Chapter XIV
THE SUPREME GOD AS KING AND JUDGE
The final significance and supreme importance of deity for Assyrian and Hebrew hymnists is perhaps best summed up in the words: “King” and “Judge.” To be sure the person in sickness of any kind could and did have recourse to the god who had wisdom and power to work deliverance. But, even as the life of the Assyrian and Hebrew peoples revolved around the earthly king upon his throne, so they sought for authority and leadership, protection and prosperity, in a heavenly king, whose right it was to reign in heaven and on earth. It is not strange then that many Assyrian hymns do homage to the deity as, “King of heaven and earth”:
Shamash king of heaven and earth governor of things above and below. —Hymn to Shamash No. 6.
Lord of the lands, king of heaven and earth, who heaps up abundance. —Hymn to Marduk No. 3.
Marduk king of heaven and earth. —Hymn to Marduk No. 6.
Marduk regent of heaven and earth. —Hymn to Marduk No. 1.
He whose sovereignty glitters to the borders of heaven and earth am I. —Hymn to Ninib No. 3.
Here may be placed the corresponding title of the goddess:
Queen of heaven above and below let it be spoken. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 5.
There are three references to the throne:
Thou placest on the glittering heavens thy throne. —Hymn to Sin No. 2.
When he sits upon the great throne of the holy chamber, On the festal day when he takes his seat in joy, raising himself in brilliancy. —Hymn to Ninib No. 4.
Amid shouts of joy as king ascendest thou. —Hymn to Sin No. 3.
Twice the sceptre is referred to:
A sceptre for remote days has Bel finished for thy hand. —Hymn to Sin No. 3.
Marduk holds in his hand the sceptre. —Hymn to Marduk.
While the god’s throne is in heaven, it is his sovereignty over the earth which the hymnist has especially in mind:
In powerful sovereignty thou rulest the lands, Thou placest on the glittering heavens thy throne. —Hymn to Sin No. 2.
Bel, gracious king, lord of the lands. —Hymn to Marduk No. 12.
Ninib, king, whose father made submissive to him distant lands. —Hymn to Ninib No. 7.
The “king of heaven and earth” is at the same time:
King of Babylon, lord of Esagila, King of Ezida, lord of Emachtila. —Hymn to Marduk No. 6.
Kingship may be entrusted to the particular deity by the supreme god:
A sceptre for remote days has Bel furnished for thy hand. —Hymn to Sin No. 3.
On the other hand, a certain measure of independence of the supreme god seems to be assigned in the same two hymns to the two deities:
Ninib King son of Bel, who of himself is exalted. —Hymn to Ninib No. 7.
Thou placest on the glittering heavens thy throne. —Hymn to Sin No. 2.
There are two statements related to the quality of the kingly rule:
Father Nannar, whose kingship is perfect. —Hymn to Sin No. 5.
King of kings, exalted, whose decrees none rival. —Hymn to Sin No. 5.
“King of kings” occurs only here in the Assyrian hymns. It is a title that would come naturally into use, where city kings were compelled to pay homage to royal founders of empires.
Turning to the biblical hymns, it is noteworthy that, while Yahwe is spoken of several times as the “Maker of heaven and earth,” he is no where called “King of heaven and earth.” This would be such an appropriate title for Yahwe that its absence tends to indicate that there was little verbal borrowing of Hebrew hymnists from the Assyrian. Reference is made however in the biblical hymns to Yahwe’s throne:
Yahwe hath established his throne in the heavens, And his kingdom ruleth over all. —Psalm 103:19.
which is quite similar to the following passage from Hymn to Sin No. 2:
In powerful sovereignty thou rulest the lands, Thou placest on the glittering heavens thy throne.
In both cases the throne (1) is in the heavens, (2) is established by deity himself, (3) is the seat from which wide sovereignty is exerted over the earth.
God reigneth over the nations, He sitteth upon his holy throne. —Psalm 47:9.
One is tempted to translate this: “He sitteth upon the throne of his sanctuary,” which is parallel to the following passage from Hymn to Ninib No. 7:
When he sits upon the great throne of the holy chamber.
This translation is supported by Psalm 150:1: “Praise God in his sanctuary.” There are two references to the throne in the biblical hymns:
Established is thy throne of old. —Psalm 93:2.
Righteousness and justice are the establishment of his throne. —Psalm 97:2.
In both Assyrian and Hebrew hymns, the ascension to the throne is referred to as a joyous occasion:
Amid shouts of joy as king ascendest thou; A sceptre for remote days has Bel furnished for thy hand. —Hymn to Sin No. 7.
God is gone up with a shout, Yahwe with the sound of a trumpet. —Psalm 47:6.
There is no reference to the sceptre as in Yahwe’s hand, in the biblical hymns, although the sceptre is in the hands of the Messiah. (Psalm 2) As in the Assyrian hymns, emphasis is placed upon Yahwe’s sovereignty over the earth:
For Yahwe most high is terrible A great king over all the earth. —Psalm 47:3.
For God is the king of all the earth. —Psalm 47:8.
God reigneth over the nations. —Psalm 47:9.
Say among the nations, Yahwe is king. —Psalm 96:10.
Yahwe is king; let the earth rejoice. —Psalm 97:1.
Yahwe reigneth, let the people tremble; He sitteth above the cherubims, let the earth be moved. —Psalm 99:1.
There can be no question of Yahwe’s subordination to any other God or accepting sovereignty from any other deity:
For a great God is Yahwe and a great king over all gods. —Psalm 95:3.
Sin has been given by Bel: “a sceptre for remote days,” but:
Yahwe will be king forever, Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. —Psalm 146:10.
