Psalms

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Psalm 6

1 For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; a psalm of David. Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger. Do not discipline me in your raging fury. 2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am frail. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking. 3 I am absolutely terrified, and you, Lord—how long will this continue? 4 Relent, Lord, rescue me! Deliver me because of your faithfulness. 5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death. In Sheol who gives you thanks?⁠ 6 I am exhausted as I groan. All night long I drench my bed in tears; my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.⁠ 7 My eyes grow dim from suffering; they grow weak because of all my enemies. 8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;⁠ the Lord has accepted my prayer.⁠ 10 They will be humiliated and absolutely terrified. All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.14 I:30 and Psalm 6:6

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Summary

The tear-soaked bed in Psalm 6 shares Kirta's grief before divine help, where his tears fall to the ground like silver coins until El answers in a dream, making suffering part of a prayer that expects an answer.

Passages

KTU 1.14 I:30

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

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.).

1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Psalm 6:6

Hebrew Bible

2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am frail. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking. 3 I am absolutely terrified, and you, Lord—how long will this continue? 4 Relent, Lord, rescue me! Deliver me because of your faithfulness. 5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death. In Sheol who gives you thanks? 6 I am exhausted as I groan. All night long I drench my bed in tears; my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. 7 My eyes grow dim from suffering; they grow weak because of all my enemies. 8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy; the Lord has accepted my prayer. 10 They will be humiliated and absolutely terrified. All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... Oswald Loretz notes that von Soden’s interpretation corre- sponds with an Ugaritic parallel in KTU 1.14 i.28–30:39 tntkn . udmʿth his tears are poured forth km . ṯqlm . arṣh like shekels on the ground km ḫmšt . mṭth like five-weight shekels on the couch Kirta moistens his bed with tears. The psalmist uses stronger imagery that exag- gerates the volume of tears, but the image of weeping on a bed or couch is common to both texts. Like the speaker in Ps 6, Kirta weeps at night and finds divine help. Kirta falls asleep on his tear-soaked bed and receives a vision from El telling him how to get an heir. The speaker in Ps 6 expresses confidence in divine assistance in verses 9–11 but provides no explanation for this change of tone. Nighttime is elsewhere identified as a time for weeping (Ps 42:4; Lam 1:2; 2:18) and prayer generally (Pss 16:7; 17:3; 42:9; 77:7–10; 88:1–2; 92:3; 119:55, 62; 134:1). Psalm 30:6 identifies night as a time for weeping and morning as a time for rejoicing, and the theme of salvation in the morning appears in several texts (Pss 5:4; 46:6; 88:14; 90:14).41 Although night and day may contrast like sorrow and joy, some texts combine night and day to emphasize the continuity and dura- tion of suffering and weeping (Ps 42:4; Lam 2:18). ...”

David A. Bosworth, House of Weeping: The Motif of Tears in Akkadian and Hebrew Prayers (Atlanta: SBL, 2019), 99.

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 KTU 1.14 I:30 and Psalm 6:6

Summary

Passages

KTU 1.14 I:30

Psalm 6:6

References

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