Babylonian Theodicy

Babylonian Theodicy

Sufferer O discerning sage, come; let me speak before you. Attend to my words and learn the anguish within me. My strength is brought low, and grief has mastered me. My father and mother have gone to the land from which none returns. Brother and companion have left me alone. Therefore I pour out my complaint to you, my friend; let your understanding receive what I say.

Friend My friend, grief has clouded your judgment. The life of humankind is passing, and whoever is born must follow the road of his fathers. Yet the god has not abandoned the one who seeks him, and the goddess hears the voice of the humble. Do not let mourning turn your heart away from reverence. Hold fast to the god, and your way may yet be made straight.

Sufferer Look upon what happens among men. The strong seize the property of the weak; the violent prosper, while the quiet man is driven away. The liar is honored in the assembly, but the truthful man is treated as an enemy. One who has no shame fills his house with treasure, while one who fears the god goes hungry at the gate. If justice governs the land, where is its path?

Friend You have looked only at the surface of things. The purpose of the god is deep water no one can sound, and the plan of the goddess cannot be grasped by a human mind. What seems gain today may become ruin tomorrow. The proud man builds high, but his foundation is loose. Wait for the end before you call the order unjust.

Sufferer In my youth I sought the will of my god; with prostration and prayer I followed my goddess. Yet I bore profitless service like a yoke. My god decreed poverty instead of wealth, and my goddess humiliation instead of honor. A cripple is my superior; a madman outstrips me. The rogue has been promoted, but I have been brought low. Those who neglect the god prosper, while those who pray are impoverished and dispossessed.

Friend You count the gifts of the gods as though they were wages. You weigh prayer against silver and reverence against grain. The god is not a hired laborer at a man's command, nor is the goddess bound to satisfy every desire. A man may receive life though he asked for riches, and hidden dangers may pass without touching him. Do not call devotion empty because your storehouse is small.

Sufferer Hunger does not listen to discourse about hidden gifts. The empty belly bends the neck of the honorable. A poor man speaks wisdom, yet no one hears him; a rich fool opens his mouth, and all men applaud. The judge favors the one who brings a present. The orphan's case is postponed, and the widow's field is taken. Why does the upright man bow before the corrupt?

Friend The one who takes a bribe consumes poison with his bread. The judge who twists a case lays a snare for his own feet. The widow's cry rises farther than the oppressor imagines. A verdict may be delayed, but wrongdoing leaves a mark. A man's deed follows him like his shadow. Do not imitate the corrupt because their table is full.

Sufferer I have watched the robber grow old in comfort. His sons surround him, and his cattle fill the pasture. The man he ruined died without burial, and his children were scattered. The oppressor entered the temple with a costly gift and was welcomed, while the poor man with a handful of meal was pushed aside. How can such worship be pleasing to heaven?

Friend Do not confuse the appetite of men with the will of the god. A costly offering cannot cleanse a hand filled with blood, and incense cannot hide the odor of oppression. A little flour from a truthful heart is not despised. Men honor the vessel; the goddess examines what it contains. The blessing of a corrupt priest is only breath.

Sufferer [Several lines are damaged.] A deceitful man changes his face according to the company. Before the powerful he bends like a reed; before the weak he roars like a lion. He swears by the god and then breaks his oath. Because he is clever, men call him wise; because I refuse his ways, they call me simple. Must I learn wickedness in order to live?

Friend Do not make the fool your teacher. Skill in deceit is not wisdom. The double-tongued man cannot remember all his words, and his own companions learn to distrust him. The truthful man may suffer because his road is narrow, yet his speech is firm and his sleep untroubled. Better a small ration without fear than a banquet with dread.

Sufferer I lie down hungry and rise to the same distress. Friends avoid the man who cannot give a feast, and kindred close their doors against one who asks for help. A man's worth is counted by the weight of his purse. Even a brother becomes distant when silver is gone. The poor man is treated as though poverty were a crime. Where is the compassion commanded by the gods?

Friend Compassion has not vanished because many refuse it. The command remains though men transgress it. The miser narrows his own world until he sits alone, while the generous man binds hearts more firmly than with silver. Become yourself the mercy you say is absent. Share even from little, and the god will receive the kindness shown to the helpless.

