Chapter X

THE SUPREME GOD AMONG THE GODS

Having compared the Assyrian and Hebrew hymns, with reference to their external form, and the circumstances under which they were sung, it is now proper to examine more closely the actual contents of the hymns. The subject of all genuine hymns is God. It is an argument for the common nature of the Assyrian and Hebrew hymns that practically all the hymnal phrases can be classified under the following heads:

1. The supreme God among the gods. 2. The glory of His name. 3. The supreme God a heaven’s god. 4. The supreme God in his sanctuary. 5. The supreme God as creator. 6. The supreme God as God of nature. 7. The supreme God as wise. 8. The supreme God as powerful. 9. The supreme God as merciful. 10. The supreme God as king. 11. The supreme God as judge.

This classification enables us to study at one and the same time the phraseology and the content of the Assyrian and Hebrew hymns. It may be said at the outset, that there are practically no specific cases where literary dependence can be demonstrated, but, what is more important, there is a very striking similarity of phraseology, implying similar religious ideas. This phraseology of the Assyrian hymns has its value for the interpretation of the Hebrew hymns, and their content, and a like value for the study of the Hebrew religion.

In comparing the phraseology of the Assyrian and the Hebrew hymns, the most obvious difference is that the Assyrian hymns are addressed to many different deities, each with its own proper name, Shamash, Sin, Marduk, Ninib, and many others. The existence of the other gods is implied in some Hebrew hymns, but the Hebrew hymnist never concedes to them an individual independent existence, much less a name. Furthermore, one meets everywhere in the Assyrian hymns the distinction of sex. There are husbands and wives, sons and daughters, among the gods:

Strong, lofty one, highest of the goddesses; O Damkina, Queen of all the gods, Strong wife of Ea, valiant art thou. —Hymn to Sarpanitum.

Am I not the daughter of Bel? —Hymn to Belit.

O strong son. First born of Bel; Great perfect offspring of Isara. —Hymn to Ninib No. 1.

O lord, first born of Marduk, O ruler, lofty offspring of Sarpanitum. —Hymn to Nebo No. 1.

The father who begot thee Ea thou excellest. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.

Sister of Shamash, Ornament of heaven —Hymn to Ishtar No. 5.

Sin, bright brilliant god, Ninnar, first born of Ekur, son of Bel. —Hymn to Sin No. 2.

First born of Ea. —Hymn to Marduk No. 1.

Lord, mighty and exalted, first born of Nunnammir, Offspring of Kutushar the mighty queen. —Hymn to Nergal No. 1.

One would expect that the god to whom the hymn is addressed would be regarded as the supreme God, but in some hymns his subordinate relationship to other gods is recognized:

Shamash, the support of Anu and Bel art thou. —Hymn to Shamash No. 1.

He whom Anu in his lofty power hath chosen I am. —Hymn to Ninib No. 3.

Mighty art thou among the gods, Ea has made thee splendid; (Through the proclamation) of the oracle has Bel made thee great. O Nebo, bearer of the tables of destiny of the gods, Messenger of Anu, who brings Bel’s commands to fulfillment. —Hymn to Nusku No. 3.

The Assyrian refers altogether naturally to his deity as a god among gods, and frequently ascribes to him only a relative degree of strength and power:

A mighty one among the gods art thou. —Hymn to Sin No. 4.

O Marduk, powerful one of the gods. —Hymn to Marduk No. 2.

Great one, ruler of the gods, Marduk mighty one. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.

Thou art great among the gods, mighty is thy command. —Hymn to Damkina.

It is only when the Assyrian hymn applies to its deity the superlative degree, that it touches common ground with the Hebrew hymn. For both Assyrian and Hebrew worshippers praise their deity as the incomparable god. Such passages from Assyrian hymns are:

O mighty God, to whom there is no rival in the assembly of the great gods. —Hymn to Marduk No. 5.

Marduk, among all gods thou excellest. —Hymn to Marduk No. 6.

