Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania

Psalm 29
Author(s): Theodor H. Gaster
Source: The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jul., 1946), pp. 55-65
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1452551
Accessed: 04-12-2015 09:40 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania and University of Pennsylvania Press are
collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Jewish Quarterly Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 PSALM 29

By THEODORH. GASTER,Dropsie College

1. IT is now commonly recognized that the Babylonian

poem Enuma elis - the so-called "Epic of Creation" - is
really the cult-myth of the New Year (Akitu) Festival,
as part of the ceremonies of which it was indeed recited or
mimetically enacted.' The sixth tablet of that poem relates
how, following his victory over the monster Tiamat, the
god Marduk (or, in the earlier Sumerian version, Ninurta)2
was acclaimed king of the divine hosts and how, after
being installed in an especially constructed palace, he re-
ceived the adoration of his subjects. This episode of the
myth evidently corresponded to that stage of the ritual
in which the image of the god was conducted ceremoniously
to his temple and there enthroned.
Precisely the same thing is represented also in Hittite
myth and ritual. The text KBo iii 7 (complemented by KUB
XII 66 and KUB XVII 5-6)3 preserves the cultic legend

I Cf. Pallis, S. A., The Babylonian Akitu Festival (Copenhagen 1926),

pp. 221-22, 249-306.
2 Cf. Langdon, S., The Epic of Creation (Oxford 1923), pp. 16 ff. For
the earlier Sumerian myth, in which Ninurta vanquishes the monster
Kur, see Kramer, S., Sumerian Mythology (Philadelphia 1944), pp. 80-
82.
3 For translations of the Hittite text, cf. Zimmern, H., "Der
Kampf
des Wettergottes mit der Schlange Illuyankas. Ein hethitischer Myth-
us", in Streitberg-Festgabe (Leipzig 1924), pp. 430-41; Goetze, A.,
Kleinasien (Munich 1933), pp. 131-32. The treatment of the text by
A. H. Sayce in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1922; 177-90 is
unreliable. A new edition and rendering will appear in the writer's
forthcoming Ritual Drama in the Ancient Near East.
55

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
56 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

and ritual of the annual Puruli festival held in spring.4

The former5 deals with the triumph of the god Zashapunas,6
genius of storm and weather, over the dragon Illuyankas,
while the latter7 describes how, as the climax of the festival,
a parade was organized to the city of Nerik and how, on
arrival at that cultic center, the victorious god was en-
throned as king.
The same pattern obtained likewise in the Canaanite
world. In the Poem of Baal, large portions of which have
been recovered among the cuneiforrn tablets unearthed at
Ras Shamra, the story is told how that god, after defeat-
ing the monster Yammu, was acclaimed king of the gods
and how, duly installed in an especially constructed palace
(hkl), he received the adoration of his divine subjects.8
The Poem of Baal, like its Mesopotamian and Hittite coun-
terparts, was in all probability the cult-myth of a seasonal
festival, its main episodes corresponding to the main stages
of the ritual.9
In all of the cases cited the pattern is the same: the god
of the weather defeats a rebellious dragon or monster,
thereby acquires dominion and is installed in a new palace.
Moreover, in Enuma elis and again in the Poem of Baal

4 Since the word Puruli is written vu-ru-li-es

(with the non-Hittite
vu-sign) in KUB XXII 25 i 21, 33, it is probable that it is of Hattic
or "proto-Hittite" origin; cf. Friedrich,AoF vi (1930), 115. I therefore
connect it with the Hattic vur-, "earth", in the sense of "telluric, fes-
tival of the soil". For the Hattic adjectival suffix -li, see Forrer,ZDMG
xxvi (1922), 231.
s KBo iii, 7, i, 9-27 + KUB vii 5:6-24 + KBo iii 7, iii, 4-33. Zasha-
punas is aided by the mortal hero Hupasiyas.
6 For this
reading of the name written ideographicallydIM-unas, see
Sommer-Ehelolf,BoSt. 10:49.
7 KBo iii 7, col. iv.
8 III
AB, A (==Syria XVI, 29-45) - II AB; cf. especially II AB vi,
44 ff.
9 Cf. Gaster, Folk-Lore 1933: 379-90; Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, 1934: 2 ff.

