impression, we have therefore restored these passages to their original format.

Desire of Ages (1898)
Ellen G. White, pp. 50, 51 The Life of Christ, (1863)
William Hanna, pp. 33, 34 Scripture

The dedication of the first-born had its origin in the earliest times. God had promised to give the First-born of heaven to save the sinner. This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the first-born son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood, as a representative of Christ among men.

In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the dedication of the first-born was again commanded. While the children of Israel were in bondage to the Egyptians, the Lord directed Moses to go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say, "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My first-born:⁴ and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born." Ex. 4:22, 23.

Moses delivered his message; but the proud king's answer was, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Ex. 5:2. The Lord worked for His people by signs and wonders, sending terrible judgments upon Pharaoh. At length the destroying angel was bidden to slay the first-born of man and beast among the Egyptians. That the Israelites might be spared, they were directed to place upon their doorposts the blood of a slain lamb. Every house was to be marked, that when the angel came on his mission of death, he might pass over the homes of the Israelites.

After sending this judgment upon Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, "Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, . . . both of man and of beast: it is Mine;"⁷ "for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast: Mine shall they be: I am the Lord." Ex. 13:2; Num. 3:13. After the tabernacle service was established, the Lord chose the tribe of Levi in the place of the first-born of all Israel to minister in the sanctuary. But the first-born were still to be regarded as the Lord's, and were to be bought back by a ransom.

Thus the law for the presentation of the first-born was made particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord's wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance, to be wrought out by the only-begotten Son of God. As the blood sprinkled on the doorposts had saved the first-born of Israel, so the blood of Christ has power to save the world.

When Moses first got his commission from the Lord in Midian, and was told to go and work out the great deliverance of his people from their Egyptian bondage, the last instruction he received was this: "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born.⁴ and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born." Exod. 4:22, 23.⁵ As a mother reclaims her infant from the hands of a cruel nurse, as a father reclaims his son from the hands of a severe and capricious schoolmaster, so the Lord reclaimed his son, his first-born Israel, from the hands of Pharaoh. But the king's haughty answer to the demand was: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?" Sign after sign was shown, wonder after wonder wrought, woe after woe inflicted, but the spirit of the proud king remained unbroken.⁶ At last, all lesser instruments having failed, the sword was put into the hands of the destroying angel, and he was sent forth to execute that foretold doom, which—meant to strike at the very heart of the entire community of Egypt—fell actually only upon the first-born in every family. The nation was taken as represented by these its first and best. In the simultaneous death on that terrible night, Egypt throughout all its borders was smitten. But the first-born of Israel was saved, and through them, as representatives of the whole body of the people, all Israel was saved; saved, yet not without the sacrifice of the lamb, for every household had the sprinkling of its shed blood upon the lintel and door-post. It was to preserve and perpetuate the memory of this judgment and this mercy, this smiting and this shielding, this doom and this deliverance, that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, "Sanctify unto me all the first-born, both of man and beast; it is mine:⁷ for on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the first-born in Israel; mine they shall be: I am the Lord. And it shall be,when thy son asketh thee in time to come saying, what is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the first-born of my children I redeem." Exod. 13:1; Numb. 3:13⁵; Exod. 13:14, 15. During the earlier and simpler patriarchal economy, the first-born in every family was also its priest. Had that rule been followed when the twelve tribes were organized into the Theocracy, the first-born invested with a double sacredness, as peculiarly the redeemed of the Lord, would have been consecrated to the office of the priesthood. Instead of this, the tribe of Levi was set apart that it might supply all the priests required for the services of the sanctuary; and the first-born for whom they were thus substituted were redeemed or released from that service by the payment each, on the day their presentation in the temple, of a merely nominal gratuity; by the payment, the original right and title, as it were, of the first-born to the office of the priest-hood being still preserved.

This rite, then, of the presentation of the first-born in the temple had a double character and office. It was a standing memorial or remembrancer of a past fact in the history of the Jewish people—the deliverance of their forefathers from the bondage of Egypt, and especially of the shielding of their first-born from the stroke which fell on all of the first-born of the Egyptians; but the deliverance from⁸ Egyptian bondage was itself a type and prophecy of another higher and wider deliverance, and especially of the manner in which that deliverance was to be wrought out.

And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. (Ex. 6:5)

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:⁴ And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. (Ex. 4:22, 23)

And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. (Ex. 5:2)

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. (Ex. 7:3)

For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. (Ex. 12:12)

Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, . . . . and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (Ex. 12:3-7)

Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.⁷ (Ex 13:2)

And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn . . . Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD. (Num. 3:12, 13)

And their charge shall be . . . the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof. (Num. 3:31)

Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. (Num. 3:6)

And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Num. 3:51)

And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. (Ex. 12:14)

That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, . . . when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. (Ex. 12:27)

Observations: Out of about 430 words in Desire of Ages, 18 (that's about 4%) are the same or similar to Hanna, but not taken from Scripture. That's not as low a percentage as the last section, but it's still pretty low.

Notes

Ellen White's use of a colon instead of a period suggests that she got this quotation from the Bible, not from Hanna.
In White Lie, the abbreviations for these texts are changed to "Ex." and "Num.", making them appear more similar to Desire of Ages than they really are.
Rea inserted an ellipsis here where there should not be one.
Her double use of "of" compared with Hanna's double omission suggests that she was copying Scripture rather than Hanna.
This selection appears on both page 322 and 323 of The White Lie. On page 322 "deliverance" is capitalized when it should not be, and "from" is changed to "of."

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