Texts in Conversation
Psalm 45's address to the king as God shares Kirta's status as El's son, showing how royal praise could place a human ruler within the divine family.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.16 I:10
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
broad of span: Is, then, [Kir]ta a son of El, an offspring of the Kindly One and the Holiness?" Into the presence of his father he enters, weeping bitterly, giving forth his voice in weeping: "In your life, our father, we rejoice, exult in your not dying. Like a dog your aspect is changed, like a hound your joyous face. Will you die, then, father, like the mortals, or your joy change to mourning; (to) a woman's dirge, O father, my song? How can it be said, 'A son of El is Kirta, an offspring of the Kindly One and the Holiness'? Or do gods die? The offspring of the Kindly One shall surely live!"
Psalm 45:6
Hebrew Bible
5 Your arrows are sharp and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies. Nations fall at your feet. 6 Your throne, O God, is permanent. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice. 7 You love justice and hate evil. For this reason God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy, elevating you above your companions. 8 All your garments are perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cassia. From the luxurious palaces comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy. 9 Princesses are among your honored women. Your bride stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir.
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Notes and References
“... While Kirta has its longest biblical comparison in the Song of Songs with its
praise of the two lovers (Pardee 2012: 113–15), Psalm 45 is a wedding song off ering best
wishes to the royal bride and groom. [...] One element in
the king’s praise in Psalm 45:7[6] involves the address to him as “O God,” refl ecting his
status as a minor divinity, not unlike the status of King Kirta himself as “El’s son” (KTU
1.16 I 10, SAC 87), or the king as “my son,” as Yahweh calls the monarch (Ps. 2:7). Praise
of the Israelite king expresses the traditional royal ideology of the king as the son of the
god, which would fi gure later in Christian understandings of Jesus as the “Son of God.” 9
Finally, the closing of Psalm 45 includes a prediction of off spring (in v. 17[16]), much like
the wedding blessing issued by El to Kirta about the many children that his bride will
bear to him (KTU 1.15 II 21–28, SAC 83). ...”
Smith, Mark S.
"Canaanite Backgrounds to the Psalms" in Brown, William P. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms
(p. 47) 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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