Texts in Conversation
In 2 Samuel 14, the woman's praise of David may contrast with Ugaritic limits on what gods know, using a heavenly messenger's wisdom as a model for a human king's judgment.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.10 I:3
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[…] the Maiden Anat […] […] that the sons of El do not know […] the assembly of the stars […] the circle of the heavens [Mighty] Baal […] Rider on the Clouds […] […] sits on the ground […] […] […] […] he gives [the Maiden] Anat [the In-law of] the Peoples […] [sits] on the ground […] flesh
2 Samuel 14:17
Hebrew Bible
17 So your servant said, ‘May the word of my lord the king be my security, for my lord the king is like the angel of God when it comes to deciding between right and wrong! May the Lord your God be with you!’” 18 Then the king replied to the woman, “Don’t hide any information from me when I question you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19 The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant’s mouth. 20 Your servant Joab did this so as to change this situation. But my lord has wisdom like that of the angel of God, and knows everything that is happening in the land.”
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Notes and References
“... King David is recognised, in a woman’s wish, as being equal to the
messenger of God in having knowledge of good and evil; hence, since
the messenger of God can acknowledge what is good, he also can exe
cute right judgement (v. 17b). She reveals her connection with Joab to
the king since he immediately discovered a plot (v. 20b)173; the com
parison is stressed again in a speech of Mephibosheth in order to appeal
to the king’s responsibility (2 Sam 19.28). ... Parker interprets that the “mention of Anat and Baal in the im
mediate [broken] context suggests that these two may share the knowl
edge denied to the bn //” 179. The bn il, paralleled with two other cola in
the following lines, supports the idea that they are members of the di
vine council, identified as stars (cf. Job 38.7). These phrases, juxtaposed
intentionally between Anat (line 1) and Baal (line 6) in the text, may be
set in order to emphasise the higher deities’ comparatively distin
guished abilities from these of the lesser deities. The context alludes to
the cosmic secret, which is not opened yet to the lesser deities180. Ac ...”
Cho, Sang Youl
Lesser Deities in the Ugaritic Texts and the Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Study of Their Nature and Roles
(p. 41–42) Gorgias Press, 2007
* 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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