Chapter XII

THE SUPREME GOD AS CREATOR

The ordinary person is very likely to limit the thought of God as creator to the monotheistic religions. However the religious imagination is by no means controlled by logical reasoning. The problem of creation, in some form or other, has its fascination even for the primitive mind, and the conception of God as creator is not foreign to the religious thinking of polytheistic religions. Accordingly, although the Assyrian deities never completely succeeded in emancipating themselves from close association with heavenly bodies and atmospheric forces, yet some of them did win for themselves the significant title of creator:

O Lord of heaven who created the earth. —Hymn to Ninib No. 4.

Creator of the land, founder of sanctuaries, proclaimer of names. —Hymn to Sin No. 7.

Creator of the totality of heaven and earth, art thou O Shamash. —Hymn to Shamash No. 6.

Creator of the upper universe, builder of the mountains, Creator of the gods, begetter of the goddesses. —Hymn to Asshur.

In the preceding couplet one might expect instead of “builder of the mountains,” “builder of the earth,” but the second line would seem to suggest that the mountains were the abodes of the gods, and therefore the creation of mountains and gods is associated together. The following couplet, while not affirming explicitly the act of creation by deity, seems nevertheless to presuppose it:

Heaven and earth are thine; The space of heaven and earth is thine. —Hymn to Marduk No. 6.

Turning to the Hebrew hymns, there is a great variety of passages, in which Yahwe is referred to as creator:

Let all the earth fear Yahwe; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him, For he spake and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast. —Psalm 33:8f.

To him that spread forth the earth above the waters. —Psalm 136:6.

To him that by understanding made the heavens. —Psalm 136:5.

To him that made great lights, The sun to rule by day, The moon and stars to rule by night. —Psalm 136:7-9.

When I behold thy heavens, The work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, Which thou hast ordained. —Psalm 8:4.

By the word of Yahwe were the heavens made, And by the breath of his mouth all their host. —Psalm 33:6.

The sun, moon and stars, the highest heaven and the waters above the heavens are called upon to praise Yahwe their creator:

Let them praise the name of Yahwe, For he commanded, and they were created. —Psalm 148:5.

He is also the creator of the sea:

He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap; He layeth up the deeps in storehouses. —Psalm 33:7.

Here may be inserted the only reference in an Assyrian hymn to the creation of the sea:

Thou didst bind the wide sea.

Beside this should be placed the somewhat similar statement in Psalm 104:9:

Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, That they turn not again to cover the earth.

Once Yahwe is praised as the creator of the sea and the land:

The sea is his and he made it, And his hand formed the dry land. —Psalm 95:5.

Twice Yahwe is referred to as “maker of heaven and earth”:

Yahwe bless thee out of Zion, Maker of Heaven and Earth. —Psalm 134:3.

Blessed are ye of Yahwe, Maker of heaven and earth. —Psalm 115:15.

In Psalm 33:6-9, the creation of the heavens, the sea, the earth are referred to in order and Psalm 104:2-9 treats of the creation of the heavens, the earth and the sea, singling out that which is especially marvelous in the creation of each. As for the heavens, it is that the beams of heaven’s chambers are laid upon the waters of the heavenly ocean. As for the earth, it is that its foundations are so surely fixed that it is immovable; and as for the sea, it is that its unruly waters should be imprisoned within their bounds and restrained from overflowing the earth.

The Assyrian deity is also credited with the creation of gods and goddesses:

Creator of the gods, begetter of the goddesses. —Hymn to Asshur.

This creation is probably to be understood in the physical sense, for which there are many parallels in polytheistic religions, but no parallel in the Hebrew hymns. On the other hand the phraseology of the following passages:

King and rulers thou namest, Since to create gods and kings rests with thee. —Hymn to Bel No. 3.

Through the mouth may it be proclaimed; Without interruption may the ear hear it, That I Asshur have named you to lordship Over land and men —Hymn to Asshur.

is entirely similar to Hebrew usage. Here the creation of God and King is equivalent to nomination or appointment. Similarly Yahwe appoints a king over Zion:

Yet I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: Yahwe said to me Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee. —Psalm 2:6f.

and in Psalm 82:6, although it is not said that Yahwe creates or begets the gods, yet it seems to be his fiat, his decree that calls them into being:

I said, gods shall ye be And sons of the Most High all of you.

It is also his decree that destroys them:

Nevertheless as men shall ye die, And as one of the princes shall ye fall.