Sufferer Need has reduced me below the station of a servant. I seek employment, but offices are sold. I offer skill, but influence obtains the post. A novice commands because his father is powerful, while the trained man waits outside the gate. The lazy inherit fields they never worked, and the diligent cultivate land for another. How can a man remain upright under such a burden?

Friend Wickedness will not lighten the burden. The stolen loaf brings fear with every bite, and the office gained by betrayal makes a man servant to betrayers. Do not exchange one affliction for many. The favored novice may sit high, yet ignorance exposes him. Guard what cannot be seized from you, and let hardship refine your discernment rather than corrupt it.

Sufferer You send me toward a road I cannot see and speak of a day that has not arrived. Meanwhile the wicked man eats, drinks, and lies upon a fine couch. If punishment comes only after his death, he does not feel it now. If judgment is hidden, it cannot restrain the violent. The silence of heaven gives courage to the oppressor.

Friend You mistake patience for silence and delay for approval. The violent one fills the measure by his own choice. Wrongdoing punishes even before the final blow: suspicion surrounds the robber, the tyrant fears the servants who bow before him, and the liar is imprisoned within his inventions. What appears as ease may be inward torment. Only the gods know the whole of a man's condition.

Sufferer [The opening of this stanza is damaged.] Look at the creatures of the plain. The lion kills and is called majestic; the wolf tears the flock and feeds its young; the hawk seizes the smaller bird and flies free. Strength everywhere becomes its own law. Was not this order fashioned by the gods? If violence is planted in creation itself, why is humankind blamed for following it?

Friend The beast was not given the judgment entrusted to humankind. The lion knows hunger, but not the tablet of law. You were given speech, counsel, memory, and foresight. The strong man who spares the weak is greater than the beast. Do not descend from human understanding to animal appetite. Creation contains struggle, but also nurture and restraint.

Sufferer Reason itself leads me to doubt the divine plan. One is born in a palace, another beside a ditch. One body is strong, another afflicted from the womb. Before either has acted, their portions are divided. The child of the criminal may thrive, while the child of the upright dies at the breast. If destiny precedes conduct, where is judgment?

Friend No mortal has seen the full weaving of destiny. You isolate one thread and condemn the whole cloth. The palace may conceal terror, and the hut may shelter love. Strength may become a snare, and weakness may awaken wisdom. I do not claim that every sorrow can be explained. The mind of the god is remote, and human understanding is smoke before the wind.

Sufferer At last you confess that the answer is hidden. When prosperity appears, you call it divine reward; when disaster comes, you call the purpose unknowable. Thus every outcome protects the same belief. The god is praised for good but excused for evil. If no fault is found in the sufferer, he is told his mind is too small. Why should I silence the evidence of my eyes?

Friend I do not ask you to deny what your eyes have seen. I ask you not to claim that your eyes have seen everything. Your complaint about suffering is true, but your conclusion that no order exists goes beyond the evidence. The limits of knowledge do not prove the absence of wisdom. Hold both realities: the pain is real, and our sight is partial.

Sufferer Your words have restrained my anger, but they have not removed it. I remain poor and without honor, and the one who wronged me still sits securely. Yet hatred has consumed my sleep, and the desire for revenge has become a second affliction. If I follow the rogue, I become the thing I condemn. Therefore I will not praise injustice, though I cannot explain it.

Friend To question is not evil, but rage can overturn the heart. Let your complaint be spoken; do not make violence your answer. The god may receive the truthful cry more readily than empty praise. Continue in reverence, not as a bargain for wealth, but because treachery destroys the one who practices it. Seek justice even when justice is delayed, and show mercy because you know the taste of misery.

Sufferer You have bent your ear to me and have not mocked my grief. Though my god has not yet turned my condition, and my goddess who left me has not returned, I will set my face again toward supplication. May the god who cast me off show compassion. May the goddess who withdrew draw near. May the shepherd of the people restore justice in the land. The afflicted man's final refuge is mercy.

[The closing lines are partly damaged.] The ordered stanzas form an acrostic naming Saggil-kīnam-ubbib. [Several signs are uncertain.] The dialogue of the suffering man and his friend is complete. Let the learned one consider its words, and let the scribe preserve its sequence. [One line missing.] End.