Heavenly Tablets

and the Book of Life

SHALOM M. PAUL
Hebrew University and University of Tel Aviv
To Professor T. H. Gaster
sulmu sa adannis 1l tiib sere liddinunikka

Divine bookkeeping also began in Sumer. This well-known and intriguing belief in the
existence of heavenly tablets upon which were recorded the deeds and destiny of individuals
as well as nations can be traced from Sumerian to Talmudic times. The following survey of
such celestial ledgers, some of which have hitherto been overlooked, is dedicated to a scholar
who has contributed so much to the elucidation and the understanding of the myths, legends ,
and customs of the civilizations here under study. Noted here for the first time are cunei-
form parallels to "the book of life" (or "of the living") of Ps. 69: 29.
In a hymn to the god Haia with a prayer for Rim-Sin, one reads,1 nun dRi-im-dEN.ZU
u u
b a I a - b I - b I u4 - s U- u d - d a Su - zig a r - m u - n a - a b / i m - n a m - t i-I a - k e4
d u - r 1- sen u - k u r - rum u - big u b - n i "Grant to prince Rim-Sin a reign all joyous
and length of days! On a tablet of life 2 never to be altered place its (the reign's) name(s)!"
Note, too, that in this same text there is a reference to a tablet of fate, i m - n a m - tar, which
also occurs in VET 6,2:4 (restored by Hallo), LKA 146:9 (d u b - n a m - me'S), and in
an unpublished Yale text. 3 The goddess Nungal is also known to possess such an in - n am-
ti-Ia'tabletoflife,.4

1 UET 6:101 :51£. Courtesy of W. W. HalIo, whose translation of this difficult text is a tentative one.
For a thorough study of this hymn, see H. Steible , Ein Lied all dell Gott Ijaya mit Bitte [ur den Konig Rimsin
vo" Larsa (Freiburg i Br., 1967). His translation of these lines is on p. 15 and his commentary on pp.
164-65. (My friend and colleague, Dr. Raphael Kutscher, made this study available to me.)
2 W. Heimpel, in a writren communication (April, 1971), is of the opinion that i m - n a m - til - I a is
not a "tablet of life" but a "tablet of (one's) curriculum." He adds, "Concretely I believe it is a tablet where
the deeds of an individual are recorded."
3 YBC4658 :13,d N in-lil-le dub-nam-tar-ra-mu su-z[u-s) e mu-e?-ra-x-[ ... J,
s
courtesy of Hallo, who also draws attention to Falkenstein, SAHG, 65, no. 6:5, dub - a6 - g a
fk a I a m - m a - k e~ su - g a-g a "[NisabaJ you who hold the good tablets (of destiny) of the land." Cf.
below, n. 14.
4 Nungal hymn, line 74 = PBS 112 104 Rs. 10 = Ni 42,13,17. References are from Heimpel's communi-
cation just cited. He refers to the forthcoming edition of the NungaJ Hymn by A. Sjoberg in AfO.
 JANES 5 (1973) Paul: Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life
346

The gods in Mesopotamia were considered the determiners of destiny, 5 and they wrote
their decisions on 'tablets of destiny' <tuppi simati).6 Nabu, the divine scribe, was in posses-
sion of these records, and kings frequently offered their prayers to him.1 Thus, Ashurbanipal
addresses the deity,8 baliitiya ina piinika sa{ir "My life is inscribed before you.,,9 Samassumu-
kin prays, ume balii[i'Su arkuti ina {uppi listur "May [Nabul inscribe the days of his life for
long duration in a tablet.,,10 And Nebuchadrezzar prays, ina le',ka k'inim muk"fn puluk same
u er~eti ibe arCiku iimiya sutur littiitim "On your [Nabu'sl unchangeable tablet, which estab-
lished the boundaries of heaven and earth, proclaim length of days for me, inscribe long life." 11
The existence of other heavenly ledgers which record man's deeds are also well attested,12 cf.
tuppi arnisu IJi[iitisu gilliitisu miim8t1su "the tablet of his misdeeds, errors, crimes, oaths,,,13
and [UpPU damiqti "the tablet of his good deeds."14
Such records of divine scribal activity are also alluded to several times in the Bible: 15

