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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Baal, Anat and the Birth of a Bull

KTU 1.10 I

[…] 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
[…]
[…]
[…]
[…]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.10 I:3 and 2 Samuel 14:17

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

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.

Passages

KTU 1.10 I:3

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
[…] 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
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

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.”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Samuel

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 deities. Ac­ ...”
Sang Youl Cho, Lesser Deities in the Ugaritic Texts and the Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Study of Their Nature and Roles, Deities and Angels of the Ancient World 2 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2007), 41–42.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.10 I:3 and 2 Samuel 14:17

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