It is a question of secondary importance whether the Elohim is here to be interpreted as actually gods, or judges. In either case, there is the similarity in Assyrian and Hebrew usage.

Finally the creation of mankind is ascribed to the Assyrian deity, and by this is apparently meant the creation of the entire human family:

At thy command created was mankind. —Hymn to Bel No. 3.

The creator of all mankind. —Hymn to Marduk No. 14.

Heroine Ishtar, creator of mankind. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 3.

The Hebrew hymnists also believed that Yahwe created mankind, and they marvelled at the perfection of man’s body:

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. —Psalm 139:14.

They marvelled also at his supreme place in the universe:

For thou hast caused him to lack little of the gods; With glory and honor thou hast crowned him. —Psalm 8:6.

It is significant, however, that Hebrew hymnal enthusiasm is not so much stirred by the thought of Yahwe as the creator of mankind, as it is by the thought of him as the creator of the Hebrew nation:

Let Israel rejoice in its maker, Let the sons of Zion be joyful in their King. —Psalm 149:2.

Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before Yahwe our maker, For he is our god, and we are His people and the sheep of his pasture. —Psalm 95:6f.

This conviction, that Yahwe was the creator of their nation, was in no small degree both cause and result of the powerful national and religious enthusiasm of the Hebrews, and of that mighty religious experience, which finds so full and so free expression in the Hebrew hymns.

The Supreme God as the God of Nature

The Assyrian and Hebrew hymnal literature which praise the deity as the creator of the world, are also concerned with the deity as the god of nature. One prominent function of both Assyrian and Hebrew deity was to maintain the food supply. Assyrian and Hebrew God, give the increase of the soil:

Enlil, who makest to abound pure oil and milk: Father Enlil, keeper of the plants of the garden; Keeper of the grain fields are thou. —Hymn to Enlil.

Lord of the lands, king of heaven and earth, who heaps up abundance, Lord of the living things, merciful one, increaser of the wheat. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.

Who maketh peace in the borders Who filleth thee with the purest of the wheat. —Psalm 147:14.

Who causeth grass to sprout for the cattle, And herbs for the service of man, To bring forth food from the earth, And wine to make glad the heart of man. —Psalm 104:14.

Thou distributest the food of cultivation to all habitations —Hymn to Marduk No. 2.

The Assyrian deity of the hymnist also provides food for the gods, probably through the sacrifices, which in turn were dependent upon the crops:

Thou suppliest the food of god and goddess, The creator among them art thou. —Hymn to Marduk No. 9.

Yahwe provides food not only for man but also for the beasts:

Who giveth to the beast its food, To the young ravens which cry. —Psalm 147:9.

The young lions roar after their prey, And seek from God their food. —Psalm 104:21.

It may be remarked that these verses reveal a close bond of sympathy between the Hebrew God and the lower animals. This finds fullest expression in Psalm 104 where the brooks in the mountains afford drink for the wild beasts, and the birds and the cedars of Lebanon avail for birds’ nests, the high mountains for the wild goats and the rocks for the conies.

While the Assyrian hymns do not happen to speak of the god as providing food for the animals, yet there is one hymnal passage which reveals regard for the lower animals and perhaps also suggests a bond of sympathy between deity and the lower animals:

The creeping beast, the four footed one, For thy great light their eyes are directed to thee. —Hymn to Shamash No. 7.

The fertility of the soil is directly due to the act of the deity in sending rain:

In the heavens I take my place and send rain; In the earth I take my place and cause the verdure to spring forth. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 4.

Thou causest to rain the abundant rains, mighty floods. —Hymn to Marduk No. 1.

The Hebrew poet remarks that the rain comes from the clouds, and he has also observed that lightning is followed by rain. It is Yahwe:

Who covereth the heavens with clouds; Who prepareth for the earth rain; Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. —Psalm 147:8.

Who bringeth up vapors from the ends of the earth; Lightnings for rain he maketh. —Psalm 135:7.

He watereth the mountains from his chambers. —Psalm 104:13.

Likewise the fertility occasioned by the rivers and streams is due, in the first place, to the deities which have opened the springs, and guided the streams down into the plains:

Who guidest the rivers in the midst of the mountains, Who openest the springs in the midst of the hills. —Hymn to Marduk No. 2.

Thou maintainest abundance without end, the dried up spring thou openest. —Hymn to Marduk No. 2.

Director of the river courses, opener of the springs. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.

