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Psalms

About this book
Psalm 72

1 For Solomon. O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions. Grant the king’s son the ability to make fair decisions.⁠ 2 Then he will judge your people fairly and your oppressed ones equitably. 3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people, and the hills will announce justice. 4 He will defend the oppressed among the people; he will deliver the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.⁠ 5 People will fear you as long as the sun and moon remain in the sky, for generation after generation.⁠ 6 He will descend like rain on the mown grass, like showers that drench the earth. 7 During his days the godly will flourish; peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.⁠ 9 Before him the coastlands will bow down,⁠ and his enemies will lick the dust.⁠ 10 The kings of Tarshish and the coastlands will offer gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring tribute.⁠ 11 All kings will bow down to him; all nations will serve him. 12 For he will rescue the needy when they cry out for help, and the oppressed who have no defender.⁠ 13 He will take pity on the poor and needy; the lives of the needy he will save. 14 From harm and violence he will defend them; he will value their lives. 15 May he live! May they offer him gold from Sheba.⁠ May they continually pray for him. May they pronounce blessings on him all day long. 16 May there be an abundance of grain in the earth; on the tops of the mountains may it sway. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon. May its crops be as abundant as the grass of the earth. 17 May his fame endure. May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky. May they use his name when they formulate their blessings. May all nations consider him to be favored by God. 18 The Lord God, the God of Israel, deserves praise. He alone accomplishes amazing things. 19 His glorious name deserves praise forevermore. May his majestic splendor fill the whole earth. We agree! We agree!⁠ 20 This collection of the prayers of David son of Jesse ends here.

Texts in conversation

Compare Code of Hammurabi i 27 and Psalm 72:1

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The prologue to Hammurabi’s code declares he was divinely commissioned to establish justice and protect the poor from oppression. Psalm 72 similarly prays for Israel’s king to do the same, judging the people fairly and crushing the oppressor.

Passages

Code of Hammurabi i 27

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Babylonian Legal Text
When Anu the Sublime, king of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of heaven and earth, who decrees the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the ruling son of Ea, god of righteousness, dominion over earthly man, and made him great among the Igigi. They called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded in it an everlasting kingdom whose foundations are laid as solidly as those of heaven and earth. Then Anu and Bel called me by name: Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who revered the gods, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers. So that the strong should not harm the weak, so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash and enlighten the land, and further the well-being of mankind. I am Hammurabi, the prince called by Bel, who heaped up riches and plenty, who enriched Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare, the sublime patron of E-kur, who restored Eridu and purified the worship of E-apsu.
1750 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Code of Hammurabi

Psalm 72:1

Hebrew Bible
1 For Solomon. O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions. Grant the king’s son the ability to make fair decisions. 2 Then he will judge your people fairly and your oppressed ones equitably. 3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people, and the hills will announce justice. 4 He will defend the oppressed among the people; he will deliver the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... Biblical tradition espouses similar judicial ideology about Judean monarchs. The idyllic Davidide in Isaiah 11:2–4 will judge the poor and meek judiciously (sedeq/mishor) due to his piety, with the spirit of Yahweh’s wisdom and counsel resting upon him (compare Isaiah 9:6 [English 9:7]; Jeremiah 23:5). Similar to the prayer on behalf of King Hammurabi (Laws of Hammurabi xlviii 41–47), the royal Psalm 72 prays: O Yahweh, endow the king with your justice, The king’s son with your righteousness That he may judge your people rightly, your poor justly. May he [righteously] judge the common poor, provide deliverance to the needy, and crush those who oppress [them]. (Psalm 72:1–2, 4; compare 72:12–14) As Hammurabi’s divinely elevated city of Babylon is ordained as the seat of justice and its temple as the seat of cult (Laws of Hammurabi xlvii 59–78), so too a psalmist proclaims that Jerusalem with its temple is a divinely ordained city where the thrones of the Davidic house are established as “thrones of justice” (Psalm 122:3–5). ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 517–518.

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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Code of Hammurabi i 27 and Psalm 72:1

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