Texts in Conversation
Hosea may share Ugaritic language about rising from death, turning the image of renewed life into hope that God can restore a wounded nation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.22 I:5
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
[…] […] here is your son, here […] your son's son in your place; here the [hero] […] your hand; the little one will kiss your lips. There shoulder by shoulder are the brothers whom El raised up […]. There […] the name of El, the men […] the name of El, the heroes. There Tmq, the Rephaite of Baal, the soldier of Baal and the soldier of Anat. There Yhpn the mighty, the prince, the eternal king. When Anat goes hunting, […] the birds of the sky. Oxen are slaughtered, sheep as well; bulls are felled and fatted rams, year-old calves, lambs, […] kids. Like silver […] olives, gold […] […] the table […] […] kings. For a day he pours wine of Tmk, must, wine of rulers, wine of […] […] wine […] of Lebanon, […] must that El has cultivated.
Hosea 6:2
Hebrew Bible
1 Come on! Let’s return to the Lord. He himself has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us! He has injured us, but he will bandage our wounds! 2 He will restore us in a very short time; he will heal us in a little while, so that we may live in his presence. 3 So let us search for him! Let us seek to know the Lord! He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn, as certainly as the winter rain comes, as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land. 4 What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, O Judah? For your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew.
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Notes and References
“... One can agree with Spronk’s
observations regarding Canaanites prototypes for bib
lical language even if polemic is not involved. The
language of Yahweh’s overcoming death (Hosea 13:14,
14:2; Isaiah 25:8; Song of Songs 8:6; 1 Corinthians
15:54-55; Revelation 12:4; see pp. 277-304) has
a Northwest Semitic antecedent in Baal’s struggle
against Death (Mot) in KTU 1.5-1.6. Furthermore,
the theme of Baal’s return to life and overcoming
Death in 1.6 III and VI and 1.17 V 25-26, and
perhaps the “rising(?)” {qym) of the dead in KTU 1.22
I 5 formed the Northwest Semitic background to the
The same suggestion was made by M. S. Smith, “The
Magic of Kothar, the Ugaritic Craftsman God, in KTU 1.6
VI49-50,” Revue Biblique 91 (1984) 379 n. 12.
biblical idea that the dead “rise,” expressed by the
verb *qwm, “to rise,” in Psalm 88:11 (cf. 2 Samuel
13:21; Job 14:12; Ruth 4:5, 10). These notions in part
laid the basis for the motif of Yahweh’s “bringing
back to life” as a metaphor for preventing the death
of the living (pp. 270-79, 285-89), and for the specific
use of *qwm for divine help in Hosea 6:2. The lan
guage of the individual’s “rising to life from death”
appears to have been applied to the nation in exile
(Ezekiel 37:1-14; pp. 293-97). In turn, this metaphor
laid the foundation for expressing individual resur
rection in Daniel 12:2 (pp. 338-43 and Isaiah 26:19
(pp. 297-305). The development is especially clear in
the case of the latter passage, as it uses the verb
*qwm, “to rise,” to describe resurrection. ...”
Smith, Mark S. and Elizabeth M. Bloch-Smith
Death and Afterlife in Ugarit and Israel
(p. 283) Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 108, 1988
* 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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