Texts in Conversation
Psalm 104 shares the Baal Cycle's praise of divine wisdom, applying an older way of honoring El to the skill of Israel's God in making the world.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.3 V:30
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
I shall surely seize them in my right hand, and smite them by the strength of my long arm! I shall strike the top of your skull, and make your gray hair run with blood, the gray hair of your beard with gore!” El replied from within the seven chambers, through the eight façades of the closed rooms: “I know you, daughter, that you are pitiless, and that among goddesses there is no contempt like yours! What do you desire of me, O Virgin Anat?” And Virgin Anat replied: “Your word, El, is wise; you are everlastingly wise; a life of good fortune is your word. Our king is Valiant, Baal is our ruler; there is none who is above him. We should all carry his chalice, we should all carry his cup.”
Psalm 104:24
Hebrew Bible
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw and sleep in their dens. 23 People then go out to do their work, and they labor until evening. 24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; the earth is full of the living things you have made. 25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, living things both small and large. 26 The ships travel there, and over here swims Leviathan35 you made to play in it. 27 All your creatures wait for you to provide them with food on a regular basis. 28 You give food to them and they receive it; you open your hand and they are filled with food. 29 When you ignore them, they panic. When you take away their life’s breath, they die and return to dust.
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Notes and References
“... Praise of the deity can be found in the Ugaritic texts, as in the Psalter, again in nar-
rative contexts. As noted above, both Psalms 92 and 145 praise Yahweh much as Kothar
wa-Hasis celebrates Baal. Similarly, in two other passages from the Baal Cycle (KTU 1.3
V 30–33, SAC 124; KTU 1.4 IV 41–44, SAC 131), the goddesses Anat and Athirat (biblical
Asherah) off er praise to the god El for his wisdom and then to Baal for his kingship:
Your decree is wise, El,
Your wisdom is eternal,
A lucky life is your decree.
But Baal the Conqueror is our king,
Our judge higher than all.
God’s wisdom is likewise praised in Psalm 104:24, and praise for Yahweh’s kingship is
common in the Psalter (e.g., Psalms 29, 48, 93, 96, 97, 99; Brettler 1989). ...”
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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