5 In LKA 146, Ea orders the seven apkallu of Eridu to bring forth the tablets of destiny: "Bring the
writing of my Anu-ship [highest supreme offices]; let them read it before me. The tablets of destiny are
brought." Cf. Lambert, Bi. Or. 13 (1956), 144.
6 Cf. B. Meissner, Babylonien und Assyrien, (Heidelberg, 1925), 2: 124-25. For a discussion ofsimtu,
isqu, and uPlrru, see A. L. Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia (Chicago, 1964), 201-6. On the theme of
the divine determining of destiny in Mesopotamia, see also G. Furlani, "Sui concerto del destino nella
religione babilonese e assira," Aegyptus 9 (1928), 205-39; H. Zimmern, "Simat, SIma, Tyche, Manat,"
Islamica 2 (1928), 574-84; Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Arcbaologie (Berlin, 1969),
3: 541 (Sumerians); and, in general, Madeline David, Les dieux et Ie destin en Babylonie (Paris, 1949). Cr.,
too, the references in n. 7, n. 37, and n. 46.
7 For the role of Nabu, see H. Zimmern and H. Winckler, Die Keilschriftinschriften und das Alte Testa-
ment, 3rd. ed. [=KAT3] (Berlin, 1903),399-408. See, too, C. Fichmer-Jeremias, Dcr Schicksalsglaube bei
den Babylonien, MVAG 27/2 (Leipzig, 1922). Nabu is the holder of the tablets of destiny, mf{;/aeiz {uppi
Simiiti, and the pen, fiime!; qan tuppi, {ame!; Iii'! fob it qcm {uppi, but he is not the only god invested with
this task. Other gods, who are mentioned in texts as determiners of destiny, iliini mi/simmu 'Simati, are Anu,
Ningirsu, Bau, Ninhursag, Ishtar, EnliJ, Ninlil, Ea, Shamash, Sin, Ninurta, Nusku, Girru, Nergal, Mami,
Annunaki, Marduk, Assur, and Namtar, the personification of fate itself.
8 Cr. T. H. Gaster, Thespis (New York, 1961),288, note.
9 M. Streck, Assurbanipal, VAB 712 (Leipzig, 1916), 347 :21, balilfiya ina plinika'satir. Cf.275:15-16.
10 C. F. Lehmann, Sama'Ssumukin Konig von Babylon (Leipzig, 1892), 10:23.
11 VAB 4, 100, ii:23-25. For Nabu's unalterable tablets, cf. CT 34,20:50, ina te'lka kmim.
12 For luppi illini, see H. Zimmern, Beitrage zur Kenntnis babyloniscben Religion (Leipzig, 1901), 116,
no. 24:8. For Ie'£) sa isqeti, see VS 15, 26:17. Cf. P. Jensen, Texte zurassyrisch-babylonischen Religion,
KB 4/1 (Berlin, 1915), 138:21. Cf., too, the tablets of destiny mentioned in the Zu epic. For translation,
A NET, 112: 11-12, "I will take the divine Tablet of Destinies, I, and the decrees of all the gods I will
rule." One of the most often cited examples, of course, comes from the Enuma Elish (ANET, 67: 121-22).
13 Cf. E. Reiner, S~rp!l, AfO Beiheft 11 (Graz, 1958), 27 :78-80, "May his sin be shed today, may it be
wiped off him, averted from him. May the record of his misdeeds ({uppi arnfSu), his errors feifiltiSu), his
crimes (gillacisu), his oaths (miimatlSu), (all) that is sworn, be thrown into the water." For ~uppj ami, see
also H. Zimmern, Beitrage zur Kenntnis dcr babyloniscben Religion (Leipzig, 1901), 124:5, bottom.
14 For a "tablet of good works.," fUPpu damiqti, see IV R 11: r. 48, .d u b s a6 - g a - n a
b a - a n - D U: (ana) fuppi damiqtiSu Su!ur. Cf. above, n. 3.
15 Several of the biblical verses referred to have textual difficulties which are not dealt with here. The
importance of these citations is only to demonstrate the belief in the existence of heavenly ledgers or in
 JANES 5 (1973) Paul: Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life

