Aqhat

KTU 1.17 I

Then let Danel, the man of healing, at once let the hero, the devotee of Hrnm,
[the gods], [Danel], enrobed, the gods he fed,
let him take up a couch and lie down. Let him take off his robe, go up and lie down.
take off his clothes and go to bed.
Lo, a day and a second,
enrobed, the gods Danel, enrobed, the gods he fed, enrobed, he gave the holy ones to drink.
A third, a fourth day,
enrobed, the gods Danel, enrobed, the gods he fed, enrobed, he gave the holy ones to drink.
A fifth, a sixth day, enrobed, the gods Danel, enrobed, the gods he fed, enrobed, he gave the holy ones to drink.
Danel took off his robe;
he took off his robe, went up and lay down, he took off his clothes and went to bed.
Behold, on the seventh day,⁠
Baal drew near in intercession for him, at the misery of Danel, the man of healing,
the groaning of the hero, the devotee of Hrnm,
who had no son like his brothers, nor scion like his kinsmen!
“Because having no son like his brothers, nor scion like his kinsmen,
enrobed, the gods he feeds, enrobed, he gives the holy ones to drink,
you must surely bless him, Bull El my father,⁠
you must surely give a blessing to him, O Creator-of-creatures,⁠
so that he may beget a son in his house, a scion in the midst of his palace.
He shall set up the stela of his ancestral god, in the sanctuary the cippus of his kinsman;⁠
into the earth sending forth his dying breath,
into the dust protecting his progress; he shall shut the mouths of his slanderers,
he shall drive away those who are ill-disposed towards him.
Taking his hand when he is drunk, supporting him when sated with wine;
he shall serve up his share in the house of Baal, and his portion in the house of El;
he shall plaster his roof on a muddy day,
he shall wash his clothes on a filthy day.
[…] takes […]; his servant he blesses,
[Dan]el, the man of healing; he gives a blessing to the hero,
[the devotee of] Hrnm: “May Danel live in soul,
[the man of healing], in breath the hero, the devotee of Hrnm.
[…] let him go up to his bed
[and lie down]. When he kisses his wife,
[…] in his embrace, conception;
[…] birth, conception
[for the man of healing], so that he may beget a son
[in his house], [a scion] in the midst of his palace.
[He shall set up the stela of] his [ancestral god], in the sanctuary
[the cippus of his kinsman]; [into the] earth sending forth
[his dying breath], [into the dust] protecting his progress;
[he shall shut the mouths of his slanderers], he shall drive away those who are ill-disposed

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.17 I:26 and Isaiah 56:5

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Summary

In Isaiah 56, God's promise of a monument and a name for the childless answers the fear behind Ugarit's hope for a son to keep a family memorial, the same fear Absalom answers with a pillar in 2 Samuel 18.

Passages

KTU 1.17 I:26

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

Behold, on the seventh day, Baal drew near in intercession for him, at the misery of Danel, the man of healing, the groaning of the hero, the devotee of Hrnm, who had no son like his brothers, nor scion like his kinsmen! “Because having no son like his brothers, nor scion like his kinsmen, enrobed, the gods he feeds, enrobed, he gives the holy ones to drink, you must surely bless him, Bull El my father, you must surely give a blessing to him, O Creator-of-creatures, so that he may beget a son in his house, a scion in the midst of his palace. He shall set up the stela of his ancestral god, in the sanctuary the cippus of his kinsman; into the earth sending forth his dying breath, into the dust protecting his progress; he shall shut the mouths of his slanderers, he shall drive away those who are ill-disposed towards him.

1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Isaiah 56:5

Hebrew Bible

1 This is what the Lord says, “Promote justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly. 2 The people who do this will be blessed, the people who commit themselves to obedience, who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. 3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of the Lord should say, ‘The Lord will certainly exclude me from his people. ’The eunuch should not say, ‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’” 4 For this is what the Lord says: “For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and are faithful to my covenant, 5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument that will be better than sons and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

References

“... Fascinatingly, the Aaronide texts of Third Isaiah take a different stand on peger rites and stelae within the temple. Isaiah 56:3–5 retains mortuary memorials in God’s future temple, assuring eunuchs that such stelae guarantee that they will not lose their ongoing membership among the living after death. The stela within the temple pre- cincts in Isa 56:5, to which yād wāšēm refers, is a mortuary memorial. It is designed to ensure an interconnection (a šēm ʿôlām, an invocation name) of the deceased eu- nuch with the living. Without offspring (v. 5), the eunuch fears he will lose his “re- membrance,” his ongoing membership among the living after his death (cf. KTU 1.171 26–28). In 2 Sam 18:18 Absalom solves his identical concern with just such a yād. The eunuch lacks children to re-member him among the living, but a peger will reunite the being of his living-dead shade with the earthly worship community. God takes the initiative in this, erecting the yād within the temple precincts. In a move diametrically opposite to the thrust of Ezek 43:7–9, Isaiah 56 thus advocates a caring relationship with a departed soul maintained specifically within the temple grounds. De Hulster (2009, 168) accurately writes, “The Lord takes up the task of a child by providing the childless with a memorial stele . . . placing it in his own presence, in his temple.” ...”

Stephen L. Cook, Ezekiel 38–48: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018), 191.

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

Aqhat

KTU347 chapters

Compare KTU 1.17 I:26 and Isaiah 56:5

Summary

Passages

KTU 1.17 I:26

Isaiah 56:5

References

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