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The Concept of the Council and Council Terminology in Canaanite and Hebrew

The concept of the , or the assembly of the , was a common religious motif in the cultures of , , , , and . In the present section, we shall concentrate upon the connections between the concept of the council of the gods within the religion of Canaan, as seen through the mythological, , and liturgical texts from , and within the religion of Israel, as re­ flected in her early literature. 1 We shall not consider the concept of the council in Egyptian literature, for though there is evidence for the existence of a "synod of the gods"

1. Allusions to the heavenly council are quite numerous in the post-biblical period in the apocrypha, the pseudepig­ rapha, and the from Qumran. In the present work we are unable to treat fully the concept of the divine council in the post-biblical material for several : (1) the extra-biblical references to the council add little informa­ tion to the concept of the council in the ancient ; (2) the influence of Hellenistic, Persian, and Babylonian religion in the post-exilic period led to the development of a very elaborate concept of angelology; (3) the exact nature of the development of a hierarchy among the who were members of the council lies beyond the scope of the present study. (For a discussion of the various outside influences leading to this development in post-biblical writings, see D. S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic [Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1974), 235-262, esp. pp. 257-262.) The major patterns of the council are found already in the biblical materials, and the beginnings of the individualization of the members of the council may be seen as early as 1-2, Zechariah 3, and Daniel 7, which we shall consider.

113 114 in Egypt, it does not seem to have played an important role in Egyptian religion. 2 Further, there is little evidence of direct Egyptian influence upon the Canaanite mythology of the texts. The only clear example is the connection of the craftsman- K6!ar with Pta~ of Memphis. 3 The extent of the influence of the council in Mesopo­ tamia, however, is more difficult to determine. The "council of the gods" (puaur iZani) 4 in Mesopotamian literature consti­ tutes a central theme in the religion and the mythology. Since the origins and nature of the Mesopotamian concept of the council have been studied in detail by T. Jacobsen, 5 it is not necessary for us to repeat the literature in full. Brief­ ly stated, Jacobsen has determined that the council motif in Mesopotamia may be traced back to a time when the assembly met

2. R. N. Whybray, The Heavenly Counsellor in xZ 13-14: A Study of the Sources of the Theology of Deutero­ Isaiah (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971), 39, n. 1. During the Middle Kingdom, it was believed that the final judgment would take place before a tribunal of the gods, the -god acting as judge. G. Cooke, "The Sons of (the) God(s)," ZAW 76 (1964) 27. 3. W. F. Albright, YGC, 193. For the location of K6tar's dwelling in Memphis of Pta~, see CTA l.III.1-3; 3.VI. 12-19. 4. For references to the occurrence of this phrase, see W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handworterbuch, Band II (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1972), 876-877. 5. "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia," in Toward the Image of Tammuz, ed. W. L. Moran (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970), 157-170; "Early Political Development in Mesopotamia," TIT, 132-156; "Mesopotamia," in Before Phi Zosophy, ed. H. Frankfort et al. (Baltimore: Pen­ guin Books, 1966), 137-234, esp. pp. 153-156, 196-198, 209- 212. The major views of Jacobsen are also delineated by J. S. Ackerman, "An Exegetical Study of Psalm 82" (unpublished Th.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1966), 183-217. For the major literature written on the divine council in Mesopotamia, see Ackerman, 183-184, n. 265.