Texts in Conversation
God's plural language in Genesis may address heavenly beings like Ugarit's assembly of divine sons, presenting humanity's creation as a decision announced in God's court.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.10 I:4
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[…] the Maiden Anat […] […] that the sons of El do not know […] the assembly of the stars […] the circle of the heavens [Mighty] Baal […] Rider on the Clouds […] […] sits on the ground […] […] […] […] he gives [the Maiden] Anat [the In-law of] the Peoples […] [sits] on the ground […] flesh
Genesis 1:26
Hebrew Bible
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” 27 God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”
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Notes and References
“... Their function here as celestial chanters praising, with joy, the
amazingly creative work of Yahweh and his sovereignty is explicitly
expressed. Thus, Parker relates these divine beings to the gods other
than Yahweh, designated explicitly in the first person plural form “us”
in the event of Creation at Gen 1.26l82.
In the passage, the Hp2 ’’2212 and the
**33 are used in paral
lel183. The parallel of stars and divine beings is also found in the Uga
ritic texts. In KTU 1.10 i 3-4, the phr kkbm, the “assembly of Stars” is
paralleled with the bn il, “Sons of El”, and the dr dt smm, the “circle of
those of the heavens” to designate the lesser deities in the pantheon.
Cassuto states conceivably that the 2 *1 *, “which were deities in the
idolatrous cult, were transformed into servants of the Lord in Israel’s
religion (likewise in Ugaritic, the phrase phr kbkbm, that is, congrega
tion of the stars, corresponds to bn *il [‘sons of G od’]; and the assembly
of the sons of God that came to present themselves before the Lord in
lob l 6 and ii 1 is paralleled by the gathering of the host of heaven in i
Kings xxii 19” 184. ...”
Cho, Sang Youl
Lesser Deities in the Ugaritic Texts and the Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Study of Their Nature and Roles
(p. 283) Gorgias Press, 2007
* 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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