Texts in Conversation
Psalm 102 shares El's ageless character in the Ugaritic text KTU 1.10, making God's unending life the reason his servants can trust him with their children's future.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.10 III:6
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[…] the cows give birth […] a bull for the Maiden Anat, and […] for the In-law of the Peoples. And Mighty [Baal] answers: “[…] as our creator […] like the eternal one who formed […]” Baal strides […] the god Haddu […] the Maiden, yes the Maiden [Anat], and the loveliest of the sisters of [Baal]. Baal goes up on the [mountain], and the son of Dagan on […] Baal sits on the throne of [his kingship], the son of Dagan on the seat of [his dominion]. […] the bull […] […] the bull […] She goes and soars […] among the lovely, among the [beautiful]. A cow, a cow […] she bears a bull […] and a wild ox for […] She embraces the [cow], she embraces the cow […] and covers him with her breast.
Psalm 102:27
Hebrew Bible
23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life; he has cut short my days. 24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life. You endure through all generations. 25 In earlier times you established the earth; the skies are your handiwork. 26 They will perish, but you will endure. They will wear out like a garment; like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. 27 But you remain; your years do not come to an end. 28 The children of your servants will settle down here, and their descendants will live securely in your presence.”
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Notes and References
“... In Israel the characteristics and epithets of El became part of the repertoire
of descriptions of Yahweh. [...] In KTU 1.10 III
6 El is called drd, “ageless one,” and in KTU 1.3 V and 1.4 V, Anat and
Asherah both affirm the eternity of his wisdom.208 His eternity is also
expressed in his epithet, ‘ab šnm, “father of years.” [...] Similarly, Yahweh is
described as the aged patriarchal god (Ps. 102:28; Job 36:26; Isa. 40:28; cf.
Ps. 90:10; Isa. 57:15; Hab. 3:6; Dan. 6:26; 2 Esdras 8:20; Tobit 13:6, 10; Ben
Sira 18:30) ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 68) 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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