Legend of Keret
Epic of Kirta
Ancient Near East
Yassib also sits in the palace, and his inward parts instruct him. He says to himself, “Go to your father, Yassib. Speak to him and say: Listen, Keret the Noble, and hear me. You’ve done wrong. You were supposed to judge the case of the widow, to defend the cause of the wretched. But now you’ve become like a brother to the sickbed, a companion of suffering. Step down from kingship. I will be king. With your authority, I will sit on the throne.” Yassib the Lad goes to his father. He enters and raises his voice: “Listen, please, Keret the Noble. Hear me. You’ve let yourself fall into wrongdoing. You used to judge the widow’s case, to defend the oppressed, to drive out those who prey on the poor, to feed the orphan, to support the widow. But now you’ve become a brother to the bed of sickness, a companion of suffering. Step down from the kingship. I will be king. With your authority, I will sit.”
Date: 1500 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Psalm 82:3
Hebrew Bible
1 A psalm of Asaph. God stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods he renders judgment. 2 He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked? (Selah) 3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless. Vindicate the oppressed and suffering. 4 Rescue the poor and needy. Deliver them from the power of the wicked. 5 They neither know nor understand. They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth crumble.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... The position of widow and orphan in ancient Israel was no different from that elsewhere in the ancient Near East and the world of antiquity in general. The statements made concerning them in the literature of the ancient Near East are similar in nature to those in the Old Testament. They can count on divine protection. Compassion for widow and orphan is a motif in kingly ideology. (See the prologue of the code of Urnammu, the epilogue of the code of Hammurabi, the Tale of Aqhat, and also compare Psalm 82:3) A king who ignores the plight of widow and orphan is weak and incompetent. (Compare with the Keret epic) In Wisdom texts kings and officials are admonished to defend widows and orphans ..."
* 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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