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Psalms

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Psalm 103

1 By David. Praise the Lord, O my soul. With all that is within me, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul. Do not forget all his kind deeds. 3 He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases,⁠ 4 who delivers your life from the Pit, who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.⁠ 6 The Lord does what is fair, and executes justice for all the oppressed. 7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts to Moses, his deeds to the Israelites. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.⁠ 9 He does not always accuse and does not stay angry. 10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. 11 For as the skies are high above the earth, so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers. 12 As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 14 For he knows what we are made of; he realizes we are made of clay. 15 A person’s life is like grass. Like a flower in the field it flourishes, 16 but when the hot wind blows, it disappears, and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew. 17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers and is faithful to their descendants, 18 to those who keep his covenant, who are careful to obey his commands. 19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven; his kingdom extends over everything. 20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his, you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees and obey his orders.⁠ 21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, you servants of his who carry out his desires. 22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made, in all the regions of his kingdom. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.6 I:49 and Psalm 103:8

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Psalm 103 shares El's title of compassion in the Baal Cycle, using this older description of divine care to explain why God forgives people and treats them with a father's kindness.

Passages

KTU 1.6 I:49

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
At the feet of El she bowed and fell down, she paid him homage and honoured him. She lifted up her voice and cried: Let her rejoice now Athirat and her sons, the goddess and the band of her kinsmen! For dead is Valiant Baal, for perished is the Prince, Lord of the Earth! Aloud cried El to the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm Listen, O Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm. Give the first of your sons; I shall make him king. And the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm replied Shall we not make king one who has knowledge and wit? And the Compassionate, El of mercy, replied LLet the finest of pigments be ground, let the people of Baal prepare unguents, the people of the the Son of Dagan crushed herbs. The Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm replied: Indeed, let us make Athtar the Brilliant king Athtar the Brilliant shall rule!
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Psalm 103:8

Hebrew Bible
6 The Lord does what is fair, and executes justice for all the oppressed. 7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts to Moses, his deeds to the Israelites. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love. 9 He does not always accuse and does not stay angry. 10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. 11 For as the skies are high above the earth, so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers. 12 As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 14 For he knows what we are made of; he realizes we are made of clay.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... El and Yahweh are rendered with a similar compassionate disposition toward humanity. Like El, Yahweh is a father (Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 63:16, 64:7; Jeremiah 3:4, 19; 31:9; Malachi 1:6, 2:10; cf. Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1) with a compassionate disposition, many times expressed as “merciful and gracious god,” ’e¯l-ra¯hfiuˆm weˇhfiannuˆn (Exodus 34:6; Jonah 4:2; Joel 2:13; Psalms 86:15; 103:8; 145: 8; Nehemiah 9:17). ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 142.

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 1.6 I:49 and Psalm 103:8

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