Texts in Conversation
In 2 Kings 6, Elisha's heavenly army shares the horses and chariots of the divine gathering in the Ugaritic Rephaim texts, turning a familiar image of unseen powers into assurance of God's protection.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.20 II:2
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[...] eight within my palace. The Rephaim hurried to his sanctuary, to his sanctuary hurried the divinities. They harnessed the chariots, they hitched the horses. They mounted their chariots, they came on their mounts. They journeyed a day and a second. The Rephaim arrived at the threshing floors, [the gods] [at] the plantations. And Danel, [the man of Rapiu], answered, the hero, the man of Harnam, replied: On the threshing floors of the gods, within the [plantations of the divinities] those who have come will eat a meal, the ancient [ones]
2 Kings 6:17
Hebrew Bible
15 The prophet’s attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, “Oh no, my master! What will we do?” 16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 As the army approached him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” The Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha requested. 19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” He led them to Samaria.
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Notes and References
“... In another place of the Isaiah apocalypse the Canaanite royal idea
of “resurrection” is explicitly rejected: “The dead (mtym) do not live
and the shades of the dead kings (rp"ym) do not rise”! (Isa 26:14).
The Rephaim (rp"ym)—mentioned also in Isa 14:9—appear in KTU
1.6 VI 45ff. in the entourage of the sun deity who travels through
the netherworld, as noted above:
O ”ap“u, may you judge/preside over the ‘heroes,’ (“p“ rpim t˙tk)
O ”ap“u, may you judge/preside over the divinities, (“p“ t˙tk ilnym)
The divine ones constitute your regular company, ('dk ilm)
Behold, the dead constitute your regular company. (hn mtm 'dk)69
Thus, the deified dead kings and heroes, similar to their Egyptian
royal “colleagues”, belong to the “host of the sun” (KTU 1.15 V
18ff.).70 According to the so-called “Rephaim texts” (KTU 1.20–22)
the rpum appear as a host with horses and chariots (cp. 2Kings 6:17)
at night—probably on the occasion of the New Year festival.71 ...”
* 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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