Just a note - I’m on vacation with limited online access. I’m sure I’ll fall behind on posts and comments. Back July 2.
Archive for June, 2008
Israelite Backdrop to the Two Powers, Part 5
Baal was the chief competitor to the worship of Yahweh during the period of the monarchy. To combat the worship of Baal and argue for the superiority of Yahweh, the biblical writers would (with some frequency) utilize certain Baal symbols, titles, and imagery in their descriptions of Yahweh. The effect was to displace Baal in the mind of the reader with Yahweh. Here are some examples:
- Yahweh is said to have defeated the dragon and the sea (as though the sea was an enemy) in passages like Ps 74:12-15 and Isaiah 27:1. This is precisely what Baal does in Ugaritic literature:
What manner of enemy has arisen against Baal,
of foe against the Charioteer of the Clouds?
Surely I smote the Beloved of El, Yam;
Surely I exterminated Nahar, the mighty god?
Surely I lifted up the dragon,
I overpowered him;
I smote the twisting serpent,
The coiled one-with-seven-heads!1
- The sea conflict is associated with Yahweh’s kingship (cf. Ps 74:12-15; Isa 27:1; Job 7:12). Following Baal’s victory over the sea in Ugaritic literature, Baal’s palace / temple was built for him. Following Yahweh’s victory over the sea (the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and the Reed Sea incident) Exod 15:17 tells us of the establishment of Yahweh’s sanctuary (the tabernacle).
- As noted in an earlier post about the meeting place of the divine council, Yahweh’s sanctuary is described in terms reminiscent of Baal’s. We saw in that earlier post that Yahweh’s tent dwelling followed descriptions of El’s dwelling. However, part of that post noted how Yahweh’s dwelling matches descriptions of Baal’s abode:
- “The Ugaritic god Baal, the deity who oversaw the council for El (see below) held meetings in the “heights” (mrym) of Mount Zaphon (SÌ£apaÌ„nu, apparently located in a range of mountains that included El’s own abode. In Baal’s palace in SÌ£apaÌ„nu there were “paved bricks” (lbnt) that made Baal’s house “a house of the clearness of lapis lazuli” (bht tÌ£hrm ʾiqn ʾum).” We could add that Psalm 48:1-2 calls Mount Zion the “heights” (mrym) of the north” (Hebrew = zaphon = SÌ£apaÌ„nu).
- One of the most familiar titles of Baal in the ancient world was the “cloud rider” who makes the clouds his chariot. For example:
What manner of enemy has arisen against Baal,
of foe against the Charioteer of the Clouds?
- This title shows up in various wordings in the Old Testament as a title of the God of Israel:
Isaiah 19:1 - An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
Deut. 33:26 - “There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty.
Psalm 68:32-33 - 32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, Selah 33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.[ABD notes that: "It is doubtful, however, whether the expression rÅkÄ“b bÄÊ¿ÇŽrÄbÅt used of Yahweh in Ps 68:5-Eng 68:4 is to be rendered "rider on the clouds" on the analogy of Baal's Ugaritic epithet rkb Ê¿rpt, contrary to a widely held view. The expected translation of the Hebrew expression would be "rider through the deserts, " since Ê¿ÇŽrÄbâ regularly means "desert" in the OT, and it should be noted that this fits the context in the Psalm, dealing as it does with the wilderness wanderings. (Cf. too Isa 40:3, bÄË“ÇŽrÄbâ mÄ›sillâ "a highway in the desert" with Ps 68:5-Eng 68:4, sÅllû lÄrÅkÄ“b bÄÊ¿ÇŽbÅt "raise a highway for him who rides through the deserts." ) Probably the Hebrew expression is to be understood as a deliberate distortion of Baal's epithet rkb Ê¿rpt. Vol. 1:549. This may be the case in this verse, but at any rate, the motif is still imitated if not copied.]
Psalm 104:1-4 - 1 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. 3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; 4 he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.
The cloud rider motif is very important. It will be the focal point of the next post, where this deity title is applied to another figure in a scene where Yahweh is already present-the second power.
- CTA 3:3:32-3:3:36. ↩
Israelite Backdrop to the Two Powers, Part 4
In the last post I briefly discussed the two main deities at Ugarit: El and Baal. El was the high sovereign, while Baal was the king of the gods, the vizier or co-regent of El. I mentioned four items about El, Baal, and Israel’s God Yahweh: (1) in the Hebrew Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is referred to as El; (2) Yahweh is identified with El; (3) Yahweh is also identified with Baal; and (4) divine figures other than Yahweh — but which are also equated with Yahweh — are also identified with Baal.
I’ll hit the first two of these in this post.
El, the God of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The original God of Israel was El, and this can be deduced by a number of means, and I list a few here:
1. The name “Israel” has “El” in it (IsraEL). That is, Israel is a proper name that honors El, not Yahweh.
2. El is described in Ugaritic material as an ancient deity with grey hair and beard. Scholars have noted the strong parallels between this description and the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7.
3. Isaiah 14:13-14 refers to the Shining One, son of the Dawn (translated “Lucifer” in some English translations) vaunting himself above “the stars of El” to make himself “like the Most High (Ê¿elyon).” The stars of El, as we saw in an earlier post, are members of the divine council, and so this passage speaks of El as the enthroned lord of the council.
4. Ezek 28:2 has the divine council (the cosmic mountain-garden of Eden) located at “the seat of El.”
5. Gen 49:24-25 describes the God of Israel with several El descriptions known from non-biblical texts. One of these is El-Shaddai, which is important in the next section.
6. Verses like Gen 33:20 read literally in Hebrew, “El, the God of Israel” (ʾeÌ„l ʾĕloÌ„heÌ‚ yisÌrāʾeÌ„l).
7. Phrases like “God Most High” (e.g., Gen 14:18-22) are literally in Hebrew “El, Most High” (ʾeÌ„l Ê¿elyoÌ‚n).
8. Verses like Gen 35:1, 3 have God commanding Jacob to build and altar to El (Hebrew, ʾēl).
Yahweh, the God of the Patriarchs = El
El and Yahweh are fused or identified with each other in several ways in the OT:
1. Exodus 6:3 explicitly states that God was known to the patriarchs as El Shaddai and only later (in the days of Moses) as Yahweh.
2. Yahweh is explicitly called El:
a. Exod 15:2 - “The LORD is my strength . . . this is my God (El)…
b. Isaiah 5:16 - “The LORD of hosts is exalted . . . the holy God (El) shows himself holy…
c. Psalm 31:6 - “O LORD, faithful God (El)…”
3. Yahweh is also described with familiar El descriptions, like the aged God (Psa 90:2; Psa 102:27; Job 36:26) enthroned over the divine council (1 Kings 22:19; Psa 29:1-2; Psa 89:5-6)
4. In heterodox Yahweh worship of the biblical period, Yahweh was thought to have a wife - Asherah - who was El’s wife at Ugarit.
