Psalms

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Psalm 24

1 A psalm of David. The Lord owns the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live in it. 2 For he set its foundation upon the seas, and established it upon the ocean currents.⁠ 3 Who is allowed to ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may go up to his holy dwelling place? 4 The one whose deeds are blameless who has clean hands and a pure heart^*, who does not lie,⁠ or make promises with no intention of keeping them.⁠ 5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord, and vindicated by the God who delivers them. 6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor, Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. (Selah) 7 Look up, you gates. Rise up, you eternal doors.⁠ Then the majestic king will enter.⁠ 8 Who is this majestic king? The Lord who is strong and mighty. The Lord a mighty man in battle.⁠ 9 Look up, you gates. Rise up, you eternal doors. Then the majestic king will enter. 10 Who is this majestic king? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He is the majestic king. (Selah)

Texts in conversation

Compare KAR 58 and Psalm 24:7

Ancient Near East, Assyrian · Hebrew Bible

Summary

Psalm 24 calls the gates of heaven to lift their heads, echoing Mesopotamian stories where the gates of heaven welcome the sun god Shamash. The image connects divine presence with the sky and is later used to describe the ark’s entry into the temple.

Passages

KAR 58

Ancient Near East, Assyrian · Cuneiform Texts from Assur

O Sun-god Shamash, when you enter Heaven’s Interior may the bolt of the clear heavens speak a greeting to you May the doors of the heavens bless you. May the gatekeeper of heaven greet you with favor. May Ningal, your beloved spouse, await you with joy, May she soothe your heart with a shining countenance. May your attendant deities stand ready before you.

700 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KAR

Psalm 24:7

Hebrew Bible

6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor, Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. (Selah) 7 Look up, you gates. Rise up, you eternal doors. Then the majestic king will enter. 8 Who is this majestic king? The Lord who is strong and mighty. The Lord a mighty man in battle. 9 Look up, you gates. Rise up, you eternal doors. Then the majestic king will enter. 10 Who is this majestic king? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He is the majestic king. (Selah)

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... Note also further examples ... The powers of the underworld invoked in Assyrian Medical Texts 32 may be compared with the powers of the gates of the underworld to bless Kaka, the vizier of Anu, in Nergal and Ereskigal and the blessing of the doors of heaven ... 'O Sun-god, when you enter Heaven's Interior (anšà);' may the bolt of the clear heavens say "hello?" May the doors of the heavens bless you.' Note also biblical parallels in Psalms 19:2; 24:7-10; 96:11-12. ..."

Wayne Horowitzh, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1998), 217.

"... YHWH’s messenger addresses the gates as “eternal doors,” which hints at their mythic dimension; they participate in the sphere of the eternal gods. The call “Raise your heads!” indicates that the gates have lowered their heads in a gesture of mourning, since the city is threatened by enemies. The divine warrior has left his residency to fight them off. A close parallel can be found in the Ugaritic Baal epic that narrates the conflict between the storm-god Baal and the sea-god Yamm (KTU/CAT 1.1–1.2). When the assembly of the gods receives messengers of Yamm, requesting to deliver Baal into his power, the horrified gods lower their heads. But the fearless Baal rebukes them—and the rhythm of his first words sounds strikingly similar to the call of YHWH’s messenger (Psalm 24:7, 9: “Raise, O gates, your heads”) ... In the ensuing combat, Baal kills Yamm, and the gods acclaim Baal’s kingship. Psalm 24 seems related to a similar tale. The liturgy looks back on the victory of YHWH, which implies the notion of a divine combat. YHWH, “the king of honor” (מלךהכבוד), demands from the gates of his city to be let in to take up his residency again ..."

Reinhard Müller, “The Origins of YHWH in Light of the Earliest Psalms,” in The Origins of Yahwism, ed. Jürgen van Oorschot and Markus Witte (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2017), 207–238.

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

Psalms150 psalms

Compare KAR 58 and Psalm 24:7

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Passages

KAR 58

Psalm 24:7

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