It Is Well Known That There Are in the Ancient Documents That Have Come Down to Us from the Near East Many Similarities of Form and Content

CHAPTER VI

THE ANTITHESIS BLESSING II CURSE AND RENEWAL (Lev 26 and Deut 28 + 30: 1-10)

It is well known that there are in the ancient documents that have come down to us from the Near East many similarities of form and content. The Mesopotamian legal texts and Egyptian, Hittite, and Akkadian treaties from Syria and Assyria are examples of this. Both types of text, particularly the treaties, end with very similar promises, assurances, or wishes for success or blessing for those who observe the laws or treaties, and with threats of punishment or curse, or even destruction, for those who do not. This thematic antithesis gave rise to some classical antithetical constructions, of which a good example is the treaty between the Hittites and Egypt. Its concluding section contains an exemplary curse II blessing antithesis, although these terms are not explicitly used: As for these words which are on this tablet of silver of the land of Hatti and of the land of Egypt-as for him who shaH not keep them, a thousand gods of the land of Hatti, together with a thousand gods of the land of Egypt, shaH destroy his house, his land, and his servants. But, as for him who shaH keep these words which are on this tablet of silver, whether they are Hatti or whether they are Egyptians, and they are not neglectful of them, and gods of the land of Hatti, together with a thousand gods of the land of Egypt, shaH cause that he be weH, shaH cause that he live, together with his houses and his (land) and his servants.' Another example is the treaty between the Hittite King Mursilis and Duppi- Tessub of Amurru: The words of the treaty and the oath that are inscribed on this tablet-should Duppi-Tessub not honor these words of the treaty and the oath, may these gods of the oath destroy Duppi-Tessub together with his person, his wife, his son,his grandson, his house, his land, and together with everything that he owns.But if Duppi-Tessub honors these words of the treaty and the oath that are inscribed on this tablet, may these gods of the oath protect him together with his person, his wife, his son, his grandson, his house (and) his country.2 The symmetry of the antithetic sections in these examples is exceptionaP

, See the translation by J. A. Wilson. "Egyptian Treaty," ANET, 201. See also S. Langdon and A. H. Gardiner, "The Treaty of Alliance between Hattusili, King of the Hittites, and the Pharaoh Ramesses II of Egypt," J EA 6 (1920), 196-197. 2 See the translation by A. Gatze, "Hittite Treaties," ANET, 205. See also J. Friedrich, "Oer Vertrag Mursilis' II. mit Ouppi-Tesup von Amurru," MVAG 31 (1926),24-25. 3 For similar examples of antithetical structure in other Hittite treaties, see E. F. Weidner, Politische Dokumente ails Kleillasien: Die Staatsvertriige ill akkadisclzer Sprache aus dem Ar- THE ANTITHESIS BLESSING I I CURSE AND RENEWAL. . . 161

Normally the section dealing with the threat of a curse is longer and has more subsections than its counterpart. Thus Hammurabi's and Lipit Ishtar's Codes of Laws have three sections: the prologue, the collection of laws, and the epilogue. The epilogue of both Codes expresses, in conditional formula- tion, the wish that he who is loyal, who observes the laws, may partake of "blessing," and that he who is disloyal, who does not keep the laws, may suffer "malediction." In Lipit Ishtar's Code of law the negative section is only slightly longer than the positive,4 but in Hammurabi's Code of Laws the blessing section has only seven lines (XXVI,7-13), while the malediction section is surprisingly long (XXVI,20-XXVIII,90). As a sanction, Ham- murabi invokes all the known deities to punish the transgressor according to their jurisdiction.5 The Hittite treaty between Suppiluliumas and Kurtiwaza has at the end, in conditional form, the sequence malediction II blessing, yet here too the section on malediction is twice as long as the one that deals with blessing.6 Akkadian treaties from Syria and Assyria may dispose with the section on blessing, and have the threats of malediction of various lengths.7 The treaty between Assur-nerari V with Mati' -ilu, the King of Arpad has an ex- tremely lengthy threat of punishment, expressed in conditional form. A fur- ther example of a protracted appeal to the gods to punish the transgressor with curses, is Esarhaddon's treaty with Baal, King of Tyre. Especially noteworthy in this respect is the long text of Esarhaddon's Succession treaty. The text begins with an oath before all the gods and ends an exceptionally lengthy threat of punishment, expressed in conditional form: if the con- tracting party does not take all the obligations of the treaty into considera- tion, the punishment of all the gods will strike him, in accordance with their jurisdiction. In view of the numerous occurrences of the blessing II curse antithesis in the ancient Near East, we may expect to find similar examples in the He- brew Bible,8 and there are in fact three passages of this nature. In Exodus, at

chiv VOIll Boghazkoi (BogSt 8; Leipzig: J. C. Hinrich'sche Buchhandlung, 1923),2-37: "Ver- trag zwischen Subbiluliuma, Konig von Hatti. und Mattiuaza, Konig von Mitanni" = the antithesis curse (Rs. 59-69) /I blessing (Rs. 70-75); 36-57: "Vertrag zwischen Mattiuaza, Konig von Mitanni und Subbiluliuma, Konig von Hatti" = the antithesis in the second person curse (Rs. 44-53) II blessing (Rs. 53-62); 58-71: "Vertrag zwischen Subbiluliuma, Konig von Hatti, und Tette, Konig von Nuhassi" = the antithesis curse (Rs. IV, 48-52) /I blessing (Rs. IV, 53- 57); 70-75: "Vertrag zwischen Subbiluliuma, Konig von Hatti, :.md Aziru, Konig von Amurru" =the antithesis curse (Rs. 13-16) /I blessing (Rs. 17-20). 4 See the translation by S. N. Kramer, "Lipit-Ishtar Lawcode," ANET, 161. See the translation by T. J. Meek, "The Code of Hammurabi," ANET, 178-180. See the translation by A. Gotze, "Hittite Treaties," ANET, 206. 7 See especially S. Parpola and K. Watanabe, Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths (SAA 2; Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1988). For the translation, see also E. Reiner, "Akkadian Treaties from Syria and Assyria," ANET, [531-541]. 8 For mentions and significance of the theme blessing and curse, or only curse, in the an-