Texts in Conversation
Proverbs 27 uses the endless appetite of Death known from the Baal Cycle as a measure of human desire, warning that wanting more has no natural stopping point.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.5 II:4
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[…] He extends a lip to the earth, a lip to the heavens, he extends a tongue to the stars. Baal must enter his belly, down into hs mouth he must go, since he scorched the olive, the produce of the earth, and the fruit of the trees. Valiant Baal was afraid of him; Valiant Warrior was in dread of him. Depart, say to divine Mot, declare to the Beloved of El, the hero: Message of Valiant Baal, word of Valiant Warrior: Greetings, O divine Mot, your servant am I, and forever. The gods departed and did not stay. Then they set their faces towards divine Mot (death), towards his city Muddy, a pit the seat of his enthronement, a crevice the land of his inheritance. They lifted lip their voices and cried: Message of Valiant Baal, word of Valiant Warrior: Greetings, O divine Mot, your servant am I, and forever so.
Proverbs 27:20
Hebrew Bible
17 As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend. 18 The one who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever takes care of his master will be honored. 19 As in water the face is reflected as a face, so a person’s heart reflects the person. 20 As Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so the eyes of a person are never satisfied. 21 As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, so a person must put his praise to the test. 22 If you should pound the fool in the mortar among the grain with the pestle, his foolishness would not depart from him. 23 Pay careful attention to the condition of your flocks, set your mind on your herds, 24 for riches do not last forever, nor does a crown last from generation to generation.
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Notes and References
“... Th ere is some mythology of Death in
the Psalms ( DDD 598–603), but unlike the Baal-Mot confl ict in the Baal Cycle, it is not
represented as a matter of confl ict between Yahweh and Death personifi ed. Still some
imagery for Death in the Psalms (141:7; cf. Isa. 5:14; Hab. 2:5; Prov. 1:12; 27:20; 30:15–16)
echoes the traditional language found in the Baal Cycle: “One lip to the earth, one lip
to the heavens; . . . his tongue to the stars. Baal must enter inside him; he must go down
into his mouth” (KTU 1.5 II 2–5, SAC 141; cf. KTU 1.23.61–63, SAC 165). Th is mythic
image of the cosmic enemy’s ravenous mouth is transferred to descriptions of human
enemies (Ps. 73:9; cf. Isa 9:19). Another image of Death represents him as a shepherd
leading people to the underworld (Ps. 49:15[14]); this metaphor has been read in light of
the warning not to get too close to Death so that he not take “like a lamb in his mouth”
(KTU 1.4 VIII 14–20, SAC 138). ...”
Smith, Mark S.
"Canaanite Backgrounds to the Psalms" in Brown, William P. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms
(p. 52) Oxford University Press, 2014
* 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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