Texts in Conversation
Psalm 92's horn and oil share Anat's preparation for battle in the Ugaritic text KTU 1.10, suggesting that God's gift of strength equips the speaker to face enemies.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.10 II:22
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
He has taken his bow in his hand, and his arrows in his right hand. Then he set his face toward Ah-Shamak, full of wild oxen.” The Maiden Anat lifts her wing, she lifts her wing and soars in flight toward Ah-Shamak, full of wild oxen. And Mighty Baal lifts his eyes, he lifts his eyes and sees, he sees the Maiden Anat, the loveliest among the sisters of Baal. Before her he […] and stands, at her feet he bows and falls down. And he lifts his voice and cries: “Live, sister, and long life to us. The horns of your strength, Maiden Anat, the horns of your strength Baal will anoint, Baal will anoint them in flight. We will thrust my enemies into the earth, and into the dust those who rise against your brother.”
Psalm 92:10
Hebrew Bible
6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this. 7 When the wicked sprout up like grass, and all the evildoers glisten, it is so that they may be annihilated. 8 But you, O Lord, reign forever. 9 Indeed, look at your enemies, O Lord. Indeed, look at how your enemies perish. All the evildoers are scattered. 10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox. I am covered with fresh oil. 11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me; I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me. 12 The godly grow like a palm tree; they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the Lord’s house, they grow in the courts of our God. 14 They bear fruit even when they are old; they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.
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Notes and References
“... The translation above assumes that the object of the verbal action in 11b is
the “my horn” in 11a, as in the proposal of D. G. Pardee (UF 8 [1976], 252; idem, UF 7 [1975], 358):
“You have raised my horn like that of a wild bull; I have smeared it (or myself) with fresh oil.” The
anointing of a horn is mentioned in an interesting way in a Ugaritic passage (UM 76.22, 23; IV AB
2.22, 23; CTA 10.2.21–23):
qrn dba‘tk btlt >nt
Your powerful horn, girl Anat,
qrn dba‘tk b>l ymsßh\
your powerful horns will Baal
anoint,
b>l ymsßh\ hm b>p
Baal will anoint them in flight.
(See D. Pardee, “The Preposition in Ugaritic,” UF 8 [1976] 252; G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and
Legends, OT Studies 3 [Edinburgh: Clark, 1956] 116; E. Kutsch, Salbung als Rechtsakt, BZAW 87
[1963] 8; S. E. Loewenstamm, UF 10 [1978] 111, for translations.) The word dbàtk is translated as “
prowess” by Driver and as “strength” by C. H. Gordon (Ugaritic Literature [Rome: Pontificium
Institutum Biblicum, 1949] 50; also Kutsch, 8). In the Baal text, Anat is to be prepared for a fight by
anointing her horns. ...”
* 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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