Chapter XXIV: 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; thy
cry shall not come to nought.’ In the midst of battle she arms thee
with the desolation of her goodness. She will protect thy whole body.
Before her a fire is blown to capture thy foes.”

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 was turning to the upper side, Dehuti-necht said:
“Does my corn serve you as a road?” Then said the peasant: “I am going
in the right way. The bank is steep and the path lies near the corn
and you have stopped up the road ahead with your clothes. Will you,
then, not let me go by?”

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.”

The reference in this address to the orphan and the widow touches a chord which runs through much of the Old Testament and is especially prominent in the prophets, as the following references will indicate: Isa. 1:17, 23; 9:17; 10:2; 47:8; Jer. 7:6; 15:8; 18:21; 22:3; 49:11; Ezek. 22:7, 25; Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5; Deut. 10:18; 14:29; Job 29:13, and Psa. 68:5.

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.

After a ninth speech on the part of the peasant, the tale concludes as follows:

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, right
is throughout the land in this its name. What men do in appealing to
it is wrong. Forsooth, all animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan
because of the state of the land .................... Forsooth, the
ways are .......... The roads are guarded. Men sit over the bushes
until the benighted traveler comes, in order to plunder his burden.
What is upon him is taken away. He is belabored with blows of the
stick and slain wrongfully.

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.

=4. Sheol.=

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]

Unto the land of No-return, the land of darkness,
Ishtar, the daughter of Sin, determined to go,
The daughter of Sin determined to go,
Unto the house of darkness, the dwelling of Irkalla,
5. Unto the house whose enterer never comes out,
Along the way whose going has no return,
Unto the house whose enterer is deprived of light,
Where dust is their food, their sustenance, clay,
Light they do not see, in darkness they dwell;
10. They are clothed, like birds, with a covering of wings.
Over door and bolt the dust is spread.
Ishtar, when she arrived at the gate of the land of No-return
To the keeper of the gate addressed a word:
“Keeper of the waters, open thy gate!
15. Open thy gate! Let me enter!
If thou dost not open thy gate, that I may enter,
I will shatter the door, I will break the bolt,
I will shiver the threshold, break down the doors;
I will bring up the dead to devour the living!”
20. The keeper opened his mouth and spake,
He said to Ishtar, the great:
“Stay, my lady, do not destroy it,
Let me go, let me announce thy name to Queen Allat.”
The keeper went in, he spake [to Allat]:
25. “This water thy sister, Ishtar, [has crossed]
As a servant of great powers [she comes].”
When Allat heard this,
Like the cutting of the tamarisk [was her laugh],
30. Like the crackling of reeds. [She cried]:
“What has turned her mind to me? ..........
These waters I with ..........
For food I will eat clay, for drink I will drink ..........
I will weep for men who have abandoned their wives,
35. I will weep for maidens torn from their husbands’ bosoms,
I will weep for children snatched away before their time.
Go, keeper, open thy gate to her;
Do to her according to the ancient custom.”
The keeper went and opened to her his gate:
40. “Enter, my lady; the under-world is glad,
The palace of the land of No-return rejoices at thy coming.”
He brought her through the first gate, made it wide, he took the
great crown from her head.
“Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the great crown from my head?”
“Enter, my lady, such are the commands of Allat.”
45. He brought her through the second gate, he made it wide, he took
the ornaments from her ears.
“Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the ornaments from my ears?”
“Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat.”
He brought her through the third gate, he made it wide, he took
the necklace from her neck.
“Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the necklace from my neck?”
50. “Enter, O lady, for such are the commands of Allat.”
He brought her through the fourth gate, he made it wide, he took
the ornaments from her breasts.
“Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the ornaments from my breast?”
“Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat.”
He brought her through the fifth gate, he made it wide, he took the
girdle with birth-stones from her waist.
55. “Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the girdle with birth-stones from
my waist?”
“Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat.”
He brought her through the sixth gate, he made it wide, he took the
bracelets from her hands and feet.
“Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the bracelets from my hands and
feet?”
“Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat.”
60. He brought her through the seventh gate, he made it wide, he took
the breech-cloth from her body.
“Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the breech-cloth from my body?”
“Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat.”
When Ishtar had gone down to the land of No-return,
Allat saw her and became enraged at her.
65. Ishtar took no heed; she sat down above her.
Allat opened her mouth and spake,
To Namtar, her messenger, she addressed a word:
“Go, Namtar, lock [her in my palace],
Bring out against her sixty diseases .......... Ishtar,
70. Disease of the eyes against her [eyes],
Disease of the side against her [sides],
Disease of the feet against her [feet],
Disease of the heart against [her heart],
Disease of the head against [her head],
75. Against her altogether ..........”
After Ishtar, the lady, [went down to the land of No-return]
The bull with the cow did not unite, nor the ass approach the
she-ass;
The man in the street no more approached the maid;
The man slept in his chamber,
80. The maid slept by her oven.
Papsukal, messenger of the great gods, was sad of countenance
before [Shamash],
Clad in mourning, wearing foul garments.
Then went Shamash into the presence of Sin, his father; he wept,
Before Ea, the king, his tears flowed:
85. “Ishtar has gone down into the earth; she has not come up.
Since Ishtar went down to the land of No-return,
The bull with the cow does not unite, nor the ass approach the
she-ass;
The man no more approaches the maid in the street;
The man sleeps in his chamber,
90. The maid sleeps by her oven.
Then Ea in the wisdom of his heart created a man,
He created Asushunamir, the priest.
“Go, Asushunamir, to the gate of the land without return set thy
face,
The seven gates of the land without return shall be opened before
thee,
95. Allat shall behold thee, and shall rejoice in thy presence.
When her heart has been appeased, and her soul revived,
Conjure her also by the name of the great gods.
Turn thy thoughts to the skin which pours forth life:
‘O lady, give me the skin which pours forth life, that I may drink
water from it.’”
100. When Allat heard this,
She beat upon her thigh, she bit her finger:
“Thou hast uttered a wish not to be wished.
Go, Asushunamir; I curse thee with a great curse.
The sewage of the gutters of the city shall be thy food,
105. The cesspools of the city shall be thy drink,
The shadow of the walls shall be thy dwelling,
The thresholds shall be thy habitation,
Confinement and privation shall shatter thy strength.”
Allat opened her mouth and spoke,
110. To Namtar, her messenger, she addressed the word:
“Go, Namtar, knock at the palace of justice,
Tap at the thresholds of gleaming (?) stones,
Bring out the Annunaki,[602] seat them on golden thrones,
Sprinkle Ishtar with the water of life and bring her before me.”
115. Namtar went, he knocked at the palace of justice,
He tapped at the thresholds of gleaming (?) stones,
He brought forth the Annunaki, he seated them on golden thrones,
He sprinkled Ishtar with the water of life, he brought her forth.
He brought her out of the first gate, he restored to her the
breech-cloth of her body;
120. He brought her through the second gate, he restored to her the
bracelets of her hands and feet;
He brought her through the third gate, he restored to her the
girdle with birth-stones for her waist;
He brought her through the fourth gate, he restored to her the
ornaments of her breasts;
He brought her through the fifth gate, he restored to her the
necklace of her neck;
He brought her through the sixth gate, he restored to her the
ornaments of her ears;
125. He brought her through the seventh gate, he restored to her the
crown of her head.
(End of legend. The priest begins:)
“If she does not grant to thee her release, turn to her again;
To Tammuz, the beloved of her youth,
Pour out water, offer good oil,
With red clothing clothe him, let him play a flute of lapis
lazuli.
130. Let the joyful maidens turn, .....................
When Belili has established her ritual,
With precious stones her bosom is filled.”
The wailing for her brother she heard; Belili interrupted the
ritual of ....
With precious stones she filled the front of ..........
(Voice from the dead.)
135. “My only brother, harm me not;
On the day of Tammuz, play for me the lapis lazuli flute, play
the _Santu_-flute with it,
When the wailing men and women play with it,
Let the dead return, let them smell incense.”