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 PSALM29-GASTER 57

the occasion is marked by the recitation of a paean re-

hearsing his glory and prowess.
2. In 1937 the writer suggestedI0 that this mythological
situation provided the true interpretation of Psalm 93.
That psalm begins with a reference to YHWH's having
acquired kingship and to his being arrayed in the robes
of majesty. It then alludes to the firm establishment of
his throne and of the world order, and to his prowess over
the raging force of Sea (Yam) and Streams (Neharoth), the
very antagonists specifically mentioned in the Canaanite
Poem of Baal." Next it makes reference to the reliability
of his decrees ('edotheka ne'emnu me'od) - a phrase readily
explicable from the fact that, in the analogous Babylonian
myth, Marduk inaugurates his new regime by issuing orders
and decrees designed to regulate the world.12 Lastly, there
is an allusion to a "house" which YHWH is destined to
occupy for all eternity.
It is now suggested that Psalm 29 is of the same order
and that it is really the typical 'hymn of laudation' detached
from its mythic context, Yahwized and preserved as an inde-
pendent liturgical composition.13 There is a complete cor-
respondence in details between the Hebrew psalm and the
texts to which we have referred, and several passages of
the former which are at present difficult of interpretation
are at once clarified and illuminated by comparison with
the latter.

'oIraq IV (1937), 24-25.

"III AB, A. The antagonist is there called Zbl Ym (Prince
Sea)
and Tpt Nhr (Lord Stream). Cf. Habbakuk 3:8.
12 Enuma elis vi, 32, 56.
13 InFolk-Lore1933, p. 382, note 13, the writer suggested that Psalm
29 was a Yahwized version of a hymn originally addressed to Hadad
or some similar deity. The same view was developed independently,
and in far greater detail, by H. L. Ginsberg in his The Ugarit Texts
(Jerusalem 1936), 129-31. But both of us missed the mythological
background,as illustrated especially by Enuma eliS.

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
58 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

3. The psalm begins (v. 1) with an invocation to the

ben elim or members of the pantheon, to pay homage to
YHWH.14 Now, in Enuma elis it is the company of the
gods who render homage to Marduk after his victory,'I
while in the Canaanite Poem of Baal it is the "threescore
and ten sons of Asherat,"16 identical with what are else-
where called specifically the bn ilm,17who are summoned to
the new-built palace to perform the same function.
4. These lesser gods are invited (v. 2) to "ascribe unto
YHWH the glory of His name (kebod emo)." This last
expression recurs elsewhere,"8 and the whole phrase is usu-
ally taken to mean that the divine hosts are summoned
to acknowledge the innate majesty of YHWH. But it is
significant that in Enuma elis the adoration takes the par-
ticular form of reciting the god's honorific name and titles,19
and that there is repeated reference in that poem to the
celebration of Marduk's name; cf. EE vi, 117: SumSu i
nimbiP puhurni, "verily, we will acclaim his name in our
assembly;" ib. 143-44: ina ukkinanSunu inambil Simauz,ina
mgsi nagbasunu uzakkaruni Sumsu, "in their convocation
they acclaim his essence; in the fane they all of them cele-
brate His name." Hence, it would appear plausible that
the expression "glory/honor of His name" possesses a more
specific meaning and denotes the recitation, with appro-
priate laudatory embellishments, of his honorific names.2"

14Note the threefold invocation -

a common liturgical device.
'SCf. VI, 47, 51, etc.
16II AB VI, 44. "Threescoreand ten" is, of course, merely a round
number indicating multitude.
7 II AB iii, 14; Rg 1929 ii, 17, 26, 34; Rg 51 (Bauer): 2-3, etc.
i8 Pss. 66:2; 79:9; I Chron. 16:29.
'9 Cf. VI, 98-99; 142; 144; VII, 118; 120; 124-5.
20 Note that in the Ugaritic texts the verb k-b-d
(pay homage) is a
regular complement of q-l (fall) and (h)st.hwy(prostrate oneself); cf.
I AB i, 37-38; II AB IV, 25-26, etc. The rendering to YHWH of the
iemoi, accompanied as it is by prostration, might therefore be a
kebod

