Image of Elijah (on Mt Carmel, photo by brett.wagner)
Idols, “gods” that people make! The very idea of making a god is one of those notions that almost have to reduce you to tears (whether of laughter or sadness and desperation depends on the circumstances), and the Bible has plenty of fun at the expense (in both senses) of idols. In this episode, therefore, we’ll look at 1 Kings 18 (particularly 1Kings 18:27 & 39). (( There is fuller background on this in 1 Kings 16:29 – 19:18: The big fight at Mt Carmel ))
So, here’s the link to the audio: Humour in the Bible 11: 1 Kings: In an idol moment
PS: for those who want to follow the reference to El and Anat mourning Ba’al by cutting themselves see my post with a translation of the relevant Ugaritic text.
[…] Tim Bulkeley mentions the Canaanite Ugaritic texts from Ras Shamra, in which Baal is taken to the underworld by Mot. According to him, Anat and El call Baal back to life by cutting themselves. If this is the case, it could be that the use of mourning rituals might have become part of Baal worship. However, I was not able to find this detail in the time I spent Googling (it seems instead that it is Mot who is cut up). What I did find was that the story may be intended as a drought myth, rather than a seasonal myth – which seems more than a tad relevant here. […]
[…] as background to my podcast comments on Elijah’s battle with the prophets of Ba’al in Humour in the Bible 11: 1 Kings: In an idol moment I offer this extract from Smith’s translation of the section KTU 1.5 l.8 to KTU 1.6 […]