It looks like this issue has touched your nerve about crticising Bible, what i will do is that i will copy the entire disscusion regarding the barrowing story of date palm from apocryphal sources, and a reffutation of your claims. FALLOWED BY A REBUTTLE, WHICH IS NOT ONLY CLEARLY PROVING THAT MUCH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IS BARROWED, OR THE CONCEPTS ARE BARROWED FROM PAGAN, MYSTERY RELIGIONS, AND HINDU, AND HELLANISTIC JEWISH PHILOSOPHERS.
With regards to the date palm tree story, according to some scholars it might well be the earliest source around, all you need to do is try to get the hands on the dead sea scrolls. Thats is the one of the reason why Catholic church with involvement the Israeli goverment, has not allowed the Dead sea scrolls to be translated, we need to ask why they haven't? Naag Hamadi Library which was a much larger work in volume was translated and published within two years, yet the dead sea scrolls are yet to be allowed to examined at all, only few pages have been translated, why have to ask what has the Israeli goverment, and the Catholic Church has to fear from their publication, is it that shallow foundation of christianity will be demolished? The reason is that those dead sea scrolls are serious threat to the christian religion, it will prove that Islamic sources are accurate. Why dont you think that the western scholars are not saying oh quran was barrowed from apocryphal sources, becase they know that the apocryphal souces are genuine in some cases then the actual bible, only missionaries, like william muir, or others like him will criticise the quran over this, a genuine and unbaised scholar never will say anything like this.
Just to give you example what threat the christian are facing, they have found out that early christian where waiting for another prophet after Jesus, they where waiting for two messiahs one priestly the other millitary messaiah, they received the PRIESTLY but the millitary was yet to come, so they where waiting for him. which now if you look at from this point Jesus was the priestly messiah, while the one they where waiting for millitary messiah, which if you behonest to your self, the only man who claimed to be a prophet after Jesus and was succesfull in his military life and was successfull in his religious life was Muhammed (pbuh). For refference please read, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception, by, Michael Baigent & Richard Leigh, on pagees 202, 212-214, 221. Why they wont allow these historical documents to be trantslated because, Christianity will be proven a pagan myth, and the Islam will be prove has the Truth.
YOu might be thinking I am obssed with concipracy theory, the reasons are obvious, from what has been allowed out to be translated, that only strenthens the Islamic position. Think why the Jews and Christians will unite to prevent the translations, because they have one common enemy Muslims, Islam threat to Christianity, and Christianity gone, Israel gone with christianity, both side have there vested interests in it.
Ali