(Prince) of heaven and earth who hath not his equal. —Hymn to Marduk No. 7.

Bel to whom in his strength there is no opponent. —Hymn to Marduk No. 12.

Among the goddesses is none like unto her. —Hymn to Sarpanitum.

King of kings, exalted one, whose decrees none can oppose, No god is like unto thy divinity. —Hymn to Sin No. 5.

And some Hebrew hymns recognize the existence of the gods in asserting the absolute superiority of Yahwe:

For I know that Yahwe is great, Even our Lord than all gods. —Psalm 135:5.

For a great God is Yahwe, And a great King over all gods. —Psalm 95:3.

For great is Yahwe, and to be praised exceedingly; Terrible is He above all gods. —Psalm 96:4.

Also the existence of many gods is implied in the rhetorical questions common to the Assyrian and Hebrew hymns. Assyrian:

O lord who is like thee, who can be compared to thee; Mighty one, who is like thee, who can be compared to thee; Lord Nannar who is like thee, who can be compared to thee? —Hymn to Sin No. 5.

Identical in form is the question addressed to Nergal:

O lord who is like thee, who can be compared to thee; Most mighty one, who is like unto thee, who can be compared to thee; Nergal who is like thee, who can be compared to thee? —Hymn to Nergal No. 6.

Ishtar herself asks the question:

Who is equal to me, me; Who is comparable to me, me? —Hymn to Ishtar No. 4.

The question is followed by the answer in the following examples:

Who is exalted in heaven, Thou alone art exalted; Who is exalted on earth, Thou alone art exalted. —Hymn to Sin No. 5.

What god in heaven or earth can be compared to thee, Thou art high over all of them Among the gods superior is thy counsel. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.

Biblical examples of such rhetorical questions are:

For who in the skies can be compared unto Yahwe, Who is like Yahwe among the gods? —Psalm 89:7.

Yahwe god of hosts who is like thee? Strong art thou Yahwe and thy faithfulness is round about thee. —Psalm 89:9.

Who is like Yahwe our God, in heaven or in earth, Who sittest on high, who peereth into the depths? —Psalm 113:5f.

Moreover there is, for Assyrian, as for Hebrew, the council of the gods, in which one god is the supreme judge.

O mighty god to whom there is no rival in the assembly of the great gods. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.

Then come the great gods for trial before thee. —Hymn to Shamash No. 3.

Yahwe takes his stand in the council of gods: In the midst of gods he judgeth. —Psalm 82:1.

A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones, And to be feared above all them that are round about Him. —Psalm 89:8.

Furthermore, both in Assyrian and Biblical hymns, the gods themselves do homage to the highest god:

O Sin, at thy appearance the gods assemble; Kings, all of them, prostrate themselves. —Hymn to Sin No. 3.

There bow before thee the Igigi, the Annunaki, the gods, the goddesses. —Hymn to Marduk No. 1.

Worship him all ye gods. —Psalm 97:7.

Ascribe unto Yahwe Ye sons of God, Ascribe unto Yahwe Glory and strength. —Psalm 29:1.

Yahwe, who is thus worshipped by the gods, can appropriately be called “God of gods and Lord of lords”:

O give thanks unto the God of gods. —Psalm 136:2.

O give thanks unto the Lord of lords. —Psalm 136:3.

The Assyrian hymn passes beyond the point where the deity is exalted above other gods:

Whose great glory through Bel the regent of heaven, Is exceedingly high over all gods, —Hymn to Marduk No. 1.

to the point where the god alone is exalted:

O lord chief of the gods, who alone is exalted on earth and in heaven; Who is exalted in heaven, thou alone art exalted; Who is exalted on earth, thou alone art exalted. —Hymn to Sin No. 5.

Likewise the Hebrew hymn speaks of the exaltation of Yahwe and passes beyond the point where Yahwe is high above all gods.

