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Job's family losses in Job 1 resemble Kirta's, whose name may come from a verb meaning to cut, showing that even people favored by a god can face the destruction of their household.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.14 I:22
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[ Naaman, the La]d of El[ ] [ ] . . . . . . . kinship [ ] sept. The house of [a k]ing is destroyed, that had seven [bro]thers, eight mother's sons. Kirta in offspring is ruined, Kirta is undermined of establishment. His lawful wife he did find, his legitimate spouse: he married the woman, and she "departed." Flesh of kinship had he: A third died in health; A quarter by disease. A fifth was gathered by Rashap; A sixth by the Lad of Yamm. A seventh part, by the sword it was felled. He sees his progeny, Kirta, He sees his progeny ruined, wholly undermined his seat, and in its entirety a posterity perishing, and in its totality a succession.
Job 1:19
Hebrew Bible
18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!” 20 Then Job got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!” 22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety.
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Notes and References
“... KIRTA (KTU 1.14–1.16)66
At the outset, Kirta loses his wife and children (1.14 I), as
suggested by his name (*krt, “to cut”) and much like the figure
of Job in Job 1–2. Kirta laments to his patron-god El that he
needs an heir (cf. Absalom’s lack of an heir in 2 Sam. 18:18).
In a dream vision (1.14 I), El asks him what he wants (cf.
Solomon’s dream in 1 Kings 3:5–15), and the god instructs
him to go on a military march to besiege the city of Udm ...”
Smith, Mark S.
"Ugarit and the Ugaritians" in Arnold, Bill T.; Strawn, Brent A. (ed.) The World around the Old Testament
(p. PDF 219) Baker Academic, 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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