Texts in Conversation
Habakkuk 3 and the Egyptian hymns to Amun-Re both use solar and cosmic imagery to describe divine power, portraying mountains collapsing at the deity’s presence. In both texts, what is usually stable and enduring becomes unstable before a radiant and overwhelming figure.
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Hymns and Prayers to Amun-Re
Ancient Near East
The Sundisk's beams streamed from the sky because of your face, Hapy first surged from his cavern because of your primeval presence; Earth was established because of your heavenly voyaging; and to you, alone, belongs all that Geb nurtures. Your Name is potent, your power preeminent; even mountains of iron cannot withstand your might! Divine Falcon with extended wings. swift, seizing in a second whoever attacks him; Hidden Lion with resounding war-cry, who hugs to himself whatever comes under his claws; Strong Bull over his city, lion over his people, swishing his tail at whatever annoys him. Earth shakes when he puts forth his cry; all that exists is in fear of his majesty. He is mighty, there are none of his kind - he is perfection of Power, pattern for the Ennead.
Date: 1550 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Habakkuk 3:6
Hebrew Bible
4 His brightness will be as lightning; a two-pronged lightning bolt flashing from his hand. This is the outward display of his power. 5 Plague will go before him; pestilence will march right behind him. 6 He took his battle position and shook the earth; with a mere look he frightened the nations. The ancient mountains disintegrated; the primeval hills were flattened. His are ancient roads. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; the tent curtains of the land of Midian were shaking.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Before Yahweh engages in his battle, he stops to survey the earth. At his mere sight the mountains are shattered—even the “ancient” and “everlasting” ones, the ones that were thought to be immovable. On the contrary, these firm hills sink low. The seismic devastation at Yahweh’s theophanic approach is astounding. An Egyptian hymn to Amun-Rê describes a similar picture of immovable mountains crumbling at the might of the deity ..."
Patty, Tyler J.
Ancient Near Eastern Literature and the Psalm of Habakkuk 3
(pp. 1-24) Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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