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.
[Tammuz the ...... ] lives no more, ...... lives no more.
The bewailed one (?) lives no more, the lord of destiny (?) lives no
more.
I am queen, my husband lives no more.
5. My son lives no more.
Dagalushumgalanna lives no more.
The lord of Arallu lives no more.
The lord of Durgurgurru lives no more.
The shepherd, the lord Tammuz lives no more.
10. The lord, the shepherd of the folds lives no more.
The consort of the queen of heaven lives no more.
The lord of the folds lives no more.
The brother of the mother of wine lives no more.
[He who creates] the fruit of the land lives no more.
15. The powerful lord of the land lives no more.
When he slumbers the sheep and lambs slumber also.
When he slumbers the goats and kids slumber also.
As for me, to the abode of the deep will I turn my thoughts,
To the abode of the great ones I turn my thoughts.
20. “O hero, my lord, ah me,” I will say,
“Food I eat not,” I will say,
“Water I drink not,” I will say,
“My good maiden,” I will say,
“My good husbandman,” I will say,
25. “Thy lord, the exalted one, to the nether world has taken his way,
Thy lord, the exalted one, to the nether world has taken his way.”
On account of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the
radiant face, yea, radiant,
On account of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the
dovelike voice, yea, dovelike,
On account of the exalted one, the lord, on account of the lord,
30. Food I eat not on account of the lord,
Water I drink not, on account of the lord.
“My good maiden, because of the lord,
My good husbandman, on account of the lord,
The hero, your lord has been destroyed,
35. The god of grain, the child, your lord, has been destroyed.”
His kindly look gives peace no more,
His kindly voice imparts cheer (?) no more;
.......... in his place, like a dog he sleeps;
My lord in his .......... slumbers like a raven
40. Alone is he, himself,
My lord, for whom the wail is raised.

(Forty-one lines--a psalm on the flute to Tammuz.)

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).