347

1. Exodus 32:32-33, where the erasure of a name from such a register is equivalent to a
sentence of death. Moses" interceding for the Israelites after the incident of the golden calf,
says, "Now if you will forgive their sins [well and good], . But if not, erase me from the roster
which You have written. But the Lord said to Moses, 'He who has sinned against Me, him
only willi erase from My roster'.,,16

2 . Isaiah 4: 3, "Then he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called 'holy',
everyone who has been inscribed for life in Jerusalem."17

3. Isaiah 34:16-17, "Consult the 'Book of the Lord'18 and read it."19

4. Isaiah 65 :6 , "It is on record before Me."

5. Jeremiah 17: 13, "0 Lord, the ho pe of Israel, all who rej ect You shall be pu t to shame, and
those who turn from You,20 shall be inscribed in the netherworld.,,21

6. Jeremiah 22 : 30, "Thus says the Lord, 'Write this man [Jehoiachinl down as childless'."

7. Malachi 3: 16, "The Lord listened and heard it, and a tablet of remembrance was written
before Him concerning those who revere the Lord and honor his name." 22

divine scribal activity also in the Bible. For a brief survey, see S. Ahitub, "The Book of the Lord,"
Encyclopaedia Biblica (Jerusalem, 1968), 5:1086-87 lin Hebrew).
16 Cf., too, PS, 69:29 (discussed below) ; 109:13. For the concept, cf. Gudea 9 :6-8, M. Lambert and
J. R. Tournay, "Le Statue B de Gudea, " RA 45 (1951),64. For similar terminology, compare the Ahiram
inscription, wb ' . ym~ sprb "and as for him, may his inscription be erased," Donner and RoIlig, KAl1 , 1 :2.
17 Cf. in a slightly different context, itti baltuti ammani "I was reckoned among the living," in Ludlul
Bel Nemeqi, W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (Oxford, 1967),60:83 , which means to
receive a favorable decree from the gods to be among the living. For the opposite, cf. A. Boisser, Cboix de
textesdivinato;"es, ii: 31,10, itti ameli Iii immani, "He shall not be counted among men." Cf. S. Langdon,
"The Semitic Goddess of Fate, Fortuna, Tyche," jRAS (1930), 23.
18 D. R. Hillers, Treaty Curses and tbe Old Testament Propbets (Rome, 1964), 45-49, comparing the
Sefire Treaty (II1:4), interpreted sliper ybwb as a reference to the inscribed copy of a covenant. In the
light of the material assembled here, it is more likely to interpret this "book" as a heavenly ledger. Cf. Ibn
Ezra, ad loc.
19 In this prophecy the fate of Edom is sealed. For the determining of the destiny of Babylon, see
R. Borger, Die lnscbriften Asarbaddons Konigs von Assyrien, AfD Beibeft 9 (Graz, 1956), 15 :2-11, .70
Sanati minut nidutisu is!urma renmu Marduk sums libbasu iniilzma ells ana 'Saplis ana 11 'Sanati aSiibSu iqbi
"Seventy years as the period of its (Babylon's) desolation he (Marduk) wrote down . But the merciful
Marduk, in a moment his heart was at rest, turned (the figure) upside down and ordered it to be inhabited
after eleven years."
20 Read we sUrllJy )kii.
21 For 'flT~~ as "netherworld," see W. Baumgartner, Die Klagegedicbte des Jeremias, BZATW 32
(Giessen, 1917),40. H. Gunkel, Scbopfung und Cbaos in Urzeit und Endzeit (Gattingen, 1895), 18, n. 1.,
already amassed evidence for this meaning in Hebrew, Akkadian, and Aramaic. For this verse, cf., too,
M. Dahood, Biblica 40 (1959), 164-66. The same meaning is now also well attested in Ugaritic, 'r~. Cf.,
too , W. Baumgartner, B. Hartmann, E. Y. Kutscher, Hebriiiscbes und Aramiiiscbes Lexikon zum Alten
Testament (Leiden, 1967), 88.
22 Cf. its citation in the Damascus Scroll 20 :19.
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348

8. Psalm 40:8 possibly belongs here too; but it seems to speak of a book of commandments
rather than fate: " . . . In the roll of the book it is written of me."