Marduk, lord of abundance of riches, who pours down fullness, Lord of the mountain streams and waters, ruler of the mountains, Opener of the fountains and springs, guide of the rivers, Bestower of corn and grain, creator of wheat and barley, renewer of the green herb. —Hymn to Marduk No. 9.

Gushea who gives the growth of plants, Without thee is no river opened, no river shut off. Thou who grantest life, without thee is no canal opened, No canal shut off from which numerous people drink; Without thee is no sacrificial portion, no portion of food. —Hymn to Ishtar.

Yahwe also can open the spring:

Who turnest the rock into a pool of water, The flint into a fountain of water —Psalm 114:8.

and Yahwe is also the guide of the streams:

Who sendest forth springs into the valleys, Between the mountains they run. —Psalm 104:10.

In addition to sending rain from heaven and causing streams to irrigate the plains, the Assyrian deity also sows the seed:

Over the land thou goest scattering seed. —Ninib No. 5.

The work of the deities in nature as elsewhere need not always be done immediately, but can be accomplished by the spoken word. Assyrian and Hebrew hymns alike exalt the power of the divine word. The voice that speaks the word is a voice of thunder.

To him that rideth in the ancient heavens, He uttereth his voice, a voice of strength. —Psalm 68:34.

As the sound of Adad’s thunder thy voice is awe inspiring. —Marduk II col. III.

The word of God is irresistible:

Counsellor, favorite of Ea, whose word cannot be withstood, To whose powerful word the great Igigi give heed. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.

Thy word is proclaimed in heaven, and the Igigi prostrate themselves: Thy word is proclaimed on earth, and the Annunaki kiss the ground. —Hymn to Sin No. 5.

The word once spoken is not to be recalled. It is unalterable. It goes on to do that work which the deity hath pleased:

The exalted hero, whose word is unalterable. —Hymn to Marduk No. 14.

Perfect in judgment, whose word is not altered: Determiner of destinies, whose word is not altered. —Hymn to Bel.

Ninib, whose command is not altered. —Ninib 4:32.

The word of the deity has its mysterious independent existence:

Thy word is like the distant heaven and the concealed earth, which no man can see Thy word who can know it, who can compare with it? —Hymn to Sin No. 5.

The word exerts its power in nature:

Thy word sounds on high like a storm wind and food and drink do abound; The word makes fat stall and stable and multiplies living creatures. —Hymn to Sin No. 5.

More wonderful still, the word has ethical power:

Thy word causest truth and righteousness to arise, That men may speak the truth. —Hymn to Sin line 26.

The word also exerts its destructive power in nature:

Thy word when it extends to the sea the very sea is frightened; Thy word when it extends to the marsh, the marsh laments. —Hymn to Sin No. 4.

Thy word is a lofty net which over heaven and earth thou spreadest out: Unto the sea it turns, the sea takes fright: Unto the marsh it turns, the marsh laments: To the flood of Euphrates it turns; The word of Marduk stirs up the bottom. —Hymn to Marduk No. 5.

The word may bring disaster to people and to lands:

His word is brought to an enchanter, that enchanter takes fright; His word is brought to a seer, that seer takes fright; His word is brought to a sorrowful man, that man laments; His word is brought to a sorrowful woman, that woman laments; His word when it goes softly, ruins the land; His word when it goes powerfully, destroys the houses; His word makes people sick, it makes the people weak; His word when it goes on high, makes the land sick; His word when it goes below, devastates the land; His word when there are five in a house, drives out five; His word when there are ten in a house, drives out ten. —Hymn to Nergal No. 6.

The utterance of my exalted command destroys the land of the foe. —Hymn to Belit.

Likewise the word of Yahwe has in the biblical hymns its independent existence. This is apparent in Psalm 29, although in this instance it is the thunder, as the voice of the deity, to which the devastation in nature is attributed. Yahwe’s word exerts its power in nature; causing the snow and ice to form, and again causing them to disappear:

He sendeth his command to earth; Swiftly runneth his word. —Psalm 147:15.

He sendeth his word and melteth them; He causeth his wind to blow and the water flows. —Psalm 147:18.

Fire and hail, snow and vapor, Storm wind fulfilling his word. —Psalm 148:8.

For the Hebrew, the power of Yahwe’s word is manifested supremely in the creation of the world:

Over the mountains stood the waters: At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of the thunder they hasted away. —Psalm 104:7.

By the word of Yahwe were the heavens made, And by the breath of his mouth their host. —Psalm 33:6.

For he spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. —Psalm 33:9.

For he commanded and they were created. —Psalm 148:5.

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