Texts in Conversation
Psalm 65 shares Baal's control of Sea in the Baal Cycle, pairing the roar of waves with the uproar of nations to make peace among people part of God's rule over the world.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.2 IV:25
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
You, your name is 'All-Driver' All-Driver, drive Yamm away, drive Yamm from his throne, Nahar from the siege of his dominion! You must leap from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers. Strike the skull of Prince Yamm (Ocean), the brow of Ruler Nahar (River)! Let Yamm collapse in a heap, and let him fall to the ground!' Then the mace leapt from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers. It struck the skull of Prince Yamm, the brow of Ruler Nahar. Yamm collapsed in a heap; he fell to the ground. His joints trembled, and his visage was discomposed. Baal gathered Up and drank Prince Yamm to the dregs, he exterminated Ruler Nahar. By name Athtart chided him Dry him Up, O Valiant Baal! Dry him up, O Charioteer of the Clouds! For our captive is Prince [Yamm], [for]
Psalm 65:7
Hebrew Bible
5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance, O God, our savior. All the ends of the earth trust in you, as well as those living across the wide seas. 6 You created the mountains by your power and demonstrated your strength. 7 You calmed the raging seas and their roaring waves, as well as the commotion made by the nations. 8 Even those living in the remotest areas are awestruck by your acts; you cause those near the gates of the east and the west praise you.18 9 You visit the earth and give it rain; you make it rich and fertile. God’s streams are full of water; you provide grain for the people of the earth, for you have prepared the earth in this way. 10 You saturate its furrows, and soak its plowed ground. With rain showers you soften its soil, and make its crops grow.
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Notes and References
“... Common to both Yahweh and Baal was also a constellation of motifs
surrounding their martial and meteorological natures. [...] This conflict corresponds at Ugarit with Baal’s struggle with
Yamm in KTU 1.2 IV, although Yamm appears as Anat’s adversary in KTU
1.3 III 43. [...] Various biblical texts depict the divine defeat of Yamm with other images: the
stilling (*sbhl *rg’) of Yamm (Pss. 65:8 [E 7]; 89:10 [E 9]; Job 26:11); the
crushing361 (*prr) of Yamm (Ps. 74:13; cf. the crushing, *dk’, of Rahab in Ps.
89:11 [E 10]); the drying up (*hrb) of Yamm (Isa. 51:10); the establishment
of a boundary (gĕbûl) for Yamm (Ps. 104:9; Jer. 5:22; cf. Prov. 8:29); the
placement of a guard (mišmār) over Yamm (Job 7:12); and the closing of
Yamm behind doors (Job 38:8, 10); compare the hacking of Rahab into pieces
(*hsb; Isa. 51:9); and the scattering (*pzr) of cosmic enemies (Ps. 89:11 [E
10]). ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 103) 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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