... The so-called Psalm of Habakkuk opens with a theophany description of Eloah under the traits of a solar deity. Verse 5 reads: Before Him marched Deber, And Resheph went forth in his footsteps. Resheph, Qeteb, and Deber are known as demons from a variety of ancient Near Eastern sources. As a chthonic deity, Resheph (elsewhere known by the names of Rashpu and Rasap) is a plague-god (see KTU 1.14 i 18–19; 1.15 ii 6) and has been equated by scholars at Ebla and Ugarit with the Mesopotamian Netherworld deity Nergal. Qeteb, known as qzb in Ugarit (KTU 1.5 ii 24), is an agent of destruction also found in other biblical passages. Deber, known as Dabir in Ebla, is a demon causing pestilence. In the passages under consideration, the demons referred to are male, belligerent, and operate under the command of Yahweh (or Eloah). They are associated with deadly disease (plague, pestilence, consumption), so much so that their names could eventually be understood as the names of the diseases they cause. ...