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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Consultation of Ditanu for a Sick Child

KTU 1.124

When the lord
of the great gods comes to Ditanu
and asks for a judgment about the child,
Ditanu answers him:
Answer: […] of myrrh, take it
and put it in the house of Horon […]
of new [myrrh], take it and put it
in the house of Baal. Take […]
and put it in the house, and […]
[…] his illness. And there came⁠
your messenger to Ditanu.
He received the judgment,
and he answered him,
Ditanu: Wipe the house clean,
with no fish and no dog,
and afterward there will be no bitterness.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.124:10 and 2 Kings 1:2

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In 2 Kings 1, Ahaziah's appeal to Baal may parallel Ugaritic requests for a god's advice about illness, making the choice of whom to consult a test of loyalty to Israel's God.

Passages

KTU 1.124:10

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
When the lord of the great gods comes to Ditanu and asks for a judgment about the child, Ditanu answers him: Answer: […] of myrrh, take it and put it in the house of Horon […] of new [myrrh], take it and put it in the house of Baal. Take […] and put it in the house, and […] […] his illness. And there came your messenger to Ditanu. He received the judgment, and he answered him, Ditanu: Wipe the house clean, with no fish and no dog, and afterward there will be no bitterness.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

2 Kings 1:2

Hebrew Bible
1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, “Go, ask Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.” 3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up; go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 4 Therefore this is what the Lord has said, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Kings

References

“... KTU 1.124 may reflect the consultation of some sort of divine oracle for the purposes of a heal- ing; del Olmo Lete (312) sees an analogy with the incident described in 2 Kings 1:2-3. ...”
Bill T. Arnold, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005), 138.

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 1.124:10 and 2 Kings 1:2

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