Texts in Conversation
Psalm 145 shares El's title of compassion in the Baal Cycle, showing that the divine king's greatness includes kindness toward everything under his care.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.6 I:49
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
At the feet of El she bowed and fell down, she paid him homage and honoured him. She lifted up her voice and cried: Let her rejoice now Athirat and her sons, the goddess and the band of her kinsmen! For dead is Valiant Baal, for perished is the Prince, Lord of the Earth! Aloud cried El to the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm Listen, O Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm. Give the first of your sons; I shall make him king. And the Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm replied Shall we not make king one who has knowledge and wit? And the Compassionate, El of mercy, replied LLet the finest of pigments be ground, let the people of Baal prepare unguents, the people of the the Son of Dagan crushed herbs. The Great Lady-who-tramples-Yamm replied: Indeed, let us make Athtar the Brilliant king Athtar the Brilliant shall rule!
Psalm 145:8
Hebrew Bible
4 One generation will praise your deeds to another and tell about your mighty acts. 5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor and your amazing deeds. 6 They will proclaim the power of your awesome acts. I will declare your great deeds. 7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness and sing about your justice. 8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love. 9 The Lord is good to all and has compassion on all he has made. 10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord. Your loyal followers will praise you. 11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom; they will tell about your power, 12 so that mankind might acknowledge your mighty acts and the majestic splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.
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Notes and References
“... El and Yahweh are rendered with a similar compassionate disposition toward
humanity. Like El, Yahweh is a father (Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 63:16, 64:7;
Jeremiah 3:4, 19; 31:9; Malachi 1:6, 2:10; cf. Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1) with a
compassionate disposition, many times expressed as “merciful and gracious god,”
’e¯l-ra¯hfiuˆm weˇhfiannuˆn (Exodus 34:6; Jonah 4:2; Joel 2:13; Psalms 86:15; 103:8; 145:
8; Nehemiah 9:17). ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts
(p. 142) Oxford University Press, 2001
* 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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