  ILLUSTRATIONS OF PASSAGES IN THE PROPHETS Uniqueness of the Prophetic Books. An Assyrian Prophetic Vision. Comparison with the Bible. The Egyptian Social Conscience. Tale of the Eloquent Peasant. Comparison with the Bible. An Ideal King; Extract from the Admonitions of Ipuwer. Comparison with Messianic Expectations. Sheol. Ishtar’s Descent to the Under-world. Comparison with Prophetic Passages. A Lamentation for Tammuz. There is no other body of literature which closely corresponds to the books of the Hebrew prophets. The depth of their social passion and the power of their moral and religious insight form a unique combination. Nevertheless, texts which have come from Babylonia and Egypt do show that certain phases of prophetic thought were not without parallels elsewhere. At times they also illustrate for us thoughts and practices which the prophets abhorred. A few such texts are here translated. 1. A Prophetic Vision. The following statement is taken from the annals of Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria, 668-626 B. C. It is the conclusion of a passage in which the king is relating his strenuous struggle with Tiuman, King of Elam. Ashurbanipal tells how he poured out a libation to Ishtar of Arbela and offered to her a long prayer against the Elamite king. The narrative then continues:[595] In an hour of that night when I prayed to her, a seer lay down; he saw a prophetic dream. Ishtar caused him to see a vision of the night, and he announced it to me, saying: “Ishtar who dwells at Arbela entered, and on her right and left she was behung with quivers, she was holding a bow in her left hand, she brandished a heavy sword to make war. Thou wast sitting before her. She, like the mother who bore thee, was speaking to thee and talking to thee. Ishtar, the exalted one of the gods, was appointing thee a message: ‘Thou shalt expect to accomplish that[596] at the place which is situated before thee. I am coming.’ Thou wast answering her, saying: ‘Where thou goest I will go with thee, O lady of ladies.’ She repeated to thee, saying: ‘Thou ...... indeed dwellest in the place of Nebo. Eat food, drink wine, appoint rejoicing, exalt my divinity until I go and accomplish this undertaking ...... I will cause thee to accomplish the wish of thy heart. Thy face he shall not harm, thy feet he shall not resist; The night vision of this seer reminds one a little of Isaiah’s vision of Jehovah in the temple (Isa. 6) and of Zechariah’s vision of Joshua and Satan (Zech. 3:1). The Hebrew prophets as late as the time of Jeremiah often received their divine messages in dreams. (See Jer. 23:27.) Assyria had something of the same ideas as Israel as to the revelations of deity to a prophet, but she lacked Israel’s ethical deity. 2. The Egyptian Social Conscience. A remarkable appreciation of the rights of the common people is revealed in an Egyptian story called the “Tale of the Eloquent Peasant,”—a story which has come down to us in copies made before 1800 B. C. It has been claimed that this tale indicates the existence of a social conscience in Egypt analogous to that of the Hebrew prophets. The principal part of the story is, accordingly, given here. The Eloquent Peasant[597] There was a man, Hunanup by name, a peasant of Sechet-hemat, and he had a wife, .......... by name. Then said this peasant to his wife: “Behold, I am going down to Egypt to bring back bread for my children. Go in and measure the corn that we still have in our storehouse, ........ bushel.” Then he measured for her 8 (?) bushels of corn. Then this peasant said to his wife: “Behold, 2 bushels of corn shall be left for bread for thee and the children. But make for me the 6 bushels into bread and beer for each of the days [that I shall be on the road].” Then this peasant went down to Egypt after he had loaded his asses with all the good products[598] of Sechet-hemat. This peasant set out and journeyed southward to Ehnas. He came to a point opposite Per-fefi, north of Medenit, and found there a man standing on the bank, Dehuti-necht by name, who was the son of a man named Iseri, who was one of the serfs of the chief steward, Meruitensi. Then said this Dehuti-necht, when he saw the asses of this peasant which appealed to his covetousness: “Oh that some good god would help me to rob this peasant of his goods!” The house of Dehuti-necht stood close to the side of the path, which was narrow, not wide. It was about the width of a ......