Texts in Conversation
In Leviticus 26, God warns that if Israel does not obey, he will make its sky like iron and its land like bronze. In the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon, oath-breakers are cursed with the same two metals, reversed, an iron ground beneath a bronze heaven.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Leviticus 26:19
Hebrew Bible
14 “‘If, however, you do not obey me and keep all these commandments— 15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep all my commandments and you break my covenant— 16 I for my part will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you. 18 “‘If, in spite of all these things, you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins. 19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 20 Your strength will be used up in vain; your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land will not produce their fruit. 21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction seven times according to your sins. 22 I will send the wild animals against you, and they will bereave you of your children, annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population so that your roads will become deserted.
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §§62–65
Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (SAA 2 6)
Ancient Near East, Assyrian
524 May Girra, who gives food to small and great, burn up your name and your seed. 526 Ditto, ditto, may all the gods that are [mentioned by name] in th[is] treaty tablet make the ground as narrow as a brick for you. May they make your ground like iron (so that) nothing can sprout from it. 530 Just as rain does not fall from a brazen heaven so may rain and dew not come upon your fields and your meadows; instead of dew may burning coals rain on your land. 534 Just as lead does not stand up before a fire, so may you [not s]tand before yo[ur] enemy (or) take your sons and your daughters in your hands.
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Notes and References
“... Amidst all that appears so similar between Leviticus 26 and the Esarhaddon vassal treaties, there is very little that is identical or demonstrably interdependent. The nearest parallel to unprecedented similarity is the "ground like iron . . . brazen heaven" ([...] lines 528, 530) and "heavens like iron . . . ground like bronze" ([...] Lev 26:19). The order of the Assyrian is maintained in Deuteronomy 28:23, though Leviticus is different. The forms and the scarcity of the occurrences indicate that the individual occurrences are independent of each other. ...”
Barrick, William D.
Leviticus 26: Its Relationship to Covenant Contexts and Concepts
(p. 179) Th.D. diss., Grace Theological Seminary, 1981
* 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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