9. Psalm 56:9, " . .. Are they [my tears) not in Your book?"23

10. Psalm 87 :6, "The Lord records in the roll of nations: 'This one was born there' (Selah)."

11. Psalm 139 : 16, "And in Your book they are all recorded."

12. Daniel 7: 10, "Thdheavenly 1 court sat in judgment and books were opened."

13. Daniel 10:21 , "But I will tell you what is written in the book of truth." (There follows
a preview of the history of the next two and three-quarters of a century.)

14. Daniel 12: 1, "But at that time Your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found
written in the book."

Two other possible examples which have been cited are: 1 Samuel 25:29, "The life of my
lord shall be bound up in the bundle of life,,,Z4 and Ezekiel 13 :9,25 "They [the false prophets]
shall not be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel. "26
Citations for this belief in post-biblicalliterature 27 are also found in the Pseudepigrapha,
the Apocalypse of Zephania, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, and in Talmudic
liter:i"ture.

A. Pseudepigrapha
1. Jubilees 30 : 19-23., "And so they inscribe as a testimony in his favor on the heavenly
tablets blessing and righteousness before the God of all. ... But if they transgress and work

23 Cf. Gaster, Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament (New York, 1969), 759.
24 O. Eissfeldt, Der Beutel der Lebendigen (Berlin, 1960), thinks (p . 25) that this verse represents the
initial stage of the concept that is developed in Psalms. He also quotes.K. Budde, Die Bucher Samuel (1902)
167f. Eissfeldt bases his view on the study of Oppenheim,JNES 18 (1959), 121-28, who discussed the
custom in Nuzi of registering sheep and goats by means of pebbles transferred to receptacles. According to
Eissfeldt, the biblical idiom refers to such a usage, i.e., the wish of Abigail that King David's life be deposit-
ed in a pouch reserved for those who are to be kept alive. See, too, N. H. Tur Sinai, Peshuto Shel Miqra
(Jerusalem, 1965), 2:180.
25 This verse, however, may refer to a human register similar to Nehemiah 7:5f; 12:22f.
26. Some bave also compared Nehemiah 13 :14, "Remember this, my God, to my credit, and do not
wipe out my devotion." For the idiom ziikar Ie (cf. Jer. 2:2), see J. Hempel, "Die Israelitischen Anschau-
ungen von Segen und Fluch im Lichte altorientalischen Parallelen," ZDMG 4 (1915), 61, continuation of
n.4.
27 Only selected examples are listed here. For a comprehensive listing (excluding the Qumran litera-
ture), see Zimmern and Winckler, KA -p, 405-6; P. Volz, Die Eschatologie der judischen Gemeinde im
neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (Tlibingen, 1934), 290-92; and W. Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums im
spiithellenistischen Zeitalter, 3rd ed. (Ttibingen, 1926), 258. Cf., too,A. Jeremias, Babylonisches im
Neuen Testament (Leipzig, 1905),69-73. For an additional collection of citations stressing apocalyptic
literature, see R. Eppel, "Les tables de la loi et les tables celestes," RHPR 17 (1937),401-12.
 JANES 5 (1973) Paul: Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life 349

uncleanness in every way, they will be recorded on the heavenly tablets as adversaries, and
they will be destroyed out of the book of life, and they will be recorded in the book of those
who will be destroyed and with those who wiH be rooted out of the earth."
2. 1 Enoch 47: 3, "In those days I saw the Head of Days when He seated Himself upon the
throne of His glory, and the books of the living were opened before Him." (Cf. 81 : If.; 103: 2;
104:1,7; 108:3,7.)28

B. Apocalypse of Zephania
1. 3:15-4:13, "I am wont, however, to bring them before the Lord Almighty, in order
that He may inscribe their names in the book of the living. Also the angles of the accuser,
who is upon the earth, they also, in turn, write according to all the sins of man upon their
scrolls. Also they sit at the gate of Heaven. They announce to the accuser that he is to inscribe
them upon his scroll in order that he may accuse them when they come hither out of the world
below."
2. 14:5, "For thy name is inscribed in the book of the living."29