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 PSALM29-GASTER 59

In other words, the ensuing description of YHWH's prowess

as a "god of glory" who convulses nature by his storms
would be the actual k~bod?Smo which the divine hosts are
bidden recite.
5. The gods are invited (v. 2b) to "prostrate themselves"
in "the beauty of holiness." Now, for the latter phrase
(b'hadrathqode.) the Septuagint and Peshitta Versions read,
significantly, "in the court of the/His sanctuary (behad /
Srath qodes');2 and this links up at once with the fact that
in Enuma elis the gods are said explicitly to render homage
to Marduk "in the great court" (paramahhu) of his temple
Esagila in Babylon (EE vi, 51) and "in the fane" (ib. 144),
while in the Poem of Baal they are invited into the "man-
sion" (II AB vi, 44: s4 ahh bbth, aryh bqrb hklh, sk sb'm
bn Atrt, "he invited his brethren into his mansion, his
kinsmen into the midst of his palace, he invited the seventy
sons of Asherath").
6. There follows (vv. 3-9b) a vivid description of YHWH's
prowess in storm and tempest. This, as suggested above,
must be regarded as the actual honorification (kebod semo)
which the ben8 elim are invited to recite; it is not merely
a series of laudatory observations by the poet. YHWH's
thunder (lit. "voice") is said to convulse forest and ocean;
it comes with strength and awe-inspiring vehemence (beha-
d&r;cf. Accadian addru). Particularly, it is stated that by
means of it YHWH shatters the cedars of Lebanon. Now,
the language of this laudation runs parallel, to a remarkable
degree, with that of the paean recited to Baal in the Ca-
naanite poem. The latter is put into the mouth of K6tar,

formal act of homage consisting of a ceremonial recitation of his hon-

orific names and titles; cf. Enuma eliS vii, 120: sa abbesu.usarriiuzik-
ruSu, "he (Marduk) whose name his fathers glorified."
2r The hsr ("precinct, courts") is specifically mentioned in the Ugar-
itic texts; II AB iv, 51 etc.

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
60 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

the divine architect,22 who, after some argument, has at

last received Baal's consent to install windows and sky-
lights in the new palace. The plan is that whenever the
latter are opened it will be a sign to Baal correspondingly
to open "a rift in the clouds" (bdqt 'rpt) and send rain.
K6tar is so delighted at Baal's final acquiescence in this
plan that he breaks out into a hymn of glory celebrating
the powers of the god as genius of the storm. The hymn
reads as follows:23

ypti B'l bdqt 'rpt When Baal opens a rift in the

clouds,
qlh qds B'l ytn,24 When Baal gives forth his holy
voice,
ytny B'l s[at s]pth, When Baal keeps discharging the
utterances of his lips
qlh q[dSyt]r ar$, His holy voice convulses the earth,
......... . zrm tsn, ............ the mountains
quake,
rtt ............... A-tremble are the ..........
qdm-ym bmt a[rs] tttn; East and west the high places of
the earth reel;
ib B'l tihd y'rm The enemies of Baal take to the
woods,
snu Hd gpt zrl The foes of Hadad to the sides of
the mountains!
22
Kotar (Sir Deft; cf. Accadian keseruand Heb. k-S-r)is the Chus8r
of Sanchuniathon, explicitly identified with Hephaestus. Note that
in Greek myth, one of the functions of Hephaestus was to construct
dwellings for the gods; see my remarks in Bulletin of the American
Schools of OrientalResearch101 (1946): 25, note 27.
23 II AB
vii, 27a-41. For the philological basis of the translation,
see my remarks in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1944: 43-44,
notes 11-25. (Some correctionsare now necessary.)
24The ql B'l is mentioned again in II AB iv-v, 70: wytn qlh b'rpt,
"and he giveth forth his voice from the clouds" and in III Aqhat (=Vir-
olleaud's I Danel), 45b-46: bl tbn ql B'l, 'no welcome thunder'.

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 PSALM 29-GASTER 61

Baal replies:
ib B'l l-m ths,
1-m tS? ntq dmrn
In B'l qdm ydh
k tVgarz bymnhs25
The enemies of Baal, how they
quake!
How they quake who .... our ...!
The eyes of Baal mark down, then
his hand strikes,a
Yea, cedars quiver at the touch of
his right hand!

That this paean is based upon standard hymns to the

storm-god is shown by the fact that parallel phrases are
indeed quoted by Abimilki of Tyre in the Tell Amarna
letter 149: 14-15 Winckler:
Sa iddin rigmaSu ina Who giveth forth his voice in heaven
same kimi Addu like Hadad,
u tarkup gabbi Sadi istu And all the mountains quake at his
rigmisu voice.

