THE SUPREME GOD IN HIS DWELLING PLACE
The Assyrians are known to readers of the Old Testament as worshippers
of the hosts of heaven, and while their hymns represent them as adoring
also the Atmospheric Gods, and furthermore finding Deity not only in the
heights above, but also in the depths beneath, nevertheless their
reverent gaze was most frequently turned skyward. Their gods were mainly
gods of heaven, and were associated, at times almost to the point of
identification, with the heavenly bodies. Thus the God Shamash bears the
name of Sun, and is unmistakably and very closely associated with the
solar orb:
The mighty mountains has thy glory covered;
Thy brilliancy fills and overwhelms the countries;
Thou marchest regularly across the heavens.
—Hymn to Shamash No. 7.
Likewise Nusku is a solar deity:
Strong fire god who surveys the tops of the mountains,
Mighty fire god, illuminator of the darkness.
—Hymn to Nusku No. 1.
Also Marduk:
Lofty in form, Marduk, shining sun god, bright torch,
Who by his rising illumines the (darkness), makes brilliant ( ).
—Hymn to Marduk No. 1.
The moon has its very worthy representative among the gods in the person
of the great God Sin:
Thou that brightenest the night,
That givest light to all nations,
Bright is thy light in heaven;
Thy brightness fills the whole earth.
—Hymn to Sin No. 1.
Thou that from the base of heaven to the height of heaven dost march
in glory;
Opening the door of heaven, and granting light to all men.
—Hymn to Sin No. 5.
The evening star, the star which shines preëminent in the heavens is
represented by two glorious goddesses, Ishtar and Sarpanitum:
Light of heaven which flames like fire over the earth art thou.
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 6.
In the heavens in the evening when I take my stand,
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 4.
She that flameth in the horizon of heaven.
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 6.
Who art adorned with the brilliancy of sparkling stones, ornament of
heaven.
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 6.
Ishtar who opens the bolt of the pure heavens, that is my glory.
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 6.
Sarpanitum, shining star, dwelling in Endul,
Who crossest the heavens, who passest over the earth,
Sarpanitum, whose station is lofty,
Brilliant is my lady, lofty and high.
—Hymn to Sarpanitum.
Just as Shamash, Sin, and Ishtar are so closely associated with sun,
moon, and evening star, so Ramman, in the two hymns written in his
honor, is almost identified with the thunderstorm.
Yahwe is not identified, nor closely associated, in the Hebrew hymns,
with any of the heavenly bodies, not even with the sun, but he, like the
Assyrian deities, dwells in heaven, and his glory, as is theirs, is that
of the stars. Of Yahwe it might have been said, as of Nergal and Ishtar:
Thou treadest in the high heavens, lofty is thy place.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 1.
Thy seat is in the high heavens, in the midst of the bright heavens,
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 2.
But our God is in the heavens,
Everything that he pleaseth, he doeth.
—Psalm 115:3.
The heavens are Yahwe’s heavens.
—Psalm 115:16.
Yahwe is in his holy temple;
Yahwe, in the heavens is his throne.
—Psalm 11:4.
Yahwe was not identified with sun, moon or stars. No more was he
identified with the thunderstorm. ’Tis true, in Psalm 29 the thunder is
described as the voice of Yahwe, but while the tempest rages below,
Yahwe sits exalted in heaven, the mighty God, who gives strength to his
people, and blesses them with peace. It is the glory of the Hebrew
religion, that its God has been released from all identification with
nature’s forces and is lord in his universe. So he controls also the
winds:
Who bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.
—Psalm 135:7.
To him that rideth in the ancient heavens.
—Psalm 68:34.
Who maketh clouds his chariot,
Who walketh upon the wings of the wind.
—Psalm 104:3.
As gods of heaven, both the Assyrian deities and Yahwe are revered as
lofty, exalted beings. Marduk is addressed as the one
“who alone art lofty.”
—Hymn to Marduk No. 1.
In heaven thou art lofty, on earth thou art king, clever adviser of
the gods.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 1.
To Ninib it is said:
In Ekur, the house of festivals, is thy head exalted
Ninib, king, son of Bel, who himself is exalted.
—Hymn to Ninib No. 1.
And for Asshur the wish is expressed:
May the memory of Asshur be praised, his divinity be exalted,
So that the exaltation of Asshur, the lord of lords, the warrior, may
shine.
—Hymn to Asshur.
