Texts in Conversation
Ramses II's treaty with the Hittites ends its list of witnesses with the gods of the mountains and rivers, the heavens, the soil and the great sea. Micah summons the mountains and the foundations of the earth themselves to hear God's case.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Treaty of Kadesh 1:21
Egyptian-Hittite Peace Treaty
Ancient Near East
the queen of the heavens, gods, lords of swearing, the goddess, the mistress of the soil, the mistress of swearing, Teskher, the mistress of the mountains, and the rivers of the land of Kheta, the gods of the land of Kezweden, Amon, the Sun-god, Sutekh, the male gods and the female gods of the mountains and the rivers of the land of Egypt, of the heavens, the soil, the great sea, the wind, and the storms.
Micah 6:2
Hebrew Bible
1 Listen to what the Lord says: “Get up! Defend yourself before the mountains. Present your case before the hills.” 2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people; he has a dispute with Israel! 3 “My people, how have I wronged you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! 4 In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I delivered you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, how Balaam son of Beor responded to him. Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.8”
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Notes and References
“... In the covenants the gods are called upon to serve as witnesses to the undertaking of obligation and the oath and in the case of a vassal treaty the gods of the administrator and taker of the oath alike are invited. In addition to the gods, the natural forces are involved: mountains, rivers, wells, the abyss, the heavens and earth, wind and clouds. Also mentioned are a thousand gods who serve as punishing witnesses and it is pointed out that all the gods and goddesses including the gods of the underworld appear as witnesses. [...] In the biblical covenant we should obviously not expect any but the one God who is party to the covenant, however, natural forces are invoked as witnesses: heaven and earth (Deut. 4.26; 30.19; 31.28), and in prophecy, mountains and hills (Mic. 6.1-2). ...”
Weinfeld, Moshe
Normative and Sectarian Judaism in the Second Temple Period
(pp. 21-22) T&T Clark International, 2005
* 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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