Similarly, a hymn to Hadad printed in King's Magic and

Sorcery, 21:22 contains the directly comparable expression:

(Hadad) nadin rigmr ..... Hadad giveth forth thunders,

[inna]diu urSani The mountains are shaken.
In the light of these parallels the conclusion seems inescap-
able that the kebod rem6of our Hebrew psalm reproduces the
mythic laudation of the bene elim, itself projected from a
standard hymn recited at the festival in the ceremonies
of which the myth was recited or enacted.
7. At the end of the laudation (v. 9c) occur the obscure
words "and in His palace all of it saith, Glory (u-behekalo
kullo Jmer kabod)." The abruptness of this clause has

a
Literally, "the eyes of Baal anticipate his hand."
25The meaning of tgz is uncertain. Provisionally, I regard it as a
crossing of the two roots n-g-s (which recurs in Ugaritic)= Arabic
Jas and *n-g-SAr. u.-;, "shake, quiver."

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
62 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

been duly observed by most modern commentators, and

the usual way of surmounting the difficulty is to assume
an immediately antecedent lacuna, which must have also
contained the subject to which the expression "all of it"
referred.26 With this solution we may readily agree, but
exactly how the lacuna should be filled is indicated clearly
by a comparison with Enuma elis vi, 144. There we are
told that the gods, duly assembled in the new-built palace
of Esagila, sat in thefane and recited the "name" of Marduk
(ina mgsi nagbaSunu izzakaruni SumSu). The words are a
virtually exact translation of our Hebrew phrase, nagabSunu
("all of them") answering precisely to kullo ("all of it")
and thus showing that the missing subject is the assembly
of the gods. Indeed, the preceding verse in Enuma elis
(vi, 143) reads explicitly: ina ukkinasunu inambu SimaSu
"in their convocation they celebrated his essence." Hence
it is apparent that we must restore something like:
inrirr 27rTwmlp
Hnp The congregation of the holy ones
praise him
13zz it, 1i i'rlzl And in his palace all of it recites
the Glory.
The Glory is, of course, the foregoing laudation.
8. "YHWH", continues the Psalmist, (v. 10) "sat (en-
throned) at the stormflood, and YHWH will sit (enthroned)
for ever." The abruptness of this statement is likewise
perplexing, while scholars have also been exercised to de-
termine whether the reference to the stormflood is to the
specific Noachic Deluge or to any inundation caused by
26 See Kittel, BH3 in loc.
27 For o'mwptip cf. Psalm 89:6. This is identical with the nnino
otnp of the inscription of Yebawmilk of Byblos. The word D'lPiri. like-
wise denotes the pantheon in the 8th cent. B.C. Canaanite magical
plaque from Arslan Tash, and the same usage may be recognized in
Psalm 16:3; Job 5:1; 15:15; Hosea 12:1 and Zechariah 14:5. See my
remarks in OrientaliaXI (1942), 59.

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 PSALM29-GASTER 63

the display of YHWH's powers.28 The difficulty is removed,

however, when the mythological background of the psalm
is kept in mind. In Enuma elis it is stated specifically (vi,
47, 51) that Esagila, the newly-built palace of Marduk,
was upreared upon the nether sea (Sa Esagila minirit apsi
ullg rgcSu, ibnu-ma ziggurat apsa eliti ....... [ana Esagila]
kuppat apsi kalisunu pakru), and this at once explains our
Hebrew text.29 As for the phrase "and YHWH will sit
(enthroned) for ever", this must be regarded as something
like a "God save the king!" In precisely the same way,
the divine ancestors of Marduk are said, in Enuma eli? iv
28, to hail him with the cry "Marduk is king" (dMarduk-ma
sarru), while in the Canaanite Poem of Baal (III AB, A 32)
the defeated monster Yammu explains: "Let Baal be king"
(B'l-m ymlk).30
9. The concluding verse (11) of the Psalm ("YHWH
giveth strength to His people; YHWH blesseth His people
with peace") is usually regarded as an addition made when
the poem was incorporated into or adapted for the public
liturgy, and analogies to it may certainly be found in Ps.
28:8; 68:36, etc. It should be observed, however, that an
exactly comparable expression occurs in Enuma eliS vi 113,
where the minor gods hail their new king Marduk in the
words "Verily, Marduk is the strength of his land and of
his-people" (dMarudukku lu tukultu matsu u nis'su). This
suggests that it was part of the original mythological hymn.
In itself, of course, it was a liturgical formula, probably
used at ceremonies of enthronization and therefore adopted