C. Dead Sea Scrolls

1. 4QDib Ham, kof hakkatub beseper ha~)aYYI[mJ "All those inscribed in the book of the
living." 31
2. 1QHod 1:23-24,32 hakkofl;aquq fepiin~(y)kiih bep'trftt zikiirDn 33 "Everything is in-
scribed before You with a stylus of remembrance."
3. 4Q180 : 3,34 wehu' (Jiiriit 'af lu~8t "And it [the preordaining of the ages) was engraved

28 Enoch is the latter-day counterpart of Nabu, the heavenly scribe, who possesses the heavenly
tablets.
29 H. P. Houghton, "The Coptic Apocalypse," Aegyptus 39 (1959), 78, 88.
30 See F. Notscher, "Himmlische Bucher und Schicksalsglaube in Qumran," Revue de Qumran 1 (1959),
405-11, who also draws attention to a statement by J. Starcky, RB 63 (1956), 66, pertaining to a small
group of Aramaic fragments from Cave 4 which mention heavenly tablets. These fragments apparently
have not yet been published, unless they are contained in the text, "Un Texte Messianique Arameen de la
Grotte 4 de Qumran," Memorial du Cinquantenaire 1914-1964 (Paris, 1965), 51-66, where we read on
52:5 the phrase,lm}1ld' tltt spry', "the record of the three books."
31 M. Baillet, "Un Recueil Liturgiquc: de Qumran, Grotte 4 : 'Les Paroles des Luminaires'," RB 68
(1961),210:14. On p. 232, he refers this expression to the Bible itself. My attention was drawn to this
reference by my friend and colleague, Raphael Weiss.
32 J. Licht, The Thanksgiving Scroll (Jerusalem, 1957), 61 [in Hebrew). Cf., too, T. H. Gaster, Dead
Sea Scriptures (New York, 1956), 125, "All things are inscribed before Thee in a recording script for every
moment of time, for the infinite cycle of years, in their several appointed times." Gaster also refers
to xvi:10, p. 195, "Moreover, because I know that Thou dost keep a record. of every righteous
spirit."
33 Cf. I?frftt l?aYYlnl, "stylus of life," 1QM xii: 3, and 1QS 10:11. Cf. also IQpHab. vii:12-14.
34 J. M. Allegro, Qumran Cave 4, DJD5 (Oxford, 1968), 78, no. 180: 3, and the corrected read-
ing by J. Strugnell, "Notes en marges du Volume V des 'Discoveries in the Judean Desert of
Jordan'," Revue de Qumran 26 (1970), 253. The present correcred reading is very clear from the
plate itself (Plate XXVII, 1). Cf., too, CD III 3-4, C. Rabin, The Zadokite Documents, 2nd ed.
(Oxford, 1958), 11, wayyikkatebu 'ohab'im lll'el Elba 'ale berft le 'ii/am "And they were written down
 JANES 5 (1973) Paul: Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life

350

upon tablets."35

D. New Testament
1. Luke 10:20, "Nevertheless, what you should rejoice over is not that the spirits submit
to you, but that your names are enrolled in heaven."
2. Philippians 4:3, " ... whose names are in the roll of the living."
3. Hebrews 12:23, " ... and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven."
4. Revelation 3: 5, " . . . His name I will never take off the roll of the living."
5. Revelation 13:8, "Except those whose names the Lamb that was slain keeps in his roll
of the living, written there since the world was made." (Cf. 17 :8; 20: 12, 15; 21 :27 .)

