03_Samet_375_375_390 30/10/15 13:05 Pagina 381 381 THE GILGAMESH EPIC AND THE BOOK OF QOHELET: A NEW LOOK 381 Here too, the similarity seems to be distinctive enough to point to a genetic relation between the two texts. It is not only the general mes- sage regarding the advantage of teamwork vs. individual work that is identical, but also the specific simile of the three-ply cord, whose unique occurrence in both texts is very unlikely to be accidental 19. Kramer’s insight was developed by Aaron Shaffer, who succeeded in identifying the Akkadian link between the early second millen- nium Sumerian text and the biblical book 20. The link was found in the fifth tablet of the Standard Babylonian Gilgamesh epic. In this version, the dispute between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is severely damaged. It seems that here it is Enkidu who attempts to persuade Gilgamesh to fight Humbaba, and not vice versa. The following fragmentary lines of Enkidu’s speech are preserved 21: “Humbaba’s… [On] one, one alone… [Two] garments, however… [Though] it is a glacis slope… two… Two triplets… A three-ply cord… As for the mighty lion, [his] two cubs…” Despite its bad state of preservation, this passage reveals several clear parallels to the Biblical source. When presenting the advantage of collaboration, the passage from Gilgamesh uses the numerical pattern 1-2-3: it begins with one, probably to contrast his weakness with the power of two, then ending with the three-ply cord, which represents the strength of three. Qohelet uses the very same pattern: at first he contrasts between one and two, and then refers to the ad- vantage of three. A thorough reading of both passages reveals additional links be- tween them. In the biblical passage, the advantage of two over one is depicted using three images: they support each other when stum- bling; they warm each other on a cold night; and they cooperate in defending themselves against an attacker. These images do not de- 19 Contra VAN DER TOORN, “Echoes”, 506; this motif is not known to us from other sources. 20 SHAFFER, “Mesopotamian Background”; ID., “New Light on the Three- ply Cord”, Eretz Israel 9 (1969) 159-160. 21 GEORGE, Gilgamesh I, 604-607.