261

'EZ in the Rephaim Texts

While the so-called Rephaim texts (CTA 20-22) do not men­ tion the divine assembly, they contain three concepts which perhaps connect them with the council: (1) the imperative by 'El to the gods to come to his palace; (2) the fact that these gods constitute, as we shall see, a class of warriors; and (3) the meeting-house as the place of a divine banquet. All three of these factors constitute elements in the concept of the meeting of the divine assembly. These texts have been studied very thoroughly by a number of scholars, who have come to a variety of conclusions on the nature of the beings called rp'um: (1) they are gods; (2) they are "shades," i.e., dei­ 241 fied dead; or (3) they are cultic functionaries. That they are gods is confirmed by the paralleljsm of rp'um with 'iZnym

241. For a discussion of these views and a bibliography, see C. L'Heureux, "The and Biblical Rephaim," HTR 67 (1974) 265-266 and nn. 1-4. See also J. Gray, The Legacy of , 126-131. For a full treatment of these texts, see L'Heureux, "El and the Rephaim: New Light from Ugaritica V," 131-174. Andr6 Caquot has recently published the translation of a new Ugaritic text numbered RS 34.126, along with some brief comments. The text and comments appear on pp. 426-429 as an appendix at the end of an otherwise unrelated article, "Hebreu et Arameen,"Annuaire du College de France 75 (1975-76) 423-432. In this text, the rp'i 'a[r?i], the Rapi'u of the Underworld (11. 2, 9), are invoked in a ritual (cf. 11. 4, 5, 8, 9, 24) by the king 'Ammurapi'u (1. 31). While the exact nature of the ritual invocation of the rapi'u remains some­ what enigmatic, it seems quite possible that it is to be re­ lated to the Babylonian kispu ritual--the mortuary offerings to the deceased ancestors. On the kispu ritual, see J. J. Finkelstein, "The Genealogy of the Hammurapi Dynasty," JCS 20 (1966) 95-118, esp. pp. 113-117. We see no contradiction be­ tween the rp'um as deceased members of a warrior guild and as a class of gods who constitute such a military elite. For a full treatment of the text, see the interpretation of J. C. de Moor, "Rapi'uma Rephaim," ZAW 88 (1976) 323-345, and the 262

(CTA 20.I.l-2; II.1-2, 6, 7-9; 21.I.2-3, 3-4, 10-11, 11-12; 22.I.3-4, 5-6, 8-9, 10-11, 19, 20-21, 25-26; cf. 3.IV.79 ['ilnym]; 6.VI.45-46 [rp'im//'ilnym]). Both of these terms require comment. As noted by C. L'Heureux, rp' should be taken as a qatil pattern (rapi'u) meaning "one who is in a healthy condition," "hale, hearty, robust, vigorous, lusty, etc." "Hale One, Hero" applies very well to the beings designated as rapi'uma in the , especially Dan'il and Kirta. Most interestingly, it is an exceptionally apt description of the god 'El, who is called rapi'u malku 'olami, "The Hale One, the eternal king" 2 4 2 ( U g. V . 2 . I. 1 - 2 ; I I. 4 - 5 , 6 , 7 [ RS 2 4 . 2 5 2]) . The t e rm ' Zn y m can be interpreted as "the ones of 'El." It may be analyzed as follows: the divine name 'il with a doubly hypochoristic 243 expansion: -anu plus -iy (the common nisbeh formation). It is possible that the term may mean simply "the divine ones," but in light of L'Heureux's identification of these beings, it seems best to render the term "the ones of 'El." The fixed parallelism of rp'um and 'ilnym leaves no doubt that they are to be considered divine beings. All the inter­ pretations note that the rp'm are invited to someone's house. After a chariot journey of three days, they arrive at the "threshing floors/plantations" (grnt/m-t; 't). Finally, they spen d seven d ays in. a great b anquet. 244 bibliography on p. 323, n. 3. De Moor argues that rp'u is an epithet of Ba'l, despite the evidence of Ug. V.2.I.1-4 (RS 24.252), which clearly notes that it is 'El who is to be identified with rp'u mlk 'lm, "The Hale one, the eternal king." Likewise, it is 'El who is accompanied by 'Attart and Ba'l and who, in Ug. V.2.II.6-10, sits in judgment over his offspring and blesses . 242. "The Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim," 269-270. 243. C. L'Heureux, "El and the Rephaim: New Light from Ugaritica V," 125. Note also that the tei:ms rp'm and 'lnm occur in the mid-fifth century B.C. inscription of 'Esmun'azor. 244. "The Ugari tic and Biblical Rephaim," 265.