Texts in Conversation
Joel 2 uses the compassion associated with El in the Baal Cycle as a reason to return to God, making an older description of divine character the basis for hope that punishment can be averted.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.6 I:49
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
At the feet of El she bowed and fell down, she paid him homage and honoured him. She lifted up her voice and cried: Let her rejoice now Athirat and her sons, the goddess and the band of her kinsmen! For dead is Valiant Baal, for perished is the Prince, Lord of the Earth! Aloud cried El to the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm Listen, O Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm. Give the first of your sons; I shall make him king. And the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm replied Shall we not make king one who has knowledge and wit? And the Compassionate, El of mercy, replied LLet the finest of pigments be ground, let the people of Baal prepare unguents, the people of the the Son of Dagan crushed herbs. The Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm replied: Indeed, let us make Athtar the Brilliant king Athtar the Brilliant shall rule!
Joel 2:13
Hebrew Bible
10 The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine. 11 The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the Lord is great and terrible42—who can survive it? 12 “Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your heart—with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Tear your hearts, not just your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and boundless in loyal love—often relenting from calamitous punishment. 14 Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake—a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God!
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Notes and References
“... El and Yahweh are rendered with a similar compassionate disposition toward
humanity. Like El, Yahweh is a father (Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 63:16, 64:7;
Jeremiah 3:4, 19; 31:9; Malachi 1:6, 2:10; cf. Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1) with a
compassionate disposition, many times expressed as “merciful and gracious god,”
’e¯l-ra¯hfiuˆm weˇhfiannuˆn (Exodus 34:6; Jonah 4:2; Joel 2:13; Psalms 86:15; 103:8; 145:
8; Nehemiah 9:17). ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts
(p. 142) Oxford University Press, 2001
* 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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