Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 11 depicts a future peaceful world where animals no longer cause harm, drawing on older Near Eastern traditions, such as Enki and Ninhursag, where the land of Dilmun is portrayed as a paradise free from sickness, aging, and violence.
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Enki and Ninhursag
A Paradise Myth
Ancient Near East
The place is pure. The land Dilmun is pure. The land Dilmun is clean. The land Dilmun is bright. He who had lain by himself in Dilmun— The place where Enki had lain with his wife— That place is clean, that place is bright. In Dilmun the raven utters no cries. The ittidu-bird utters not the cry of the ittidu-bird. The lion kills not. The wolf snatches not the lamb. Unknown is the kid-devouring wild dog. Unknown is the grain-devouring creature. The sick-eyed says not “I am sick-eyed.” The sick-headed says not “I am sick-headed.” Its old woman says not “I am an old woman.” Its old man says not “I am an old man.”
Date: 1900 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Isaiah 11:6
Hebrew Bible
4 He will treat the poor fairly and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and order the wicked to be executed. 5 Justice will be like a belt around his waist, integrity will be like a belt around his hips. 6 A wolf will reside with a lamb, and a leopard will lie down with a young goat; an ox and a young lion will graze together, as a small child leads them along. 7 A cow and a bear will graze together, their young will lie down together. A lion, like an ox, will eat straw. 8 A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
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Notes and References
"... "Enki and Ninhursag" is one of the best preserved of the Sumerian myths uncovered to date. The story it tells is well-nigh complete and at least on the surface most of the details of its rather complicated plot are reasonably intelligible. Unfortunately, the main purpose of the myth as a whole is by no means clear and the literary and mythological implications of its numerous and varied motifs are not readily analyzable. Nevertheless, it adds much that is significant for, the Near Eastern mythological horizon, and perhaps even provides a number of interesting parallels to the motifs of the biblical paradise story as told in the second and third chapters of Genesis ... Lines 13-25 seem to fit the assumption that Dilmun is a land in which there is neither sickness nor death ..."
Pritchard, James B.
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
(pp. 37-38) Princeton University Press, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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