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. —Psalm 145:13.
Not only will Yahwe reign forever, but Yahwe has been reigning from the beginning:
Established is thy throne of old. —Psalm 93:2.
Yahwe sat at the flood, Yea Yahwe sitteth as king forever. —Psalm 29:10.
It is perhaps important for Old Testament scholarship to bear in mind that the conception of the deity as king is so very old, and that it is present in the biblical hymns which can not be classed as eschatological. It is in Psalm 103 that one finds the words:
Yahwe in the heavens hath established his throne, And his kingdom ruleth over all
and in Psalm 95 which can not be called eschatological, we have:
For a great God is Yahwe, And a great king over all gods —Psalm 95:3.
while in Psalm 48:3, Jerusalem is the: “City of the great king.” While therefore “Yahwe is King” is actually the opening line of several eschatological hymns, and while those hymns exult in the complete triumph of Yahwe yet it is only the completeness of the triumph that distinguishes in the matter of kingship the eschatological hymns from the others.
The Supreme God as Judge
Kingship also implied Judgeship, the latter word having particular application to the rendering of judicial decisions or the achievement of justice for the oppressed. The actual word judge occurs occasionally in the Assyrian hymns as a title of the deity:
Shamash, lofty Judge of heaven and earth art thou. —Hymn to Shamash No. 1.
Judge of heaven and earth; shining one of the world regions. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 2.
Judgeship in the Assyrian hymns implies authority. The deity as judge determines the course of events in the world:
Shamash, judge of the world, director of decisions art thou. —Hymn to Shamash No. 4.
Shamash the lofty decider, the judge of heaven and earth art thou. —Hymn to Shamash No. 3.
Judge of all, who closest the door before the darkness, Who makes the decisions for men in their settlements. —Hymn to Ninib No. 2.
Bel thy father has granted thee, That the law of all the gods thy hand should hold, Thou renderest the judgment of mankind. —Hymn to Ninib No. 1.
The judgeship of the Assyrian god has also ethical content:
Eternally just in heaven art thou. —Hymn to Shamash No. 1.
Judge incorruptible, governor of mankind. —Hymn to Shamash No. 6.
Consequently the god intervenes in earthly affairs to overthrow wickedness and establish righteousness:
Just judge, who surveys the hearts of man who like the ... Makes right and justice to shine, who against the evil ... —Hymn to Nusku No. 12.
Nusku, mighty warrior god, who burns up the evil doer, Who introduces law and insight, administrator. —Hymn to Nusku No. 2.
The wicked and the violent man thou correctest, proclaimest their condemnation. —Hymn to Ishtar No. 3.
Yahwe also exercised judgeship. The idea of kingship surely involves that of judgeship with it. And as king it is said of Yahwe:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. —Psalm 97:2.
A strong one has become king, He loveth justice. —Psalm 99:4.
Yahwe overthrows wickedness and establishes righteousness:
Thou dost establish equity, Thou executest justice and righteousness in Jacob. —Psalm 99:4.
Psalm 11 says of Yahwe as king:
Yahwe trieth the righteous, But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup. —Psalm 11:5-6.
For God is the judge This one he putteth down, and this one he raiseth up. —Psalm 75:8.
And men shall say, Truly there is a reward for the righteous; Verily there is a God, who judgeth in the earth. —Psalm 58:12.
Yahwe’s act of judgment, therefore, is equivalent to the deliverance of his own people:
Yahwe will judge his people, And upon his servants he will have mercy. —Psalm 135:14.
Yahwe is thus continually judge of his people, but the supreme manifestation of his justice will be seen in the eschatological judgment:
He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with his truth. —Psalm 96:13.
He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity. —Psalm 98:9.
Arise O God, judge the earth, For thou shalt inherit all the nations. —Psalm 82:8.
The rendering of justice by the Assyrian deity is contemplated by his worshippers with joy:
Let Babylon rejoice in thee, let Esagila exult in thee, Thou judgest with justice, and formest decisions. —Hymn to Marduk No. 1.
As Yahwe’s final act of judgment is so comprehensive and momentous, the joy of Yahwe’s people is immeasurably greater than the enthusiasm of military victory. It is interesting to recall that one of the earliest, if not the earliest of all the Hebrew hymns, that sung by Miriam and the Hebrew women, celebrated a victory:
Sing ye to Yahwe, for he hath triumphed gloriously, The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. —Exodus 15:21.
It is the same strong national spirit that flames forth in confidence of the great final victory in Psalm 68:2, 4:
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; Let them that hate him flee before him, But let the righteous be glad; Let them exult before God, And let them rejoice with gladness.
While Yahwe’s victory has primary significance for Israel:
Let Israel rejoice in its maker, Let the sons of Zion be joyful in their king. —Psalm 149:2.
Yet the whole earth will rejoice when Yahwe cometh to judge the earth:
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar and its fulness; Let the field exult, and all that is therein; Then all the trees of the field shall sing for joy; Before Yahwe, for he cometh; For he cometh to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with his truth. —Psalm 96:11-13.
Yahwe is king; let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad. —Psalm 97:1.
Shout to Yahwe all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy, yea sing praises. —Psalm 98:4.
It is important to bear in mind that the conception of God as judge, even as the conception of God as king, is very old, and that Yahwe appears as king and judge in hymns that are not eschatological. It is only when religious faith extends Yahwe’s kingship and judgeship to the whole world, and conceives of Yahwe as triumphantly transforming the world in accordance with justice and truth, that the conception of Yahwe as Judge becomes eschatological.
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