E. Talmudic Literature 36
1. Mishnah Aboth 3:20, .. .wehappinqiis piitrual; wehayylid kotf(bl(.t ... " [Rabbi Akiba
said,) . .. the ledger is open and the hand writes .... " (The allusion here is to a heavenly
ledger in which all man's actions are written down prior to the final day of reckoning.)
2. TB Rosh Hashanah 16b,37 "Three books are opened [in heaven) on the Day of the
New Year ; one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the
intermediate. The thoroughly righteous are immediately inscribed and sealed for life. The
thoroughly wicked are immediately inscribed and sealed for death . The fate of the intermed-
iate is suspended until the Day of Atonement [nine days later): if they are found deserving,
they are inscribed for life; if not found deserving, they are inscribed for death."38
3. TB Arakhin lOb, "The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Why
does not Israel sing the Song [that is, the Hallel] before Vou on New Year's Day and on the
Day of Atonement?' He answered them, 'Would that be possible-the King sitting on the
throne of judgment, with the books of those destined to live (sipre qayy'im) and destined to
die (sipre met'lm) before Him, and Israel singing the Song (that is the Halle/] before Me'?"

as friends of God and His covenanters for !:ternity." (References courtesy of R. Weiss.) According
to J. T. Milik, "Milk'l-$edeq et Milkt-Resa' dans les anciens ecrits Juifs et Chreriens," JSS 23 (1972),
19; hu 'tih hakkti{tujb 'ii/aw in IIQMeich 3 II, 19, also refers to heavenly tablets. He interprets the
Melchizedek text as belonging to the same literary genre as 4Q 180.
35 For a possible allusion to such a belief in a Punic inscription of the third-second century
B.C.E., see Gaster, Thespis, 288-89. "Moreover, the gods ('lnm) have . . . my name (Smy); my mark
Oy) . . . along with their names have they inscribed (ktb), and the glory and [splendlor of my
name (smy) did they record from the beginni[ngl forever (/'1m)." The text is found in M. Lidzbarski,
Ephemeris fur Semitische Epigraphik (Giessen, 1902), 1:164£., esp . 166-67.
36 For further references, see L. Ginsberg, Legends of the Jews, 2 :175 (Levi knew how to read
the celestial books written by the finger of God); 5 : 82, n. 27 (Adam was shown the book in which
all the future generations were recorded-cf. Jeremias, Babylonisches, 69-73); 5:128, n. 141; 129,
n. 142; 6: 55, n. 284.
37 For the determining of one's fate by the gods in Mesopotamia at an assembly which takes
place at the New Year in one of the sacred chapels of Esagila, see S. A. Pallis, The Babylonian Akliu
Festival (Copenhagen, 1926), 92-102, 183-97 ; Jeremias, Babylonisches, 69-73; Meissner, Babylonien ,
125; S. Langdon, Die Neubabylonischen Konigsinschriften (Leipzig, 1912), 126: 54-65.
38 One of the proof texts for the passage in Rosh Hashanah 16b cited above is Ps. 69 :29.
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351

These last two passages have greatly influenced the liturgy of the Jewish High Holidays,
especially in the recurrent plea, zokerenu le/;JaYYlm m~l~k I?iipe~ babayy'im wekotebenu besep(Y
hal;aYYlm .. . "Remember us for life, 0 King who delights in life, and inscribe us in the book
's
of life ... ," and in the prayer U-netanneh Toke!. bero hass,jnah yikkiitebu ubeyom ~Dm kip-
pur ye/;!litemu "On the New Year it is written down [man's destiny for the coming year], and
on the Day of Atonement it is sealed."
The recurrent references above to a "book of life/living" ultimately hark back to Ps.
69:29,39 where the expression a "book of life" or, better, a "book of the living," 40 makes its
sole appearance in all of biblical literature, yimmii/;!u misseNr bayyfm we'im ~addlq!m 'al
yikkzitebll "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;41 let them not be enrolled
among the righteous."
This unique expression, moreover, also has an earlier Mesopotamian counterpart. Such a
heavenly ledger bearing this specific title is found in the blessing recorded in the introduction
to a Neo-Assyrian tablet addressed to Esarhaddon (ABL 545):42 ana sarri beliya . . . lu sulmu
ana sarri adannis adannis NaMl Marduk ana sarri betiya litrubii . .. umu V/l/kftm epes nikkassi43
Nabfl ina le'lsu sa baliiti nikkassu sa sarri beliya u so mare beliya [a/no ume iati [I/pu s/ "To
the king, my lord .. . . Mayall be very very well with the king, my lord. May Nabu and
Marduk bless the king, my lord . . . . On the seventh day is the making of the reckoning of
Nabu. In his tablet of life [may he make] the reckoning of the king, my lord (and) of the
sons of my lord forever.,,44
The phrase, le'u sa balii!i45 "tablet of life/living" is the interdiaIectal semantic equivalent