For thou art high over all the earth, Thou art gone up exceedingly above all gods. —Psalm 97:9.

High over all nations is Yahwe; Over the heavens his glory. —Psalm 113:4.

to the point where Yahwe alone is exalted in the earth:

Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted in the earth; I will be exalted among the nations. —Psalm 46:11.

It was said above that certain Hebrew hymnal passages recognize the existence of other gods. It might have been pointed out there that one of those passages,

For great is Yahwe and to be praised exceedingly; Terrible is he above all gods —Psalm 96:4.

is followed by:

For all the gods of the peoples are idols; But Yahwe made the heavens —Psalm 96:5.

and Psalm 135:5:

For I know that Yahwe is great, Even our Lord than all gods

is followed by 135:15:

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.

Yet this may not be an outright denial of the existence of all gods, nor an interesting example of the retention of phraseology which the religion had outgrown. The Israel of most of the hymns was very much a nation among the nations. With feeling, at once intensely national and intensely religious, Israel poured its contempt upon idolatry, and declared that the nations had no god. On earth Yahwe is the supreme God, and in heaven in the heavenly court he reigns supreme, and the gods who are there, serve him and enhance his glory.

The Glory of His Name

Assyrian and Hebrew hymns are alike, in that both exalt the name of deity. For both the name of the god is great and glorious and to be feared. It is known in all the earth and is not to be forgotten. There seems to have been an element of mystery, possibly due to magic, attached to the name of the Assyrian deity.

Flood watering the harvest, knows anyone thy name. —Hymn to Nergal No. 6.

And in this connection it is well to notice that Ishtar announces herself by several names:

My first name is I am Ishtar My second name is Lady of the countries. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 4.

Great and terrible is the name of the Assyrian and Hebrew deity.

The lord Ninib I am, at the naming of my name may be prostrated the lofty powers. —Hymn to Ninib No. 5.

Exceeding great is thy name, Marduk mighty one. —Hymn to Marduk No. 1.

Asshur, glorious one, whose name arouses fear, —Hymn to Asshur.

Let them praise thy name great and terrible. —Psalm 99:3.

Known in Judah is God, in Israel great is his name. —Psalm 76:2.

Lord whose name is glorious, recorder of the world. —Hymn to Enlil.

Not to us. Not to us, but to thy name give glory. —Psalm 115:1.

Thy name is altogether good in the mouths of the peoples. —Hymn to Marduk No. 13.

Thy name is spread abroad, in the mouths of men, O protecting god. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 1.

Whose name is brilliant in all the earth, that is my glory. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 5.

As thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. —Psalm 48:11.

Yahwe, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth. —Psalm 8:2.

Not only universal, but also eternal, is the fame of Assyrian and Hebrew deity:

Therefore may the fame of Asshur not be forgotten, may men remember Essharra. —Hymn to Asshur.

Yahwe thy name is forever, Yahwe thy remembrance to generation and generation. —Psalm 135:13.

It may be significant also, that, while the name of the Assyrian and the Hebrew deity is great and glorious and terrible, universally known and never to be forgotten, it is said only of the Hebrew deity, that his name is holy:

For in Him doth our heart rejoice, For in His Holy Name do we trust. —Psalm 33:21.

Bless my soul Yahwe, and all that is within me His Holy name. —Psalm 103:1.

While both Assyrian and Hebrew hymns exalt the name of the deity, there is no passage in any Assyrian hymn, revealing such enthusiasm on the part of an individual, for the name of the god as Psalm 145:1b:

I will exalt thee, my god, O king, And I will bless thy name for ever Every day will I bless thee, And I will praise thy name for ever and aye,

Nor is there any passage in an Assyrian hymn calling upon universal nature, sun, moon and stars, mountains, and hills, rain and snow, all living creatures, all men and women, old and young, kings and nations, to praise the name of God, as Psalm 148:13:

Let them praise the name of Yahwe For his name alone is exalted.

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