Texts in Conversation
Job reverses the birth announcement familiar from Ugaritic stories, making the usual celebration of a son a way to question whether his own life should have begun.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.10 III:35
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[…] 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. He goes up […] […] […] she goes up on the mountain, […] on the mountain of victory, and she goes up […] to Arar, into Arar and into Sapan, into the pleasant place, on the mountain of victory. Aloud to Baal she proclaims: “Good news, El! Good news, Baal! And good news, scion of Dagan: a bull is born to Baal, and a wild ox to the Rider on the Clouds.” Mighty Baal rejoices.
Job 3:3
Hebrew Bible
1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 2 Job spoke up and said: 3 “Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, ‘A man has been conceived!’ 4 That day—let it be darkness; let not God on high regard it, nor let light shine on it! 5 Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day terrify it. 6 That night—let darkness seize it; let it not be included among the days of the year; let it not enter among the number of the months! 7 Indeed, let that night be barren; let no shout of joy penetrate it! 8 Let those who curse the day curse it—those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.
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Notes and References
“... 57. Ug. kyld.bn.ly. This can be translated in one of two ways. 'For a son will be
born to me', as future (thus, e.g., Gaster 1961: 338; Jirku 1962: 118; Aistleitner
1964: 69; Gibson 1978: 105; del Olmo 1981a: 372; de Moor 1987: 231; Margalit
1989a: 146; Aitken 1990: 35; Pardee 1997c: 345); or 'for a son is (or has been)
born to me' as past (thus, e.g., Virolleaud 1936d: 198; Driver 1956: 51; Ginsberg
1969: 150; Caquot and Sznycer 1974: 425; Husser 1996: 90). As Husser points out,
this is a well-known birth formula. He cites KTU 1.10 iii 36-37, Jer. 20.15, Isa. 9.5,
and similar wording in KTU 1.23.52-53; Job 3.3; Lk. 2.10-11. Cf. Parker (1988).
Husser notes (p. 91) that the 'love-scene' narrative would have occurred in the
lacuna between cols. i and ii, and so would the event of the hirth. ...”
* 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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