39 For Ps. 69 :29, see Gaster, Myth, Legend, and Custom, 764.
40 Cf., for example, H, Gunkel , Die Psalmen, 2nd ed. (Gottingen, 1926), 299; E. Podechard,
Le Psautier (Lyon, 1954), 275; Eissfeldt, Der Beutel, 22, n. I, because of the parallelism with ~adlqnn 'the
righteous'.
41 Cf. n. 16, above.
42 For ABL 545, see the translation in L. Waterman, Royal Correspondence of the Assyrian
Empire (1930), 1: 386-87; E. Behrens, Assyrischbabylonische Briefe kultischen Inhalts aus der
Sargonzeit (Leipzig, 1906), 43 .
43 For the expression epe'S nikkassi 'to settle accounts', see Behrens, loc. cit., and B. Landsberger,
Die kultische Kalendar des Babylonier und Assyrer (Leipzig, 1915), 135; and CAD E, 214. Cf. n. 44.
44 The appearance of such a blessing in an economic text and context may be explained by
Volz's comment, Eschatologie, p. 292 (written without any knowledge of the passage under discussion) :
"Fur die Aufzeichnung der Handlungen (in Bucher) konnte die Vorlage im kaufmannischen Leben zu
such en sein (vgl. das Schuldbuch in Abot 3:16); das Motiv ist das Bedurfnis der gerechten Vergel-
tung." Cf., too, L. Koep, Das himmlische Buch in Antike und Christen tum (Bonn, 1952), 14. The
economic imagery in the Mishnah referred to (and already cited in our study) is extremely bold : "He
[Rabbi Akibal used to say : All is given against a pledge, and the net is cast over all the living [so
that none may forfeit paying by escaping]. The shop is open; the shopkeeper extends credit; the
account-book lies open and the hand makes entries. Whoever wishes to borrow may come and
and borrow; but the collectors make their rounds continually, every day, and exact payment [of men]
with their consent or without their consent, for they have that on which they can rely [i.e.,
God's records of man's debts]; and the judgment is a judgment of truth. And all is made ready
for the banquet."
45 Cf. also KAR 109 :23, in a hymn to Ba'u, E, Ebeling, Que/len zur Kenntnis der babylonischen
Religion, MVAG 23/1 (Leipzig, 1918), SO, no. 109:22: ina ezida nasat le'u (I) baliiti inassi riiSa "In
 JANES 5 (1973) Paul: Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life

352

of the Hebrew sep~J haf;ayyzm. And the Akkadian is none other than a reproduction of the
Sumerian phrase, i m - n a m - til -I a, already cited in the beginning of this study.46

Postscript by W. W. Hallo
At the invitation of Professor Paul, the following is added by way of amplification.
(1) In the Haia-hymn (UET 6 :101), lines 51£. should be translated : " ,Grant to prince Rim-Sin
a reign all joyous and length of days! On a tablet of life never to be altered place its (the reign's)
name(s)!"
Note thatS u - z i ... gar = sutlumu,; "grant" (e.g., MSL 13: 118: 132; PBS 10/4:8 :4 = C.
Wilcke, Welt des Orients 5 [1969) 2; cf. sutlumu = nadanu, LTBA 2 :2:210) as in the
u
cQmparable Warad-Sin passage: b a I a - b I -I a s u - z i m a - n 1 - 1 n - gar "he has granted
me a joyous reign" (A. Falkenstein, Baghdader Mitteilungen 3 [ 1964) , 27:47) .
The name(s) in line 52 may well refer to the date formula(s) of Rim-Sin.
Line 5 of the same composition refers to the tablets of fate: g i - k u- a
g a s u - g I - lei m -
n a m - tar - g a I - m u 1- m u I : "(Haia), holding the holy reed-stylus (and) the resplendent
great tablets of fa te."
For the entire text, see Horst Steible, Ein Lied an den Gott ljaja mit Bitte fur den
Konig Rlms'in von Larsa (Ph .D. diss., Freiburg i. Br., 1967).

