Ištar and the motif of the cosmological warrior: Assurbanipal’s adaptation of Enuma elish

Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal are well known to scholars of ancient Near Eastern prophecy, thanks to their affinity for prophecy and the prophetic goddess Ištar in particular, which resulted in the preservation of oracular material in a manner not attested for other Sargonid kings. It has been suggested that one of the reasons for this affinity was the reliance of both kings on prophetic legitimation to buttress their contested claims to kingship. This paper explores how Assurbanipal in particular also relies on Ištar to legitimate his military activities, also as a result of the difficult political circumstances in which he was obliged to operate. This legitimation takes the form of allusion to Enuma Elish and the accrual of the characteristics of its warrior hero to the goddess Ištar

Made in the image of god: the creation of אדם: the commissioning of the king and the chaoskampf of YHWH

This article suggests that Genesis 1 and Psalms 8, 18 and 89 reflect a mythological tradition which described the creation of the human king as YHWH’s counterpart in the divine battle against chaos. The residual royal features of the narrative of the creation of אדם in Genesis 1—the creation of the אדם in the image of god, to exercise dominion—appear in a context of a polemical revision of YHWH’s Chaoskampf and are suggestive of the older tradition’s inclusion of the king’s commissioning as YHWH’s representative and earthly counterpart in these activities. Psalm 8 similarly associates the creation of a royal figure with the exertion of authority and dominion over chaos, using the same image of god language as Genesis 1 to describe this figure and to articulate his special relationship with YHWH. Psalm 18 and especially Psalm 89 affirm the location of the king’s Chaoskampf commission in the midst of YHWH’s own Chaoskampf activities, with the latter’s use of parental language echoing the image of god language in Genesis 1

Ištar and the motif of the cosmological warrior: Assurbanipal’s adaptation of Enuma elish

Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal are well known to scholars of ancient Near Eastern prophecy, thanks to their affinity for prophecy and the prophetic goddess Ištar in particular, which resulted in the preservation of oracular material in a manner not attested for other Sargonid kings. It has been suggested that one of the reasons for this affinity was the reliance of both kings on prophetic legitimation to buttress their contested claims to kingship. This paper explores how Assurbanipal in particular also relies on Ištar to legitimate his military activities, also as a result of the difficult political circumstances in which he was obliged to operate. This legitimation takes the form of allusion to Enuma Elish and the accrual of the characteristics of its warrior hero to the goddess Ištar

Jehoiachin: not a broken vessel but a humiliated vassal (Jer 22:28–30)

Uncertain terminology, versional differences and the juxtaposition of multiple images for Jehoiachin combine to render Jer 22:28–30 an interpretive quagmire. The article proposes to ameliorate this confusion through the emendation of the first word of v. 28, haʿæṣæb. The emended text reveals a coherent oracle, drawing on a consistent and well-established nexus of concepts associated with the consequences for vassal disloyalty

The threat to Israel’s identity in Deuteronomy: Mesopotamian or Levantine?

Deuteronomy contains a number of indications which locate its interests in the Levant rather than in Mesopotamia. This observation challenges two major theories of the book’s origins: Deuteronomy as pre-exilic attempt to subvert Assyrian imperial power and Deuteronomy as exilic, utopian manifesto for a restored Israel. The indications of a true Levantine context for the deuteronomic interest are identified in both the legal content of the book (passages which presuppose the audience’s presence in the land or identify its interests with the southern Levant and its inhabitants) and in its terminology (»in/from your midst«, »other gods«, lack of »foreigner« language). Note is also made of later attempts to reapply material originally orientated toward the Levant to an exilic population dealing with Mesopotamian culture

Ezekiel's oracles against the nations in light of a royal ideology of warfare

Over the last few decades a steady stream of scholarship has argued for a mythological background to the oracles against the nations (OANs) in the book of Ezekiel.1 Very few studies, however, have attempted to make overarching sense of Ezekiel’s use of mythological motifs, either in the oracles or as part of the theological and literary project of the book. This essay will argue that Ezekiel’s use of mythological motifs of a cosmological type, both in the cycle of OANs and as part of the book as a whole, is derived from the royal military ideology that was current in Jerusalem prior to the exile, and that the oracles constitute a direct attempt to incorporate the experience of exile into this ideology. Ultimately, however, Ezekiel’s initial efforts to this end were perceived to have failed, and alternative ideological explanations of warfare were introduced, either by Ezekiel himself or by an editor. I will conclude by addressing the accrual of this additional material

חטאת as interpolative gloss: a solution to Gen 4,7

This note suggests that Gen 4,7 can be rendered comprehensible by the removal of the term ht't, understanding its appearance as an interpolative gloss, and the interpretation of the remaining rbts as the subject of a nominal clause. This eliminates the lack of agreement between the feminine singular ht't and the three masculine singulars which follow, and it allows an interpretation of the verse which sees Cain being offered the option of reversing the decision made by Eve when she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Yhwh's battle against chaos in Ezekiel: the transformation of Judahite mythology for a new situation

In addressing the theological crisis of the exile, Ezekiel relies on the mythology of the divine king who goes out to battle against the forces of chaos, commonly referred to as the Chaoskampf. This article explores how Ezekiel employs this imagery to reconfigure Yhwh’s relationships with Babylonia, Egypt, and Judah. In lieu of the now-defunct Judah, Ezekiel identifies the king of Babylon as Yhwh’s earthly agent for establishing order; Egypt is (re)confirmed as the exemplary human chaotic force, opposing Yhwh and his Babylonian agent; and Judah’s status is rendered a variable predicated on its political allegiances. Ezekiel’s scheme allows the native Judahite Chaoskampf theology to remain intact, at the expense of drastic changes to the relationship between the Judahite monarch and his patron deity, Yhwh