Texts in Conversation
Psalm 106 condemns the feasts for the dead known from Ugaritic texts, showing how an established custom of honoring ancestors became disloyalty to Israel's God.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.20 I:4
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
The Rephaim will feast, seven times the divinities, eight times the dead. […] the divinities […] like […] As the assembly draws near on a summer’s day, the divinities will eat, they will drink. […] [the Rephaim] will drink The gods of the nut-groves, which is over the slaughter of sacrificial lambs. […] they sacrifice lambs
Psalm 106:28
Hebrew Bible
24 They rejected the fruitful land; they did not believe his promise. 25 They grumbled in their tents; they did not obey the Lord. 26 So he made a solemn vow that he would make them die in the wilderness, 27 make their descendants die among the nations, and scatter them among foreign lands. 28 They worshiped Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. 29 They made the Lord angry by their actions, and a plague broke out among them. 30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened, and the plague subsided. 31 This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act for all generations to come. 32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them, 33 for they aroused his temper, and he spoke rashly. 34 They did not destroy the nations, as the Lord had commanded them to do.
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Notes and References
“... Practices Associated with the Dead
The practices in the Bible concerning the dead belonged to Israel’s Canaanite
heritage. Feeding the dead (KTU 1.20-22; 1.142), consulting the dead (KTU
1.124; 1.161; cf. KAI 214), and mourning the dead (KTU 1.5 VI 11-22, 31-
1.6 I 5) were all part of Canaanite religion. Ancient Israel continued most of
these practices in juxtaposition with Yahwistic cult. [...] Like 1 Samuel 28:3, Psalm 106:28 and Numbers 25:2 have been taken as
early criticisms of cult practices pertaining to the dead. Psalm 106:28 reads:
“They yoked themselves to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead”
(zibhê mētîm). This verse is dependent on Numbers 25:2,630 which does not
condemn practices associated with the dead; rather, it forbids “sacrifices of
their gods” (zibhê ’ělōhêhen). Psalm 106:28 condemns the sacrifices intended
for the dead. ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 161–162) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002
* 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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