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Hosea 13 calls on Death, the power opposed to Baal in the Baal Cycle, to bring its plagues, making an older divine enemy an agent of God's judgment against Israel.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.5 I:14
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
The gods departed and did not stay. Thereupon they set their faces towards the lord of the heights of Sapan, and Gupan and Ugar said: Message of divine Mot (death), word of the Beloved of El, the hero: My appetite is the appetite of the lion in the wasteland as the desire of the shark is in the sea; as wild bulls yearn for pools, or the hind longs for the spring. Look, in truth does my throat devour clay and with both my hands I devour them. My seven portions are on the plate, and Nahar has mixed my cup. For Baal did not invite me with my brothers, nor did Haddu summon me with my kinsmen, but he ate food with my brothers, and drank wine with my kinsmen!
Hosea 13:14
Hebrew Bible
12 The punishment of Ephraim has been decreed; his punishment is being stored up for the future. 13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb! 14 Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not! Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not! O Death, bring on your plagues! O Sheol, bring on your destruction! My eyes will not show any compassion! 15 Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; his well will become dry. That wind will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse.
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Notes and References
“... Finally, the figure of Mot, “Death,” is attested in KTU 1.4 VIII-1.6 and
2.10 and in several biblical passages, including Isaiah 25:8, 28:15 and 18,
Jeremiah 9:20, Hosea 13:14, Habakkuk 2:5, Psalm 18(2 Sam. 22):5-6,
Revelation 21:4 (cf. Odes of Solomon 15:9; 29:4).369 Biblical Mot is
personified as a demon, in the manner of Ugaritic Mot in KTU 1.127 and
Mesopotamian mütu. ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 104) 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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