Texts in Conversation
Zechariah 12 shares Baal's defense of his mountain home in the Baal Cycle, making the nations' attack on Jerusalem a challenge that ends in defeat by the city's divine protector.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.6 VI:12
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
Divine Mot ate his seven divine assistants. Divine Mot cried: “Look! It is my brothers whom Baal has given me for my meal, my mother’s sons for my consumption!” He returned to Baal in the recesses of Sapan. He lifted up his voice and cried: “It is my brothers you have given me, Baal, for my meal, my mother’s sons for my consumption!” They glowered at each other like burning coals. Mot was strong; Baal was strong. They gored like wild bulls. Mot was strong; Baal was strong. They bit like serpents. Mot was strong; Baal was strong. They tugged like hunting-dogs. Mot fell. Baal fell on top of him. Shapshu cried to Mot: “Listen, pray, O divine Mot! How can you fight with Valiant Baal?
Zechariah 12:3
Hebrew Bible
2 “I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 4 On that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses of the nations with blindness.
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Notes and References
“... There are many parallels between this Ugaritic passage and a variety of
biblical texts.425 First, the divine battle takes place at the mountain of the
deity, a motif found in Psalms 2:1-2; 48:5-8; 110; Joel 4:9-14; Zechariah
12:3-4; 14:2; and elsewhere. In Ugaritic, this motif is not restricted to Anat.
Baal also fights his enemies on his mountain (KTU 1.6 VI 12-13; cf. 1.1 V 5,
18). Second, the battle is universal in scope; “peoples” are collectively the
enemies of the deity. Many of the biblical passages just cited likewise contain
this motif. ...”
Smith, Mark S.
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
(p. PDF 115) 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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