Texts in Conversation
The Sumerian Bilgames and Akka describes a king’s protection like holding a refugee in his bosom. Numbers 11 uses the same image of carrying a child to express Moses’ frustration with the burden of caring for Israel.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Gilgamesh and Aga 105
Bilgames and Akka
Ancient Near East, Sumerian
Bilgames, the lord of Kullab, addressed Akka: ‘O Akka, my lieutenant, Akka, my captain, O Akka, my commander, Akka, my general, O Akka, my field marshal! O Akka, you gave me breath, Akka, you gave me life, O Akka, you took to your bosom a man on the run, O Akka, a runaway bird you sated with grain!’ Akka: ‘Uruk, the smithy of the Gods, its great rampart, a cloudbank resting on the earth, its lofty residence, founded by the god An, are given into your charge: [repay me] my favour!’ Bilgames: ‘Before the Sun God I hereby repay you the favour of old!’ He let Akka go free to Kish.
Numbers 11:12
Hebrew Bible
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased. 11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of this entire people on me? 12 Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a foster father bears a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to their fathers? 13 From where shall I get meat to give to this entire people, for they cry to me, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat!’ 14 I am not able to bear this entire people alone, because it is too heavy for me! 15 But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.”
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Notes and References
“... Moses launches his most serious reproach against God since first appointed leader. He even dares to redefine the call by God as a punishment rather than an honor. He would like to disavow his responsibility for the people, an obligation that binds him to the people in the same way that a nurse is bound to a child. The wet-nurse image angrily conjured up by Moses fittingly corresponds to the depiction, just moments before, of the insatiable appetite and ravenous hunger of the people. Such appetites demand the feeding that Moses wants to withhold. He is simply not up to the task. ...”
Leveen, Adriane
Memory and Tradition in the Book of Numbers
(p. 89) Cambridge University Press, 2008
* 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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