Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor & Julie Peterson" <06peterson AT cua.edu>]

Martin wrote:

> there does seem
> to be some (either) confusion or variation in the attribution of these
> words, probably between versions. ANET3 attributes the words to Siduri,
> although I can only check this indirectly at present (cf. Seow,
> Ecclesiastes, p.65).

Ah, thanks for the reference. I missed it in scanning the text before. No,
the difference is not between versions. This passage comes from the same
tablet. She says:

O Gilgamesh, where are you wandering?
The life that you seek you never will find:
when the gods created mankind,
death they dispensed to mankind,
life they kept for themselves.
But you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full,
enjoy yourself always by day and by night!
Make merry each day,
dance and play day and night!
Let your clothes be clean,
let your head be washed, may you bathe in water!
Gaze on the child who holds your hand,
let your wife enjoy your repeated embrace!
For such is the destiny [of mortal men,]
that the one who lives . . . (iii.1-15)

It's not uncommon for ancient poetry to repeat the same lines in different
places.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics