Texts in Conversation
Psalm 18 shares Baal's struggle with Death in the Baal Cycle, treating the king's danger from human enemies as a conflict with a power that requires divine rescue.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.5 I:14
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
The gods departed and did not stay. Thereupon they set their faces towards the lord of the heights of Sapan, and Gupan and Ugar said: Message of divine Mot (death), word of the Beloved of El, the hero: My appetite is the appetite of the lion in the wasteland as the desire of the shark is in the sea; as wild bulls yearn for pools, or the hind longs for the spring. Look, in truth does my throat devour clay and with both my hands I devour them. My seven portions are on the plate, and Nahar has mixed my cup. For Baal did not invite me with my brothers, nor did Haddu summon me with my kinsmen, but he ate food with my brothers, and drank wine with my kinsmen!
Psalm 18:5
Hebrew Bible
4 The waves of death engulfed me, the currents of chaos overwhelmed me. 5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, the snares of death trapped me. 6 In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried out to my God. From his heavenly temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 7 The earth heaved and shook. The roots of the mountains trembled; they heaved because he was angry. 8 Smoke ascended from his nose; fire devoured as it came from his mouth. He hurled down fiery coals. 9 He made the sky sink as he descended; a thick cloud was under his feet. 10 He mounted a winged angel and flew; he glided on the wings of the wind. 11 He shrouded himself in darkness, in thick rain clouds. 12 From the brightness in front of him came hail and fiery coals.
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Notes and References
“... Finally, the figure of Mot, “Death,” is attested in KTU 1.4 VIII-1.6 and
2.10 and in several biblical passages, including Isaiah 25:8, 28:15 and 18,
Jeremiah 9:20, Hosea 13:14, Habakkuk 2:5, Psalm 18(2 Sam. 22):5-6,
Revelation 21:4 (cf. Odes of Solomon 15:9; 29:4).369 Biblical Mot is
personified as a demon, in the manner of Ugaritic Mot in KTU 1.127 and
Mesopotamian mütu. ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 104) 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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