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Isaiah 57 joins the eternal life associated with El in the Ugaritic text KTU 1.10 to God's care for the humble, making the ageless ruler a source of renewed life for discouraged people.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.10 III:6
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[…] the cows give birth […] a bull for the Maiden Anat, and […] for the In-law of the Peoples. And Mighty [Baal] answers: “[…] as our creator […] like the eternal one who formed […]” Baal strides […] the god Haddu […] the Maiden, yes the Maiden [Anat], and the loveliest of the sisters of [Baal]. Baal goes up on the [mountain], and the son of Dagan on […] Baal sits on the throne of [his kingship], the son of Dagan on the seat of [his dominion]. […] the bull […] […] the bull […] She goes and soars […] among the lovely, among the [beautiful]. A cow, a cow […] she bears a bull […] and a wild ox for […] She embraces the [cow], she embraces the cow […] and covers him with her breast.
Isaiah 57:15
Hebrew Bible
14 He says, “Build it! Build it! Clear a way! Remove all the obstacles out of the way of my people!” 15 For this is what the high and exalted one says, the one who rules forever, whose name is holy: “I dwell in an exalted and holy place, but also with the discouraged and humiliated, in order to cheer up the humiliated and to encourage the discouraged. 16 For I will not be hostile forever or perpetually angry, for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, the life-giving breath I created. 17 I was angry because of their sinful greed; I attacked them and angrily rejected them, yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. 18 I have seen their behavior, but I will heal them. I will lead them, and I will provide comfort to them and those who mourn with them.
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Notes and References
“... In Israel the characteristics and epithets of El became part of the repertoire
of descriptions of Yahweh. In both texts and iconography, El is an elderly
bearded figure enthroned,207 sometimes before individual deities (KTU 1.3 V;
1.4 IV-V), sometimes before the divine council (KTU 1.2 I), known by a
variety of expressions; this feature is attested also in Phoenician inscriptions
(KAI 4:4-5; 14:9, 22; 26 A III 19; 27:12; cf. KTU 1.4 III 14). In KTU 1.10 III
6 El is called drd, “ageless one,” and in KTU 1.3 V and 1.4 V, Anat and
Asherah both affirm the eternity of his wisdom.208 His eternity is also
expressed in his epithet, ‘ab šnm, “father of years.”209 In KTU 1.4 V 3-4
Asherah addresses El: “You are great, O El, and indeed, wise; your hoary
beard instructs you” (rbt ‘ilm lḥkmt šbt dqnk ltsrk). Anat’s threats in 1.3 V 24-
25 and 1.18 I 11-12 likewise mention El’s gray beard. Similarly, Yahweh is
described as the aged patriarchal god (Ps. 102:28; Job 36:26; Isa. 40:28; cf.
Ps. 90:10; Isa. 57:15; Hab. 3:6; Dan. 6:26; 2 Esdras 8:20; Tobit 13:6, 10; Ben
Sira 18:30), enthroned amidst the assembly of divine beings (1 Kings 22:19;
Isa. 6:1-8; cf. Pss. 29:1-2; 82:1; 89:5-8; Isa. 14:13; Jer. 23:18, 22; Zechariah
3; Dan. 3:25).210 Later biblical texts continued the long tradition of aged
Yahweh enthroned before the heavenly hosts. Daniel 7:9-14, 22, describes a
bearded Yahweh as the “ancient of days,” and “the Most High.” He is
enthroned amid the assembly of heavenly hosts, called in verse 18 “the holy
ones of the Most High,” qaddîšê ’elyônîn (cf. 2 Esdras 2:42-48; Revelation 7).
This description for the angelic hosts derives from the older usage of Hebrew
qĕdōšîm, “holy ones,” for the divine council (Ps. 89:6; Hos. 12:1; Zech. 14:5;
cf. KAI 4:5, 7; 14:9, 22; 27:12). The tradition of the enthroned bearded god
appears also in a Persian period coin marked yhd, “Yehud.”211 The
iconography belongs to a god, apparently Yahweh. ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 68) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002
* 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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