-cloth, and upon one side of it was the water and upon the other side was growing grain. Then said Dehuti-necht to his servant: “Hasten and bring me a shawl from the house!” And it was brought at once. Then he spread this shawl upon the middle of the road, and it extended, one edge to the water, and the other to the corn. The peasant came along the path which was the common highway. Then said Dehuti-necht: “Look out, peasant, do not trample on my clothes!” The peasant answered: “I will do as thou wishest; I will go in the right way!” As he Upon that one of the asses took a mouthful of corn. Then said Dehuti-necht: “See, I will take away thy ass because it has eaten my corn ..........” Then the peasant said: “I am going in the right way. As one side was made impassable I have led my ass along the other, and will you seize it because it has taken a mouthful of corn? But I know the lord of this property; it belongs to the chief steward, Meruitensi. It is he who punishes every robber in this whole land. Shall I, then, be robbed in his domain?” Then said Dehuti-necht: “Is it not a proverb which the people employ: ‘The name of the poor is only known on account of his lord?’ It is I who speak to you, but the chief steward of whom you think.”[599] Then he took a rod from a green tamarisk and beat all his limbs with it, and seized his asses and drove them into his compound. Thereupon the peasant wept loudly on account of the pain of what had been done to him. Dehuti-necht said to him: “Don’t cry so loud, peasant, or thou shalt go to the city of the Silence-maker” (a name of the god of the underworld). The peasant said: “Thou beatest me and stealest my goods, and wilt thou also take the wail away from my mouth? O Silence-maker! give me my goods again! May I never cease to cry out, if thou fearest!” The peasant consumed four days, during which he besought Dehuti-necht, but he did not grant him his rights. Then this peasant went to the south, to Ehnas, to implore the chief steward, Meruitensi. He met him as he was coming out of the canal-door of his compound to embark in his boat. Thereupon the peasant said: “Oh let me lay before thee this affair. Permit one of thy trusted servants to come to me, that I may send him to thee concerning it.” Then the steward, Meruitensi, sent one of his servants to him, and he sent back by him an account of the whole affair. Then the chief steward, Meruitensi, laid the case of Dehuti-necht before his attendant officials, and they said to him: “Lord, it is presumably a case of one of your peasants who has gone against another peasant near him. Behold, it is customary with peasants to so conduct themselves toward others who are near them. Shall we beat Dehuti-necht for a little natron and a little salt? Command him to restore it and he will restore it.” The chief steward, Meruitensi, remained silent; he answered neither the officials nor the peasant. The peasant then came to entreat the chief steward, Meruitensi, for the first time, and said: “Chief steward, my lord, thou art greatest of the great, thou art guide of all that which is not and which is. When thou embarkest on the sea of truth, that thou mayest go sailing upon it, then shall not the .......... strip away thy sail, then thy ship shall not remain fast, then shall no misfortune happen to thy mast, then shall thy spars (?) not be broken, then shalt thou not be stranded; if thou runnest fast aground, the waves shall not break upon thee, then thou shalt not taste the impurities of the river, then thou shalt not behold the face of fear; the shyest (?) fish shall come to thee, and thou shalt capture the fat birds. For thou art the father of the orphan, the husband of the widow, the brother of the desolate, the garment of the motherless. Let me place thy name in this land higher than all good laws: thou guide without avarice, thou great one free from meanness, who destroyest deceit, who createst truthfulness. Throw the evil to the ground. I will speak; hear me. Do justice, O thou praised one, whom the praised ones praise. Remove my oppression: behold, I have a heavy ....... to carry; behold, I am troubled of soul; examine me, I am in sorrow.” In the Egyptian story Meruitensi was so pleased with the eloquence of the peasant that he passed him on to another officer and he to still another until he came before the king. Altogether the peasant made nine addresses. For lack of space we can reproduce but one more. For this purpose we select his eighth address. This peasant came to implore him for the eighth time, and said: “Chief steward, my lord, man falls on account of ...... Greed is absent from a good merchant. His good commerce is ........ “Thy heart is greedy; it does not become thee. Thou despoilest: this is not praiseworthy for thee ...... Thy daily rations are in thy house; thy body is well filled ...... The officers, who are set as a protection against injustice,—a curse to the shameless are these officers, who are set as a bulwark against lies. “Fear of thee has not deterred me from supplicating thee; (if thou thinkest so), thou hast not known my heart. The silent one, who turns to report to thee his difficulties, is not afraid to present them to thee ....... Thy real estate is in the country; thy bread is on thy estate; thy food is in the storehouse. Thy officials give to thee and thou takest it. Art thou, then, not a robber? They drag for thee ...... for thee to the plots of arable land. Do the truth for the sake of the lord of truth ....... Thou reed of a scribe, thou roll of a book, thou palette, thou god Thoth, thou oughtest to keep thyself far removed from injustice. Thou virtuous one, thou shouldst be virtuous; thou virtuous one, thou shouldst be really virtuous. Further, truth is true to eternity. She goes with those who perform her to the region of the dead. He will be laid in the coffin and committed to the earth; his name will not perish from the earth, but men will remember him on account of his property: so runs the right interpretation of the divine word. “Does it then happen that the scales stand aslant? Or is it thinkable that the scales incline to one side? “Behold, if I come not, if another comes, then thou hast opportunity to speak as one who answers, as one who addresses the silent, as one who responds to him who has not spoken to thee. Thou hast not been ......; thou hast not been sick. Thou hast not fled; thou hast not departed. But thou hast not yet granted me any reply to this beautiful word which comes from the mouth of the sun-god himself: ‘Speak the truth; do the truth: for it is great, it is mighty, it is everlasting. It will obtain for thee merit, and will lead thee to veneration.’ “For does the scale stand aslant? It is their scale-pans that bear the objects, and in just scales there is no ...... wanting.” The beauty of the sentiments about truth is obvious. The references to scales are to those that were supposed to weigh the deeds of the dead in the under-world. Then the chief steward, Meruitensi, sent two servants to bring him back. Thereupon the peasant feared that he would suffer thirst, as a punishment imposed upon him for what he had said. Then the peasant said ...... (The Egyptian of this address contains difficulties which have never been solved.) Then said the chief steward, Meruitensi: “Fear not, peasant! See, thou shalt remain with me.” Then said the peasant: “I live because I eat of thy bread and drink thy beer forever.” Then said the chief steward, Meruitensi: “Come out here ........” Then he caused them to bring, written on a new roll, all the addresses of these days. The chief steward sent them to his majesty, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neb-kau-re, the blessed, and they were more agreeable to the heart of his majesty than all that was in his land. His majesty said, “Pass sentence thyself, my beloved son!” Then the chief steward, Meruitensi, caused two servants to go and bring a list of the household (of Dehuti-necht) from the government office, and his possessions were six persons, with a selection from his ......, from his barley, from his spelt, from his asses, from his swine, from his .......... From this point on only a few words of the tale can be made out, but it appears from these that the goods selected from the estate of Dehuti-necht were given to the peasant and he was sent home rejoicing. 3. An Ideal King. In the wisdom literature of Egypt appear the admonitions of an Egyptian sage called Ipuwer. In these admonitions a time of dire distress is pictured, in view of which the sage longs for the presence of an ideal king. Some scholars have compared the description of this ideal king with the prophetic conception of the Messiah. It is unnecessary to quote the whole work, which is fragmentary and difficult of translation. A few passages will answer our purpose. From the Admonitions of Ipuwer[600] .......... The door-keepers say: Let us go and plunder. The confectioners .......... The washerman refuses to carry his load .......... The bird-catchers have drawn up in line of battle .......... The inhabitants of the Marshes carry shields. The brewers .......... sad. A man looks upon his son as his enemy; .................... .................................................................. Noble ladies suffer like slave girls. Musicians are in the chambers within the halls. What they sing to the goddess Mert is dirges ........... Forsooth, all female slaves are free with their tongues. When the mistress speaks it is irksome to the servants. Forsooth, princes are hungry and in distress. Servants are served .......... by reason of mourning. Forsooth, the hot-headed (?) man says: “If I knew where God is, then would I make offerings unto him.” Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen (?). The land is left over to its weariness (?) like the cutting of flax. Poor men are in affliction .......... Would that there might be an end of men, no conception, no birth! O that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult be no more! .......... Forsooth, grain has perished on every side. People are stripped of clothes, spices (?) and oil. Everybody says there is none. The storehouse is ruined. Its keeper is stretched on the ground. It is no happy thing for my heart (?) .......... Would that I had made my voice heard at that moment, that it might save me from the pain in which I am (?) .......... Behold, the powerful of the land, the condition of the people is not reported to them. All is ruin! Behold, no craftsmen work. The enemies of the land have spoilt its crafts. Similar descriptions of the disorganized state of society might be quoted at much greater length. The passage in which Ipuwer mentions the ideal king is as follows: .......... lack of people .................... Re; command (?) .......... the West to diminish (?) .......... by the [gods?]. Behold ye, wherefore does he [seek] to fashion [mankind], .......... without distinguishing the timid man from him whose nature is violent. He bringeth coolness upon that which is hot. It is said: he is the herdsman of mankind. No evil is in his heart. When his herds are few, he passes the day to gather them together, their hearts being on fire. Would that he had perceived their nature in the first generation of men; then would he have repressed evils, he would have stretched forth his arm against it, he would have destroyed their seed and their inheritance .......... Where is he today? Is he sleeping? Behold, his might is not seen. Vogelsang held this to be a picture of a kind of ideal king, comparable in some respects to the prophetic conception of the Messiah in such passages as Isa. 9:1-6; 11:1-8. To this view Gardiner has objected that the parallelism is not real, in that there seems to have been in the mind of the Egyptian sage no expectation that such a king would actually rise, but rather the belief that he once existed as the god Re and has now vanished from earth. To this Breasted and Gressmann reply that the kingly figure is a purely ideal one, and that Ipuwer feels strongly that, if he were on earth all wrongs would be set right, and that in some degree the picture is parallel to the conceptions of the Messiah. The description of disorganized society which is here reflected is patterned on conditions which existed in Egypt before 2000 B. C., and the conception of the ideal king is equally old. In Isa. 14:9-11 and Ezek. 32:21-31 we find descriptions of Sheol or the under-world. These descriptions are closely parallel to the following Babylonian poem. Ishtar’s Descent to the Under-world[601] The description of the darkness of the under-world and the sad conditions of life with which this poem begins, shows that the Babylonians shared the gloomy views of Sheol which Isa. 14:9-11 and Ezek. 32:21-31 express. The middle of the poem expresses the view of the ancient Semites, that the goddess of love once went down to the under-world, and that as a result all propagation of life ceased on the earth. The end of it alludes to the later belief that the goddess went down every year for her beloved Tammuz who had died, and the wailing alluded to is that spoken of by Ezekiel in Ezek. 8:14, where the prophet says he saw women wailing for Tammuz. The kind of sentiment uttered in this wailing the next extract will illustrate. 5. A Lamentation for Tammuz.[603] The lord of destiny (?) lives no more, the lord of destiny (?) lives no more. This poem illustrates what Ezekiel may have heard in vision, when in spirit he was brought to the northern gate of the temple, and heard women wailing for Tammuz (Ezek. 8:14). |
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