Texts in Conversation
Psalm 66 shares the Ugaritic link between promises made in danger and offerings after rescue, treating gratitude as the fulfillment of an earlier commitment.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.119:30
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
When the mighty one attacks your gate, the warrior, your walls, you shall lift up your eyes to Baal. O Baal: If you drive the mighty one from our gate, the warrior from our walls: A bull, O Baal, we will consecrate; a vow, Baal, we will fulfill; a firstborn, Baal, we will consecrate; a flesh sacrifice, Baal, we will fulfill. A feast, Baal, we will prepare; the sanctuary, Baal, we will ascend; the path of Baal’s temple, we will walk. Then Baal will listen to your prayer. He will drive the mighty one from your gate, the warrior from your walls.
Psalm 66:13
Hebrew Bible
11 You led us into a trap; you caused us to suffer. 12 You allowed men to ride over our heads; we passed through fire and water, but you brought us out into a wide open place. 13 I will enter your temple with burnt sacrifices; I will fulfill the vows I made to you, 14 which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer up to you fattened animals as burnt sacrifices, along with the smell of sacrificial rams. I will offer cattle and goats. (Selah) 16 Come! Listen, all you who are loyal to God. I will declare what he has done for me. 17 I cried out to him for help and praised him with my tongue. 18 If I had harbored sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 However, God heard; he listened to my prayer.
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Notes and References
“... a concern in laments in the Psalms. A genre of the Psalms related to prayer, namely
psalms of trust, includes one example that envisions the sort of concern envisioned
in KTU 1.119.26–36. Th e expression of confi dence in Psalm 27 describes Yahweh
as a source of confi dence against enemies that encamp against the speaker (v. 3).
Similarly, hymns focusing on the city of Jerusalem praise Yahweh for protection of
the city against enemies (Pss. 46:6[5]; 48:4[3]). KTU 1.119.26–36 also vows an off er-
ing to the god in the form of sacrifi ces (cf. vows sometimes expressed in con junction
with off erings: Pss. 22:26[25]; 50:14; 56:13[12], 61:6[5]; 9[8], 65:2[1]; 66:13; 76:12[11];
116:14 = 18; 132:2), to be made aft er “going up” to the temple of Baal (cf. Ps. 24:3; note
also the procession in 48:13–15[12–14]). Th is one Ugaritic prayer evokes a traditional
praxis of prayer, vows, and sacrifi ce that also lies at the heart of the Psalms and tem-
ple worship. ...”
Smith, Mark S.
"Canaanite Backgrounds to the Psalms" in Brown, William P. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms
(p. 46) Oxford University Press, 2014
* 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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