This is the table I created on the other thread; it compares the Jesus of the gospels (in those pericopae which strike us as heavily laden with the divine) with Yahweh and Ba'al:
Ba'al | Yahweh | Jesus |
| sometimes regarded as a son of El | sometimes regarded as a son of El | usually regarded as the son of God |
| rider upon the clouds | rider of a chariot of clouds | comes with/on the clouds |
| a storm god | a storm god | stills a storm |
| conquers the sea | conquers the sea | treads upon the sea |
| dies and rises again | ??? | dies and rises again |
But now I will eschew the gospels and look only to the epistles. On the other side of things, I will (so far) be looking only at the tale of Ba'al and Môt.
Let us start with a few easy (yet probably nondeterminative) parallels. First, there is lordship. Ba'al means lord. Jesus is also called Lord (and of course Yahweh is glossed as Lord in the LXX). Second, the passage of time in the grave is marked both for Ba'al and for Jesus. For Ba'al, "A day, days passed. .... A day, days passed. From days to months. .... A day, days passed, from days to months, from months to years. Then in the seventh year the Divine Môt [spoke] to Mightiest Ba'al; he lifts up his voice and cries...." For Jesus, 1 Corinthians 15.4 says that he "was raised on the third day." Third, Ba'al is called "the rider on the clouds" (both in this tale and elsewhere). Clouds are associated with Jesus' coming in 1 Thessalonians 4.17, and of course Daniel 7.13-14 were applied to Jesus in early Christianity. (This similarity also extends to the gospels, as the table above points out.) Fourth, Ba'al, as the god of rain, was responsible for a good harvest. While he is dead, the lament goes up, "Parched are the furrows of the fields, O Shapash; parched are the furrows of El's fields; Ba'al has neglected the furrows of his tillage. Where is Mighty Ba'al? Where is the Prince, the Master of the Earth?" Jesus' resurrection is compared to the harvest in 1 Corinthians 15.20 and its context: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." Fifth, bread and wine are spoken of after Ba'al rises: "Yes, do you indeed eat the bread of honor. Yes, do you indeed drink the wine of favor." And, of course, early Christianity has a ritual meal of bread and cup, as we find in 1 Corinthians 10.16: "Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?"
Some of those can easily be chalked up to coincidence. Others, maybe not so easily. But now we come to a couple of more intricate clusters of ideas that may hold more collective value for a comparison.
First:
Ba'al and Môt: "Ba'al must enter [Môt's] maw and must descend into his mouth."
Ba'al and Môt: "Message of Ba'al the Powerful, the word of the Mightiest of Warriors: 'Hail, Divine Môt, El's son Death! I am your slave, I am your bondsman forever.'"
Ba'al and Môt: "And go down to the house of freedom in the depth of the earth, and be counted among them those who go down into the earth, and you will know nothingness, like mortals, for you will have become as one who has died!" Obeys does Mightiest Ba'al.
Ba'al and Môt: "Ba'al is dead!" .... "We came upon Ba'al, sunk into the earth. Dead is Ba'al the Powerful! Perished is the Prince, Master of the Earth!" .... "For surely perished has he."
Ba'al and Môt: "The gods come to you. Behold! The dead come to you."
Ba'al and Môt: "But if Mighty Ba'al lives, if the Prince, the Master of the Earth, exists, then in a dream of Kindly El the Compassionate, in a vision of the Creator of All Creatures, let the heavens rain oil, let the wadis run with honey; then I will know that alive is Mighty Ba'al, revived has the Prince, Master of the Earth."
Philippians 2.5-11: 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Ephesians 4.8-10: Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men." (9 Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
1 Peter 3.18-20: 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
Ba'al and Môt: "Message of Ba'al the Powerful, the word of the Mightiest of Warriors: 'Hail, Divine Môt, El's son Death! I am your slave, I am your bondsman forever.'"
Ba'al and Môt: "And go down to the house of freedom in the depth of the earth, and be counted among them those who go down into the earth, and you will know nothingness, like mortals, for you will have become as one who has died!" Obeys does Mightiest Ba'al.
Ba'al and Môt: "Ba'al is dead!" .... "We came upon Ba'al, sunk into the earth. Dead is Ba'al the Powerful! Perished is the Prince, Master of the Earth!" .... "For surely perished has he."
Ba'al and Môt: "The gods come to you. Behold! The dead come to you."
Ba'al and Môt: "But if Mighty Ba'al lives, if the Prince, the Master of the Earth, exists, then in a dream of Kindly El the Compassionate, in a vision of the Creator of All Creatures, let the heavens rain oil, let the wadis run with honey; then I will know that alive is Mighty Ba'al, revived has the Prince, Master of the Earth."
Philippians 2.5-11: 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Ephesians 4.8-10: Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men." (9 Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
1 Peter 3.18-20: 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
Again, not all of these parallels are of equal merit, and an ascent is only implied in the story of Ba'al and Môt (though there are sections of text missing toward the end of the story). But both Jesus and Ba'al are obedient unto death; both descend into the earth; both take the part of a slave; both become like mortals; both die; both come back to life; both interact with the dead in some way.
Second:
Ba'al and Môt: "Let them seat Ba'al on the throne of his kingdom, on the cushion on the seat of his dominion!" .... "Sits does Ba'al upon the throne of his kingship, on the cushion on the seat of his dominion."
Ba'al and Môt: "Why do you [Môt] battle with Mighty Ba'al? How of a truth shall the bull El your father hear you? Surely he will undermine the foundations of your throne; surely he will overturn the throne of your kingship, indeed will break the scepter of your rule."
1 Corinthians 15.26: 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Corinthians 15.54-55: 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Hebrews 1.8: 8 But of the Son He says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom."
Psalm 45.6 (Masoretic 45.7, LXX 44.7): 6 Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom.
Ba'al and Môt: "Why do you [Môt] battle with Mighty Ba'al? How of a truth shall the bull El your father hear you? Surely he will undermine the foundations of your throne; surely he will overturn the throne of your kingship, indeed will break the scepter of your rule."
1 Corinthians 15.26: 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Corinthians 15.54-55: 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Hebrews 1.8: 8 But of the Son He says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom."
Psalm 45.6 (Masoretic 45.7, LXX 44.7): 6 Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom.
Both Jesus and Ba'al are said to conquer death (Môt being the god of death). Both have a kingdom and a throne. In both scenarios death is addressed directly, in the second person. Some of these parallels are mediated through the Hebrew scriptures, but I am not sure that entirely blunts their point. Ba'al and Jesus, despite many differences (including the fact that the former's sister is instrumental in his rising from the dead), still share a rather similar overall story arc, I think.
Ben.