Texts in Conversation
In 2 Kings 23, Josiah's ceremony shares Ugarit's inclusion of both ruler and people in a public ritual, making loyalty to God a commitment that joins the entire community.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.40:28
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
And present the donkey of uprightness, the uprightness of the sons of Ugarit, and the well-being of Ugarit, and the well-being of Yman, and the well-being of Rmt, and the well-being of […], and the well-being of Niqmaddu: or […], or by the word of the [Qatian], [or by the word of the Dadmian], or by the word of the Hurrian, or by the word of the Hittite, or by the word of the Alashian, or [by the word of] […], or by the word of […], or by the word of […], or by the word of […], or […], or in your anger, or in your impatience, or in […], or […] regarding the sacrifices or regarding the gift offering, the sacrifice we make. This is the gift offering we offer.
2 Kings 23:3
Hebrew Bible
1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their ears2 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant.
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Notes and References
“... Sanders draws attention to KTU 1.40, a ritual for national atonement and unity that is the most
important and broadly produced ritual known from Ugarit. [...] Among those atoned by the ritual are
male and female members, even addressed directly with gender specific imperatives, as we see
them listed in Josh 8:35 and Neh 8 numerous times. Like the Esarhaddon treaties, foreigners and
natives are listed, as they are in Josh 8:33.57 The sovereign and the citizens are included, as in 2
Kgs 23. The lists are rounded out with other groups of leaders such as elders, officers, judges,
prophets, levitical priests, inhabitants of the city and the region (Judah), young and great, and
Neh 8’s catch-all “those who could understand.” [...] KTU 1.40 presents a model for this kind of
addressee list in a unity ritual, demonstrating that a populace list may serve not merely to bind
addressees to treaty obligations, but may also serve to unify and even benefit the whole society
by atoning them. ...”
Cleath, Lisa Joann
Reading Ceremonies in the Hebrew Bible: Ideologies of Textual Authority in Joshua 8, 2 Kings 22-23, and Nehemiah 8
(p. 33) University of California, Los Angeles, 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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