Biblical Hebrew Forum

[John Ronning <ronning AT ilink.nis.za>]

Jonathan  Safren wrote:

> . . .
> In his essay "The War of YHWH Against the Lord of the Sea", he [Cassuto]
> demonstrated that much biblical poetry alludes to a mythical war between
> YHWH and a primeval sea monster - similar to the war of Baal against
> Yam/Tnn/Ltn/Nhr in the Ugaritic texts.

Jonathan, there's no need for Cassuto's hypothetical myth -
in the HB God's defeat of
the wicked one takes place in Israel's history (chiefly, at
the Red Sea and in the conquest), not prior to the creation.

> For example, "Am I Yam (the Sea)
> or Leviathan (Lwytn=Ltn), that you place a guard over me?"

This is from Job (7:12), who is a Gentile and not
necessarily a reliable witness to
Israelite views according to 38:2 "Who is this that darkens
counsel by words without
knowledge?"  Answer - Job.


> Or: "You
> crushed the heads of Leviathan";

>From Ps 74:12, alluding to the defeat of the Egyptians at
the Red Sea (note ref. to
the exodus in v. 12 and v. 2), and the demon horde over them
(the gods of Egypt),
Leviathan being the chief demon, as you note below:

> Or, Leviathan, the slinky snake, the
> the twisted snake" - in Isaiah somewhere, but also appearing in the
> Ugaritic Baal Epic.

Isa 27:1; correctly translated "evil serpent," identically
as at Ugarit - the seven
headed dragon depicted as long ago as 2350 BC (cylinder
seal, ANEP, plates. 671, 691),
earlier depicted as a seven headed serpent, the pagan
version of the serpent of
Genesis 3.  Note that in Isa 27:1 the judgment on the evil
serpent, the twisted
serpent, the dragon who lives in the sea is *future*, not
connected to the
primeval past (also Isa 24:21  in that day, the Lord will
punish the host of
heaven *on high*, and the kings of the earth on earth.)


>
> Going on from here, one can see that the Song of the Sea also preserves
> an echo of the primeval war of YHWH against the sea.

I think it *was* the primeval (Ps 74:12 God is my king from
*of old*) war against the wicked one (the big war, from an
Israelite national perspective, though there was a bigger
earlier one, the flood of Noah, and the future one referred
to by Isaiah is bigger, and the conquest of Canaan is along
the same lines).

> So it would be
> natural for YHWH to be depicted as divine warrior.

Divine Warrior-King, who defeats sea, baal, ra', ptah, etc.,
and their servants the Egyptians and the Canaanites.


Yours,

John Ronning