Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Bryant,

There is, of course, Isaiah 27:1
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִפְקֹד יְהוָה  
בְּחַרְבּוֹ הַקָּשָׁה  
וְהַגְּדוֹלָה וְהַחֲזָקָה עַל  
לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ בָּרִחַ וְעַל  
לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ עֲקַלָּתוֹן  
וְהָרַג אֶת-הַתַּנִּין אֲשֶׁר בַּיָּם
But here reference, I think, is to A$UR and MICRAIM.
Also the poetical flair of Psalms 74:13-14
אַתָּה פוֹרַרְתָּ בְעָזְּךָ יָם  
שִׁבַּרְתָּ רָאשֵׁי תַנִּינִים עַל- 
הַמָּיִם אַתָּה רִצַּצְתָּ רָאשֵׁי  
לִוְיָתָן

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Sep 10, 2007, at 7:40 PM, Bryant J. Williams III wrote:

> Dear Isaac,
>
> Isaiah 51:9
> מְחוֹלֶלֶת תַּנִּיןעוּרִי כִּימֵי  
> קֶדֶם דֹּרוֹת עוֹלָמִים הֲלוֹא  
> אַתְּ-הִיא הַמַּחְצֶבֶת רַהַב  
> עוּרִי עוּרִי לִבְשִׁי-עֹז זְרוֹעַ  
> יְהוָה
> (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
>
> רָהַב בְּרוּחוֹ שָׁמַיִם שִׁפְרָה  
> חֹלְלָה יָדוֹ נָחָשׁ  
> בָּרִחַבְּכֹחוֹ רָגַע הַיָּם  
> וּבִתְבוּנָתוֹ מָחַץ
>
>
> 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
>
> [cut]
> [cut]
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