The Assyrian and Hebrew Hymns of Praise

by Charles Gordon Cumming

For a great God is Yahwe,

And a great king over all gods

—Psalm 95:3.

while in Psalm 48:3, Jerusalem is the: “City of the great king.” While therefore “Yahwe is King” is actually the opening line of several eschatological hymns, and while those hymns exult in the complete triumph of Yahwe yet it is only the completeness of the triumph that distinguishes in the matter of kingship the eschatological hymns from the others.

The Supreme God as Judge

Kingship also implied Judgeship, the latter word having particular application to the rendering of judicial decisions or the achievement of justice for the oppressed. The actual word judge occurs occasionally in the Assyrian hymns as a title of the deity:

Shamash, lofty Judge of heaven and earth art thou.

—Hymn to Shamash No. 1.

Judge of heaven and earth; shining one of the world regions.

—Hymn to Ishtar No. 2.