KTU I.2

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East

The Father of the Bright One (has) two wives... Yam sent messengers, Ruler Nahar an embassy. With great rejoicing they flew heavenwards their nostrils flaring. Depart, divine assistants, do not stay! Indeed, set your faces towards the convocation of the Council, towards the divine mountain. At the feet of El you shall fall you shall honour the convocation of the Council! Standing upright, you shall then speak, declaring your message. And you shall say to Bull your father El, declare to the convocation of the Council: Message of Yam, your master, of your lord, Ruler Nahar: Give up the god whom you obey, the one whom you obey, Tempest! Give up Baal and his retinue, the Son of Dagan, whose gold I shall seize! The divine assistants depart; they do not delay. Then they set their faces towards the divine mountain, towards the convocation of the Council. Now the gods were sitting to eat,

Psalm 82:1

Hebrew Bible

1 A psalm of Asaph. God stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods he renders judgment. 2 He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked? (Selah) 3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless. Vindicate the oppressed and suffering. 4 Rescue the poor and needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked. 5 They neither know nor understand. They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth crumble. 6 I thought, ‘You are gods; all of you are sons of the Most High.’ 7 Yet you will die like mortals; you will fall like all the other rulers.” 8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth! For you own all the nations.

 Notes and References

"... Divine council scenes in ancient Near Eastern texts are the location for discussion, decision making, and vital activities of the gods (such as creation). In Mesopotamian texts there are numerous references to divine council scenes. Almost all of the key events and decisions in Enuma elish, for example, are discussed, planned, and affirmed in the context of a council of gods. Similarly, in response to the crisis created by the refusal of the Igigi to continue their hard labor, the gods gather in the assembly In Atrahasis to discuss the issue and create a solution (tablet I). In Ugaritic texts also, the gods gather in the divine council or the council of El for comparable activities. For example, there is an extended narrative set in the divine council (phr.m

Trotter, James M. Death of the Elohim in Psalm 82 (pp. 221-239) Journal of Biblical Literature, no. 2, 2012

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