Texts in Conversation
In Numbers 12, Moses' plea for healing gives Israel's God the role held by El in Kirta's story, making divine mercy the answer to a sickness brought by divine anger.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.16 V:27
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
None among the gods a[nswers him]. He says a fifth time: "[Who among the gods] can remove the illness, dr[iving out the malady]?" None among the gods an[swers him]. He says a sixth, a seventh time: "[Who] among the gods can remove the illness, driving out the malady?" None among the gods answers him. Then spoke the Kindly One, El Benignant: "Remain seated, my sons, upon your seat[s], upon yo[ur] thrones of princeship. I will apply sorcery and will surely compass the removal of the illness, driving out the malady. With clay [his hand] he fills, with goodly clay [ ]. He moulds . . . . . . . [ ] . . . .
Numbers 12:13
Hebrew Bible
11 So Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned! 12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb!” 13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.” 14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.” 15 So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in.
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Notes and References
“... Both El and Yahweh appear to humans in dream-visions and
function as their divine patron. Like El (CAT 1.16 V–VI), Yahweh is a healing
god (Genesis 20:17; Numbers 12:13; 2 Kings 20:5, 8; Psalm 107:20; cf. the personal
name, reˇpa¯’e¯l, in 1 Chronicles 26:7). ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts
(p. 142) Oxford University Press, 2001
* 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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