Endnote 2 – Why King Mesha of Moab Sacrificed His Oldest Son
The Ugaritic word bkr in Hebrew equals [bekor], the same word used in 2 Kings 3:27! The initial sign of the Ugaritic word is heavily damaged, and some have doubted that it is a B rather than a D. But Mlle. Herdner, an acknowledged specialist in Ugaritic epigraphy, was quite definite in her reading on both occasions, and the present writer has marshalled the literary-prosodic arguments in favor of this reading in his aforementioned study (endnote 1). For a contrary opinion, cf. P. Xella in Rivista di Studi Fenice 6 (1978), pp. 127–136.