Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Walter Mattfeld" <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>]

Dear Noel,

My research has indicated that the notion of "hail mixed with fire", hurled
from heaven by God upon Israel's enemies (Ex 9:24) that your question
alludes to, is mirrored in Assyrian hymns to their national god, Asshur.

See below, on an earlier letter posted to Ancien-L about God being portrayed
as Firey in the Old Testament:

Dear Mr. Lincoln,

Thankyou for the information on the Indian gods as a possible source to
explore.

In regards to Marduk and Asshur as firey gods, the sources are hymns
praising these gods in
Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian. Marduk in the Enuma Elish, recited in the
Spring, is said to
have his body filled with flaming fire as he readies himself for combat with
Tiamat, whom he defeats
(Tiamat symbolizing the forces of chaos). Scholars have noted that evidently
after the conquest of
Babylon by the Assyrians, that the Assyrian version of the Enuma Elish
substituted Marduk's name
with that of Asshur. Thus Asshur is now the god who's body is filled with
firey flames in his struggle
with Tiamat.

Neo-Assyrian prophetic oracles composed partly in prose and poetry, mention
Asshur answering
the Assyrian king's prayers for divine help against his enemies. Asshur
answers the king, saying that
as a firey glow he issued forth from the gate of heaven, hurling down from
the heavens fire upon the
foe, driving them up into the mountains, where stones and fire from heaven
consumed them.

Other verses, Babylonian, mention that Marduk's sword and his fire consumes
the enemy. Marduk is
also described as opening his mouth and flames of fire issue forth. All this
firey imagery can be found
in the OT.

The sources:

Stephanie Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh and
Others, Oxford
Univ. Press, 1991, paperback-
"His body was filled with an ever-blazing flame. He made a net to encircle
Tiamat within it..."
(p.251, Dalley)
"The success of the hero-god Marduk (in the Babylonian version, Assur in the
Assyrian version) is a
foregone conclusion...It is usually assumed that the version featuring
Asshur is secondary, for no
traces of Assyrian dialect are apparent." (p.228, Dalley)

Simo Parpola, Assyrian Prophecies, State Archives of Assyria, Vol. IX,
Helsinki Univ. Press, 1997-

"You [the Assyrian King] opened your mouth and cried:
Hear me, O Asshur !
I heard your cry. I issued forth as a firey glow from the gate of heaven, to
hurl down fire and have it
devour them...I drove them up the mountain and rained (hail) stones and fire
of heaven upon them."
(I forgot to write the page number on this, but it is from Parpola)

----- Original Message -----
From: Noel O'Riordan <nor AT iol.ie>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2000 10:21 PM
Subject: Exodus 9:24


> Hello All
>
> What is the most accurate translation of Exodus 9:24a.
>
> The NIV has: hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth
> The Jerusalem Bible has:  The hail fell and lightning flashing in the
middle
> of it.
> The Douay-Challoner text has:  And the hail and fire mixed with it drove
on
> together.
> The KJV has:  So there was Hail and fire mingled with the hail.
>
> The translation hinges on the word  'esh which is normally translated as
> fire, but can also be used to indicate lightning.
>
> The reason I ask is that the translation that favors the use of Fire gives
> the plague a lot more punch, and of course this is the version that has
> taken the popular imagination so that the plague is often seen as being
> almost a plague of Fire and Brimstone.
>
> The more obvious translation, especially considering the context seems to
be
> Lightning this of course merely turns the Hail storm into just that.
>
> Any comments?
>
> Best Regards
> Noel O'Riordan
>
>
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