28
Cf. Chajes,PgrushMada'iin loc.
29 Similarly,in CT VIII 35, i 17 Mardukis said to have established
his dwelling on the waters (dMardukamam ina pan me irkus). Cf. also
Psalm104:3and note that in Amos9:6 we mustreadintlr;V,:1 na1,j
for l1jr. -:sr. nal,r of MT and versions;cf. the writerin Journal
of theManchester Egyptianand OrientalSociety,XIX, 23-26.
30 Cf. also Enuma eliS
vi, 114-15.

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
64 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

into the liturgy whenever a god was hymned in the role

of king; this would account for its substantial recurrence
in Pss. 28:8; 68:36, etc. The point is, however, that its
presence in our psalm is not due to such adoption at a later
date; on the contrary, it was adopted already in the original
composition.
10. Thus it would appear that Psalm 29 is a form of the
ritual laudation of the victorious god which formed part
of the seasonal pantomime of the New Year Festival. It
must be emphasized, however, that this in no way implies
that the seasonal pantomime actually obtained in official
Israelitic cultus, as has been so frequently supposed. All
that we are here suggesting is that certain hymnodic pat-
terns, derived from these earlier usages, survived in literary
convention.3I This is, of course, a very different thing, and
the difference is salient. At the same time, we would not
deny that the survival often involved more than a mere
persistence of forms. Evidence is increasing daily that
many of the psalms were conscious and deliberate Yahwiza-
tions of current "pagan" compositions; and, as a matter
of fact, we believe that this was the case in the present
instance, particularly in view of H. L. Ginsberg's brilliant
recognition of an early Canaanite grammatical form in
verse 6, where for the Massoretic wayarqidem we should
read wayarqed-ma (or wayirqad-ma?), with the archaic co-

3' Cp. Folk-Lore 1933, p. 382, note 13:"I believe that ... several of
the Old Testament psalms (notably Psalm xxix) were originally 'Adad-
hymns' which were retained in the Israelitic cultus long after the god
had become spiritualized. Thus, the pattern of them may be condi-
tioned by ritual circumstances which were long obsolete in the days
wherein they were still recited. Accordingly, the 'ascension' [i.e. cor-
onation]-psalms would only argue that an 'ascension [i.e. coronation]
-rite' had place in the primitive Adad-cult from which the hymns de-
rived, not that it really persisted in Israel merely because the psalms
persisted.'

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 PSALM 29-GASTER 65

ordinative suffix -ma.32 It can scarcely be doubted, as Marti

insisted some thirty years ago, that beside the official cult
of YHWH in Jerusalem there existed a more primitive folk-
religion throughout the length and breadth of Palestine.
This may have taken the form of mere folkloristic and un-
meaning customs rather than of formal religion, but it
must certainly have had its influence upon the cult of
YHWH; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that the
zealous propagandists of the latter may frequently have
tried to "fetch the public" by adopting and adapting the
songs and airs current in the former, on the same principle
as induced General Booth of the Salvation Army to set
his hymns to popular melodies on the grounds that "the
Devil shouldn't have the best tunes." Has not Professor
Soothill told us33that he once heard children in India singing
enthusiastically:

Buddha loves me; this I know

For the Sutras tell me so?"

32 Other clear examples of this suffix-ma,misunderstoodin the Mas-

soretic recension, are: (a) Numbers 24:17 py' D31 -i-n7,"Jacob's
T
star ruleth" (Albright); (b) Deut. 33:3 ']nn't D': '1Dln,lt. Dl1l 'and
they - they crouchat thy feet that they may receive thine utterances';
(c) Joel 1:17: nlnl' D1lDi,, "overturned are the barns" (cf. Hag. 2:19);
(d) Psalm 42:5 a ,nl n,' nr DT, "I move to the temple."
33 The Modern Churchman, xii (1922), 390.

This content downloaded from 193.0.65.67 on Fri, 04 Dec 2015 09:40:32 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions