Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear Isaac,

Isaiah 51:9 
עוּרִי עוּרִי לִבְשִׁי-עֹז זְרוֹעַ יְהוָה עוּרִי כִּימֵי קֶדֶם דֹּרוֹת 
עוֹלָמִים הֲלוֹא אַתְּ-הִיא הַמַּחְצֶבֶת רַהַב מְחוֹלֶלֶת תַּנִּין

(BHS)

 9     Awake, awake, put on strength, 

O arm of the Lord! 
Awake, as in days of old, 
the generations of long ago! 
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, 
who pierced the dragon? 
 (NRSV)
[Hebrew You slew Rahab; you pierced the dragon.]




and the second in Job 26:12-13



בְּכֹחוֹ רָגַע הַיָּם וּבִתְבוּנָתוֹ מָחַץ רָהַב בְּרוּחוֹ שָׁמַיִם שִׁפְרָה 
חֹלְלָה יָדוֹ נָחָשׁ בָּרִחַ





12     By his power he stilled the Sea; 
by his understanding he struck down Rahab. 
13     By his wind the heavens were made fair; 
(by)his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 
(NRSV)

Now regarding the context of Isaiah 51:9. 
I.     Call to the nation to the trust the Lord in 51:1-8. 
II.    Call to the Lord to deliver the nation in 51:9-11.
III.   Comfort of the Lord to the nation in deliverance in 51:12-16.
IV.   Condolences to the nation because of the Wrath of the Lord in 51:17-20.
V.    Comfort to the Afflicted in 51:21-23.

There is an appeal to the covenant made with Abraham in verse 2. The appeal 
to God's righteous character in vss. 4, 5, 7. The appeal to God's power in 
vss. 9, 10. It is in the midst of these appeals that the power of God is seen 
in how he dealt with Rahab with the use of a rhetorical question that demands 
a "yes" as answer in synonymous parallelism. "Rahab/dragon"  and "cut in 
pieces(slew)/pierced" are parallel to each other. What confirms that XALAL 
means "pierce," here, is that in order to cut something into pieces is that 
one has to pierce.

Regarding the passage in Job 26:12-13.

The context is one of Job in reply to Bildar in 25:1-6 where Bildad accuses 
Job of not knowing God's ways and unable to prove himself before God. Job's 
reply begins with 6 rhetorical (sarcastic) questions in 26:1-4. All the 
questions require a "no" as an answer. In 26:5-14 Job uses several 
illustrations from the created world to describe the omnipotence of God. The 
parallelism is between "By his power he stilled the Sea/By his wind the 
heavens were made fair" and "by his understanding he struck down Rahab/his 
hand pierced the fleeing serpent." Here, "struck" [MaXaC] is paralleled with 
"pierced" [XALAL].

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III

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