Texts in Conversation
In Numbers 21, Israel's vow shares the Ugaritic practice of promising a gift to a god in exchange for victory, linking military success with an obligation to fulfill the promise.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.119:28
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
When the mighty one attacks your gate, the warrior, your walls, you shall lift up your eyes to Baal. O Baal: If you drive the mighty one from our gate, the warrior from our walls: A bull, O Baal, we will consecrate; a vow, Baal, we will fulfill; a firstborn, Baal, we will consecrate; a flesh sacrifice, Baal, we will fulfill. A feast, Baal, we will prepare; the sanctuary, Baal, we will ascend; the path of Baal’s temple, we will walk. Then Baal will listen to your prayer. He will drive the mighty one from your gate, the warrior from your walls.
Numbers 21:2
Hebrew Bible
1 When the Canaanite king of Arad who lived in the Negev heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner. 2 So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into our hand, then we will utterly destroy their cities.” 3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah. 4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became impatient along the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we detest this worthless food.”
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Notes and References
“... KTU 1.119 in Relation to Israelite Prayer and Ritual
The student of Ugaritic and Israelite literature is not surprised to find
congruences between the two. That is no less true with regard to the
prayer to Baal text than it has been of other Ugaritic texts when
examined in relation to Israelite texts and practices. I have indicated
the formal similarities to the vow in Israelite literature, a likeness that
could be extended to other texts such as Num. 21.1-4 and Judg. 11.30-
32, both of which have to do with vows to the deity in situations of
military conflict, seeking God's help to defeat the enemy. The resem-
blances are rather sharp, even though the Ugaritic vow is in the context
of ritual prescription while the biblical vows are parts of narrative
reports. Not only do we have the formal and material similarity of a
conditional clause asking the deity's help in overcoming the enemy and
an apodosis vowing sacrifices to the deity when the help is given, but in
all three cases the report is given that the deity responded. In KTU
1.119 and Num. 21.3 the texts explicitly report that Baal and Yahweh
hear ($m') the prayer and drive the enemy out (KTU 1.119) or give
them over (Num. 21.3). ...”
Miller, Patrick D.
Israelite Religion and Biblical Theology: Collected Essays
(p. 97) Sheffield Academic Press, 2000
* 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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