Texts in Conversation
Deuteronomy's description of Israel as God's treasured possession shares a Ugaritic ruler's language for his subject, expressing the bond with God through the language of royal loyalty.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 2.39:12
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
Message of the Sun. To Ammurapi say: With the Sun everything is very well. To the f[eet] of the [l]ord, the Sun, [his] lo[rd], his [ser]vant […] for he is [a servant], his treasured possession, and [his master] […] and […] my lord shall not lack. And [you], you surely [k]now: now […] to the Sun, your lord, [a ser]vant, his treasured possession, are you. Now […] the Sun, your lord, you surely know it. To me, the Sun, your lord, for a year, two years, why have you not come? And as for the tablet about food that you sent to the Sun, your lord: that food in your land there is none, the Sun […] If I go […] I have given […] two […] and […] […] […] […] with […] food […] […] And the letter […] [to] me […] wherever there is any, seek it out and give it to me.
Deuteronomy 7:6
Hebrew Bible
6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth. 7 It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you—for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples. 8 Rather it is because of his love for you and his faithfulness to the promise he solemnly vowed to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with great power, redeeming you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
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Notes and References
“... In a metaphorical sense,סגלה
“ ,personal, precious property”, is applied to
the people of Israel. In Deut. 7:6, the element of personal property is evident
from the wordsלהיות לו
(cf. Ps. 135:4, whereלסגלתוandלוare paralleled). The
element of preciousness is reflected in Deut. 26:19, where a formulation similar
to Deut. 7:6 is continued by Yhwh’s promise that He will set Israel high above
all nations, in praise, in fame, and in honour.
The metaphorical meaning ofסגלהalso occurs in Ugarit and Mesopotamia.
In Ugarit, the word sglt is used in a letter from the Hittite king to the king
of Ugarit (ktu 2.39).273 The Hittite king, Suppiluliuma ii (1205–1175 b.c.),274
blames his vassal Ammurapi (1205–1175 b.c.) that he has not come to him for
two years now, as was prescribed in earlier treaties, and that he has failed
to fulfill certain obligations. Because the text has not been preserved in its
entirety, several elements from the letter are debated. The lines that contain
the word sglt, however, are fairly clear.275 ...”
* 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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