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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Sacrifices for the Month of Ibaalat and Prayer for Ugarit

KTU 1.119

In the month of Ibaalat, on the seventh day,
a ram for Baal of Rkt, in […]
and the house of Baal of Ugarit […]
When the sun sets, the king is free. On the seven-
teenth day, the king washes himself clean:⁠
a cow, holy to El; a cow for the Baals;
a cow for the lad; two ewes and a cow
for the two maidens. In the house […], he sacrifices,
and […] behind the house of Baal
of Ugarit: a lamb and a city dove
as a gift offering. On the eighteenth day of Ibaalat,
a bull for the […] of Baal of Ugarit,
both a burnt offering and an elevation offering. There shall sacrifice
the king in the house of El: a neck for [Ushkhara],
a neck for Baal […]
and a donkey for […]
[…]
[…] two […]
[…]
On the fourth day, birds; on the fifth day, birds
and a liver, and a ram as a burnt offering for Baal
of Ugarit, in the house. On the seventh day […]
[…]. When the sun sets,
the king is free. Here is the oil of well-being
of Baal, […]
When the mighty one attacks your gate,⁠
the warrior, your walls, you shall lift up your eyes to Baal.
O Baal: If you drive the mighty one from our gate,⁠
the warrior from our walls: A bull, O Baal, we will consecrate;
a vow, Baal, we will fulfill;⁠
a firstborn, Baal, we will consecrate;
a flesh sacrifice, Baal, we will fulfill. A feast, Baal, we will prepare;
the sanctuary, Baal, we will ascend; the path of Baal’s temple, we will walk.
Then Baal will listen to your prayer.
He will drive the mighty one from your gate,
the warrior from your walls.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.119:28 and Judges 11:30

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In Judges 11, Jephthah's vow follows the Ugaritic pattern of promising a gift for victory, placing his disastrous promise within a familiar way of seeking a god's help in battle.

Passages

KTU 1.119:28

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
When the mighty one attacks your gate, the warrior, your walls, you shall lift up your eyes to Baal. O Baal: If you drive the mighty one from our gate, the warrior from our walls: A bull, O Baal, we will consecrate; a vow, Baal, we will fulfill; a firstborn, Baal, we will consecrate; a flesh sacrifice, Baal, we will fulfill. A feast, Baal, we will prepare; the sanctuary, Baal, we will ascend; the path of Baal’s temple, we will walk. Then Baal will listen to your prayer. He will drive the mighty one from your gate, the warrior from your walls.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Judges 11:30

Hebrew Bible
30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites over to me, 31 then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he will belong to the Lord, and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice.” 32 Jephthah approached the Ammonites to fight with them, and the Lord handed them over to him. 33 He defeated them from Aroer all the way to Minnith—20 cities in all, even as far as Abel Keramim. He wiped them out! The Israelites humiliated the Ammonites. 34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Judges

References

“... KTU 1.119 in Relation to Israelite Prayer and Ritual The student of Ugaritic and Israelite literature is not surprised to find congruences between the two. That is no less true with regard to the prayer to Baal text than it has been of other Ugaritic texts when examined in relation to Israelite texts and practices. I have indicated the formal similarities to the vow in Israelite literature, a likeness that could be extended to other texts such as Num. 21.1-4 and Judg. 11.30- 32, both of which have to do with vows to the deity in situations of military conflict, seeking God's help to defeat the enemy. The resem- blances are rather sharp, even though the Ugaritic vow is in the context of ritual prescription while the biblical vows are parts of narrative reports. Not only do we have the formal and material similarity of a conditional clause asking the deity's help in overcoming the enemy and an apodosis vowing sacrifices to the deity when the help is given, but in all three cases the report is given that the deity responded. In KTU 1.119 and Num. 21.3 the texts explicitly report that Baal and Yahweh hear (šmʿ) the prayer and drive the enemy out (KTU 1.119) or give them over (Num. 21.3). ...”
Patrick D. Miller, Israelite Religion and Biblical Theology: Collected Essays, JSOTSup 267 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2000), 97.

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 1.119:28 and Judges 11:30

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