To the flood of Euphrates it turns,
The word of Marduk stirs up the bottom
Lord, thou art lofty, who equals thee?
In the hymn to Nergal No. 7 there is a large hymnal passage in praise of the word of deity. It begins apparently with the last line on the obverse side of the tablet, in which the second person of the direct address to deity is used:
Thy word is a lofty net Which stretches out over heaven and earth.
Unfortunately the first lines on the reverse side of the tablet are lost, but the lines which remain are all in the third person, and unlike the preceding hymn deity is not being directly addressed. We have here then the hymnal form which is characteristic of the Hebrew hymn of praise. It is however somewhat difficult to account for this use of the third person. Possibly it is because the word when once spoken has its independent existence, and cannot be recalled, but goes forth to exert its harmful or helpful influence. Consequently in thinking of the effects to be accomplished by Nergal’s word one can completely forget Nergal, since the word has left the god behind and goes on its own way, whither soever it was directed. It is to be noted that the effects of the word mentioned in this hymn are all harmful. There is no record of any magical ceremony or magical use of the word following the hymn, although the language of the hymn would almost seem to be introductory to such a use of the mighty word of Nergal. Possibly then it can be conjectured that we have actually here a genuine hymn in praise of the aweful word of deity. The hymn as preserved is as follows:
Thy word is a lofty net which stretches out over heaven and earth
. . . . . . . . .
His word goes to the seer, the seer takes fright;
His word goes to the enchanter, the enchanter takes fright.