The Assyrian and Hebrew Hymns of Praise

by Charles Gordon Cumming

In the preceding couplet one might expect instead of “builder of the mountains,” “builder of the earth,” but the second line would seem to suggest that the mountains were the abodes of the gods, and therefore the creation of mountains and gods is associated together. The following couplet, while not affirming explicitly the act of creation by deity, seems nevertheless to presuppose it:

Heaven and earth are thine;

The space of heaven and earth is thine.

—Hymn to Marduk No. 6.

Turning to the Hebrew hymns, there is a great variety of passages, in which Yahwe is referred to as creator:

Let all the earth fear Yahwe;

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him,

For he spake and it was done,

He commanded and it stood fast.

—Psalm 33:8f.