(2) The reference to UET 6 :2 :4 should be restored: d u [ b - n a m - tar - b) abzu- s e

b a - a n - g i4 "Those tablets [of fate) returned to Abzu."
For the entire text, see now Bendt Alster, " 'Ninurta and the Turtle', UET 6/1 :2," ]CS 24
(1972),120-25.

(3) The reference to the unpublished Yale text is YBC 4658: 13: dN i n - I f I - led u b -
nam-tar-ra-mu su-z[u-s) e
mu-e?-ra-x-[ ... ). Cf.alsoiKA 146 :9: ittasu-
nimma iltanasu {UP slmati (DUB.NAM.MES) ilani rabuti "they (the seven apkallu ' s) brought
and recited the tablets of fate of the great gods."
See, most recently,] . van Dijk , UVB 18 (1962), 48.

Ezida [the temple of Nabu in Borsippa/, as the bearer of the tablet of life(?), she raises her head."
The reading baki!i, however, is totally uncertain and highly unlikely.v There is another text in which
this phrase has been read : E. Ebeling, Die Akkadiscbe Gebetsserie Su-ila "Handerbebung" (Berlin,
1953), 124:13. But the reading is apparently based only on a reconstruction.
46 For an interesting, though sarcastic, reflection of this belief in Greek literature (Euripides),
see A. Nauck , Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, 2nd ed. (1889), 523, fragment 506 : "Do you
believe that the sins are written in a book before Zeus, and Zeus reads it and judges men accord-
ingly. The heavens are not large enough to write down the sins." Gaster, Myth, Legend, and
Custom, 764, brings additional evidence, "Similarly the Roman Par cae and the Teutonic Noms are
said to have kept a written record of men's fates, the latter being sometimes designated Die Schreib-
erinnen . In the same vein, too, Tertullian tells us that at the conclusion of a child's first week of
life, prayers were offered to Fata Scribunda." See also his notes on p. 849. For Egyptian, Greek,
and Roman analogues to the above, see Koep, Das bimmlische Buch. For an interesting study of the
the belief in destiny and free will in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Qumran, see F. Notscher, "Schicksals-
g1aube in Qumran und Umwelt," BZ 3 (1959), 205-34.
 JANES 5 (1973) Paul: Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life
353

(4) Other references to the tablets of life occur in hymns to Nin-imma: i m - n am - t i -I a

a s
S u ? ! - g I - I a - m e - e n (ISET 1: 74 Ni. 4233: 5) and Nungal : i m - n a m - t i -I a u - rna
a
m u - g I (e.g., PBS 1/2 : 104 rev. 10). For the latter passage , see now the edition of the
text by A. Sjoberg, AID 24 (1973),44, who adds (ad line 77) a reference to dub - n a m -
t i -I a in a hymn to Ba'u (UET 6/ I :72:3).

(5) That n a m - tar and n a m - t i-I a are simple antonyms for death and life in all contexts
may be doubted in view of such passages as: n a m - tar n a m - t i-I a ... sag - e - e ~ b a-
m a - a b - r i g 7 - g e "may he bestow upon me a fate of life" (Warad-Sin 7:35).

(6) [ take this opportunity to add to Professor Paul's "Psalm 72 :5-A Traditional Blessing for
the Long Life of the King," JNES 31 (1972), 351-55, another parallel from Samsu-iluna's
inscriptions : n a m - ti -I a d N ann a - g i m i t i - i t i - dam u-m Ii - d a (m) = /baliifam
sal kima SIn [war!?isVjam [utedJdisu: "a life which grows (so the Sumerian ; Akkadian has:
renews itself) each month like Nanna (so Sumerian; Akkadian: Sin; i.e. , the moon) (the
great gods bestow on me)." (LiH 2:97:88-92=98 :89f.=99:89f.).
See the latest translation of the text by E. Sollberger and J. R. Kupper, Inscriptions Royales
Sumeriennes et Akkadiennes (Paris, 1971),220£.
 JANES 5 (1973) Paul: Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life
354

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