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Joel 3 gives Israel's God the thunderous voice associated with Baal's mountain home in the Baal Cycle, making the power that shakes the world a source of protection for his people.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.4 VII:31
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
He opens a window in the house A vent in the midst of the palace. Baal opens a gap in the clouds Baal releases his sacred voice. Baal pronounces the matter of his lips His sacred voice, the earth quakes The high places of the Earth tremble. […] Baal's enemies retreat to the woods The haters of Haddu to the mountain sides. And Mightiest Baal declares: O Foes of Haddu, why do you tremble? Why tremble, O Arms-bearers of the Warrior? Baal surveys the East; Indeed, his hand trembles With a cedar in his right hand. So Baal is seated in his house: Will either king or commoner Establish a dominion land? So I will send an emissary to Divine Mot A messenger to El's Beloved, the Hero That he may summon Mot with his voice Instruct the Beloved with his insides.
Joel 3:16
Hebrew Bible
16 The Lord roars from Zion; from Jerusalem his voice bellows out. The heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel. 17 “You will be convinced that I, the Lord, am your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy— conquering armies will no longer pass through it. 18 On that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the dry stream beds of Judah will flow with water. A spring will flow out from the temple of the Lord, watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. 19 Egypt will be desolate, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
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Notes and References
“... The mountainous temple home from which Baal utters his voice and rains
lavishly upon the earth (KTU 1.4 V-VII) appears not only in descriptions of
Yahweh roaring from Zion (Joel 3:16; Amos 1:2) or giving forth rains (Isa.
30:19; Jer. 3:3; 5:24; 10:13; 14:4; 51:16; Amos 4:7) but also in postexilic
discussions of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The tradition of the
temple home that guarantees the life-giving rains underlies the relationship
between tithe and temple in Malachi 3:10. This passage reflects the notion
that payment of the tithe to the temple would induce Yahweh to open the
windows of heaven and pour down crop-producing rains. Similarly, Haggai
1:7-11 attributes drought and scarcity to the failure to rebuild the temple.381
Yahweh’s role as the divine source of rain appears elsewhere in postexilic
prophecy (Zech. 10:1). Joel 4 (E 3) presents various aspects of the mountain
tradition. It is the divine home (4:17 [E 3:17]), the location of Yahweh’s roar
(4:16 [E 3:16]), the site of divine battle (4:9-15 [E 3:9-15]) with heavenly
hosts (4:11-13 [E 3:11-13]; cf. 2:1-11), and the origin of the divine rains
issuing in terrestrial fertility (4:18 [E 3:18]). ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 105–106) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002
* 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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