Similarly Yahwe is exalted:
But thou art high for ever, O Yahwe.
—Psalm 92:9.
That they may know that thou alone art Yahwe
The most high over all the earth.
—Psalm 83:19.
Yahwe’s exaltation above the earth brings with it also exaltation over
all nations:
Yahwe in Zion is great,
And High is He above all nations.
—Psalm 99:2.
High over all nations is Yahwe;
Over the heaven is his glory.
—Psalm 113:4.
So also Marduk’s exaltation has its significance for men:
High art thou in heaven:
All people thou see’st.
Great art thou upon earth:
Their omens thou see’st.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 1.
Yahwe’s exaltation seems to be not only above the earth, but he is also
highly exalted in the heavens:
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
—Psalm 148:13.
Thou whose majesty is placed above the heavens.
—Psalm 8:2.
Before the exalted heavens’ God, the Assyrian worshipper is reverent:
O lord thy divinity is full of awe
Like the far off heaven and the broad ocean.
—Hymn to Sin No. 5.
and as Heaven’s God, Yahwe is to be praised:
Praise Yahwe from the Heavens;
Praise Him in the heights.
—Psalm 148:1.
The Assyrian religion, in contrast to the Hebrew religion, finds God in
the lower world, and glorifies the deity of the lower world:
Thou art great in Hades, there is none like thee.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 1.
Warrior, lord of the under world.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 4.
She, who is goddess of heaven and earth is also goddess of the deep:
Lady of Egurra, ruler of the deep,
Who inhabitest the deep, lady of heaven and earth.
—Hymn to Damkina.
The Hebrew hymns have only the negative statements regarding Yahwe’s
prestige in the lower world:
The dead praise not Yahwe,
Neither any that go down to silence
—Psalm 115:17.
and the assertion of Psalm 139:8 that Yahwe the omnipresent is present
also in Sheol.
The Supreme God in His Sanctuary
Although the Assyrian deities and Yahwe are gods of heaven, yet they
take up their abode in earthly sanctuaries:
Who hast taken up his exalted habitation among living creatures
—Hymn to Sin No. 5.
For Yahwe hath chosen Zion,
He hath desired it for his habitation.
—Psalm 132:13.
In Salem also is his tabernacle
And his dwelling place in Zion
—Psalm 76:3.
Bel thy dwelling is Babylon, Borsippa is thy crown.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 12.
Lord of Izida, shadow of Borsippa, director of Isagila.
—Hymn to Nebo No. 1.
Virgin. Virgin in the temple of my riches am I.
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 5.
The sanctuary itself is venerated by Assyrian and Hebrew:
Thy house Ezida is a house incomparable.
—Hymn to Nebo No. 2.
How lovely are thy tabernacles O Yahwe of hosts.
—Psalm 84:2.
Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
—Psalm 96:6.
There is nothing in the Hebrew hymns to indicate that Yahwe has more
than one sanctuary. This is due of course to the fact that the Hebrew
hymns are preserved in a collection, whose editors recognized only
Jerusalem as a legitimate place of worship. On the other hand the
Assyrian gods have usually several sanctuaries:
The sovereign of sanctuaries all of them.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 13.
Ishtar, who in all sanctuaries was magnified am I.
—Hymn to Ishtar No. 5.
It is curious that the god should be addressed as the founder of cities
and sanctuaries:
Founder of the cities, renewer of the sanctuaries.
—Hymn to Nusku No. 3.
Founder of sanctuaries, proclaimer of their names.
—Hymn to Sin No. 5.
Apparently the Assyrian sanctuaries were thought to be as old as the
world itself, for the erection and naming of the sanctuaries is
mentioned in connection with the creation of the earth:
Creator of the land, founder of sanctuaries, proclaimer of their
names.
—Hymn to Sin No. 7.
But of Yahwe it is said:
Doth build up Jerusalem Yahwe;
The dispersed of Israel he gathereth together.
—Psalm 147:2.
It is not forgotten in the Assyrian hymns, that the deity gives joy to
city and temple:
O Marduk the mighty who causest Itura to rejoice.
Lord of Isagila, help of Babylon, lover of Izida.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 8.
The processional hymn to Marduk opens with the line:
O lord on thine entrance into thy house may thy house rejoice in thee.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 13.
