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KTU

Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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Kirta

KTU 1.14 I

([Pertaining to "Kir]ta.")
[ ] kin[g ]
[ ] . . . . [ ]
[ Kirta (the Noble) ]
[ Naaman, the La]d of El[ ]
[ ] . . . . . . . kinship
[ ] sept. The house
of [a k]ing is destroyed, that had seven
[bro]thers, eight mother's sons.
Kirta in offspring is ruined,
Kirta is undermined of establishment.
His lawful wife he did find,
his legitimate spouse:
he married the woman, and she "departed."
Flesh of kinship had he:
A third died in health;
A quarter by disease.
A fifth was gathered by Rashap;⁠
A sixth by the Lad of Yamm.
A seventh part, by the sword it was felled.
He sees his progeny, Kirta,
He sees his progeny ruined,⁠
wholly undermined his seat,
and in its entirety a posterity perishing,
and in its totality a succession.
He enters his cubicle, he weeps,
an inner chamber and cries.
His tears drop
like shekels to the ground.
His bed was soaked⁠
by his weeping, and he slept⁠
a slumber in his crying.
Sleep prevails (over him?)
and he lies, slumber
and he reclines. And in his dream⁠
El descends, in his vision
the Father of Man (Adam). And he approaches
asking Kirta: "What ails you,⁠
Kirta, that he weeps,
that he cries, Naaman the Lad⁠
of El? Is it the kingship of Bull his father
that he desires, or authority
like the Father of Man (Adam)?" [ ? ]
[Here El doubtless offers
Kirta 'silver and gold and perpetual
slaves,' etc. (cf. ll. 53 ff.; 126 ff.;
137 ff.; 250 ff.; 269 ff.; 282 ff.).
But Kirta replies:
"What need]
[have I of silver and yellow-glittering]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.14 I:22 and Job 1:19

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Job's family losses in Job 1 resemble Kirta's, whose name may come from a verb meaning to cut, showing that even people favored by a god can face the destruction of their household.

Passages

KTU 1.14 I:22

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
[ Naaman, the La]d of El[ ] [ ] . . . . . . . kinship [ ] sept. The house of [a k]ing is destroyed, that had seven [bro]thers, eight mother's sons. Kirta in offspring is ruined, Kirta is undermined of establishment. His lawful wife he did find, his legitimate spouse: he married the woman, and she "departed." Flesh of kinship had he: A third died in health; A quarter by disease. A fifth was gathered by Rashap; A sixth by the Lad of Yamm. A seventh part, by the sword it was felled. He sees his progeny, Kirta, He sees his progeny ruined, wholly undermined his seat, and in its entirety a posterity perishing, and in its totality a succession.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Job 1:19

Hebrew Bible
18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!” 20 Then Job got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!” 22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Job

References

“... KIRTA (KTU 1.14–1.16)66 At the outset, Kirta loses his wife and children (1.14 I), as suggested by his name (*krt, “to cut”) and much like the figure of Job in Job 1–2. Kirta laments to his patron-god El that he needs an heir (cf. Absalom’s lack of an heir in 2 Sam. 18:18). In a dream vision (1.14 I), El asks him what he wants (cf. Solomon’s dream in 1 Kings 3:5–15), and the god instructs him to go on a military march to besiege the city of Udm ...”
Mark S. Smith, “Ugarit and the Ugaritians,” in The World around the Old Testament, ed. Bill T. Arnold and Brent A. Strawn (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016), PDF 219.

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 1.14 I:22 and Job 1:19

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