Hebrew temple worship must also have been joyful, when the worshippers
obeyed the exhortation, Psalm 100:2: “Serve Yahwe with gladness”; when
they praised him “with trumpet sound,” “with psaltery and harp,” “with
timbrel and dance,” “with stringed instruments” and “pipe” “with loud
cymbals” and “high sounding cymbals,” Psalm 150. Distinctive of the
Hebrew hymns is, as we would expect, the great prominence given to the
praise of Yahwe in the temple:
Praise, O Jerusalem, Yahwe;
Praise thy God, O Zion.
—Psalm 147:12.
Blessed be Yahwe from Zion,
Who dwelleth at Jerusalem.
—Psalm 135:21.
Not only do Assyrian and Hebrew deity dwell in earthly sanctuaries, but
their sanctuaries seem to have been alike situated on holy mountains:
Great and to be praised exceedingly
Is the city of our God.
His holy mountain, beautiful of situation,
Is the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion, on the sides of the North,
Is the city of a great King.
—Psalm 48:2f.
Another reference to the holy mountain is found in Psalm 87:1
Its foundation is in the holy mountains.
To be compared with the last two selections is the couplet from a hymn
to Bel:
Great mountain of Enlil Imkharkag whose peak reaches to heaven,
Whose foundation is laid in the glittering deep.
This couplet describes a temple of Bel which resembles a mountain. The
name Great Mountain was also applied to Bel himself. Possibly the line
of development was thus. The god dwells in the holy mountain. For that
reason, the temple is built to resemble a mountain, and the name
mountain passes over from the temple to the deity. At any rate, it is
interesting to note that Yahwe also dwells in the holy mountain and was
likewise called rock:
Rock of our salvation.
—Psalm 95:1.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My tower, I shall not be greatly moved.
—Psalm 62:3.
It is natural to pass from the sanctuary to the physical representation
of the deity. This in the Assyrian hymns is frequently crass:
Prince of shining face and flaming mouth raging fire god.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 5.
Of gigantic size with terrible limbs,
Raging demons to right and left of him.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 5.
Mighty in form, lofty in stature, and powerful for the exercise of his
lordship.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 1.
In a number of passages, the god takes the still crasser form of an
animal. In Sin No. 5, line 19, it is the form of a horse:
O hastening steed, sturdy one, whose knees do not grow weary,
Who dost open the road for the gods, thy brothers.
In other passages, it is a bull or steer:
O strong young bull with huge horns, perfect in limbs,
with beard of lapis-lazuli color, full of glory and perfection.
—Hymn to Sin No. 5.
Great steer mighty lord, destroyer of the hostile land.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 4.
Powerful one great strong steer.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 6.
Thou who bearest horns who art clothed with glory.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 8.
A crouching ox art thou, bull that dost institute destruction.
—Hymn to Enlil.
Warrior who as a steer stands firm at one’s side,
Warrior who resembles a wild ox with great horns.
—Hymn to Ninib No. 5.
In the hymns proper, there is no such crass representation of Yahwe, but
it is well to recall that Yahwe was not only represented by bull images
at Bethel and Dan, but is referred to as the “Bull of Jacob.”
How he sware unto Yahwe,
And vowed to the Bull of Jacob.
—Psalm 132:2.
It is a stage higher in refinement, when the god is not represented as a
naked demon, nor as a powerful animal, however majestic in its strength,
but as a clothed being. Such a representation of the deity we have both
in the Assyrian and the Hebrew hymns:
Father Nannar who dost go forth in the robe of majesty chief of the
gods.
—Hymn to Sin No. 5.
Robed in splendor, clothed in terror.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 2.
Chief of the great gods, clothed in grandeur and splendor.
—Hymn to Nergal No. 5.
Who art clothed with terror, who art full of glory.
—Hymn to Ninib No. 1.
The mighty one among the gods with brilliancy clothed am I.
—Hymn to Ninib No. 3.
Strongest of the goddesses whose clothing is the light.
—Hymn to Sarpanitum.
From out of such imagery as that cited in so many passages has come
these two chaste references to Yahwe as clothed:
Yahwe is King: he is clothed with majesty
Clothed is Yahwe he hath girded himself with strength.
—Psalm 93:1.
My God thou art exceeding great,
With honor and majesty thou art clothed,
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment.
—Psalm 104:1.
There is but one instance in the Assyrian Hymns, when the beauty of the
god is the delight of the worshipper. This is somewhat akin to the
feeling of the mystic:
Fruit which hath created itself, of lofty form beautiful to look upon,
in whose being one cannot sufficiently state oneself.
—Hymn to Sin No. 5.
There are no parallels to this among the biblical hymns but there are
parallels among other psalms:
That I may dwell in the house of Yahwe
All the days of my life
To behold the beauty of Yahwe.
—Psalm 27:4.
As for me I shall behold thy face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with (beholding) thy form.
—Psalm 17:15.
So have I looked upon thee in the sanctuary
To see thy power and thy glory.
—Psalm 63:3.
Homage was paid to the Assyrian deities by the bringing of offerings to
their temples, and this fact of the offering of sacrifices, finds a
place in the hymns:
Father Enlil with song majestically we come:
The presents of the ground are offered to thee as gifts of sacrifice
O lord of Sumer figs to thy dwelling we bring;
To give life to the ground thou dost exist.
—Hymn to Enlil.
A special distinction of Marduk’s is that:
Among all gods who dwell in sanctuaries, sacrifice of every kind is
brought into his sanctuary.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 7.
The sacrifice, and especially the offering of wine, would favorably
affect the disposition of the god:
On the festal day when he takes his seat in joy,
When on equality with Anu and Bel sesame wine made him genial.
—Hymn to Ninib No. 4.
On the other hand, the favorable disposition of the deity is manifested
by his acceptance of the offering, and the proof of the magnanimity of
the god finds its due place in the hymn:
Thou eatest, drinkest their pure wine, noble beer from the cask
When they pour the noble beer for thee, thou acceptest it.
—Hymn to Shamash No. 7.
It is curious that, just as the gods for whom the temples were built,
were addressed as the builders of the temples, so the gods to whom
sacrifices were offered, were addressed as those who maintained the
offering of sacrifices. Doubtless the sacrifices of the temples had come
to be regarded as in themselves absolutely essential to the established
order, and the gods, as the givers of the earth’s products, became thus
the patrons of the sacrifices.
Thou givest the bread of sacrifice, the daily sacrifices.
—Marduk No. II, col. III:1.2.
Protector of the offerings for the gods, renewer of the temple cities.
—Hymn to Marduk No. 3.
Who dost build dwellings and establishest offerings.
—Hymn to Sin No. 7.
Protector of the sacrificial gifts of all the Igigi.
—Nusku No. 3.
Nusku as the fire god is particularly essential to the offering of
sacrifices:
Without thee is no banquet held in the temple;
Without thee the gods smell no incense.
—Hymn to Nusku No. 3.
The bestower of incense who burns the freewill offering for the gods.
—Hymn to Nusku No. 2.
It is surely very significant that all this is absent from the Hebrew
hymns. There is but one single reference to a sacrifice.
Give to Yahwe the glory due to his name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
—Psalm 96:8.
What the Hebrews in their hymns bring to Yahwe is an offering of praise
for:
His praise endureth forever.
—Psalm 111:10.
and the individual devoutly says:
I will praise Yahwe while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
—Psalm 146:2.
and a temple congregation says:
But we will bless Yahwe
From now and for evermore.
—Psalm 115:18.
Sacrifice had its place, and on that great day of Yahwe’s final triumph,
the kindreds of the peoples are called upon to bring an offering (Psalm
96:8), but this seems to be only incidental to their acknowledgment in
Yahwe’s temple of his universal lordship. I am assuming that the glory
and strength of Psalm 96:7:
Give to Yahwe ye kindreds of the peoples;
Give to Yahwe glory and strength
are to be understood in the spiritual rather than the material sense, as
elsewhere the hymns only call for spiritual homage to Yahwe:
Worship Yahwe in holy garments;
Tremble before Him all the earth.
—Psalm 96:9.
Come let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before Yahwe our maker.
—Psalm 95:6.
Exalt ye Yahwe our God,
And worship at his footstool.
—Psalm 99:5.
The praise of Yahwe my mouth shall speak,
And all flesh shall bless his holy name.
—Psalm 145:21.
The Hebrew hymn does not praise Yahwe as the one who establishes
sacrifice, nor as the God who accepts sacrifice. Although sacrifices
continued to be offered in the temple, the hymn, as a hymn, transcends
all formalism. The hymn is the expression of enthusiasm for Yahwe, the
exalted and great God whom all the earth is to acknowledge, and
conversely, it may perhaps be said that only such a magnificent
conception of deity as the Hebrews had could produce such hymns.