Roger Duke
10 hours ago2 min read
Roger Duke
1 day ago2 min read
Roger Duke
2 days ago2 min read
Recent Posts
Archive
Tags
Editor's note: This post is the second installment in a series titled, "Of Myth and the Bible." Brian Godawa serves as an advisor board member at Stage & Story.
UGARTIC TEXTS ‘Dry him up. O Valiant Baal! Dry him up, O Charioteer of the Clouds! For our captive is Prince Yam [Sea], for our captive is Ruler Nahar [River]!’ (KTU 1.2:4.8–9) What manner of enemy has arisen against Baal, of foe against the Charioteer of the Clouds? Surely I smote the Beloved of El, Yam [Sea]? Surely I exterminated Nahar [River], the mighty god? Surely I lifted up the dragon, I overpowered him? I smote the writhing serpent, Encircler-with-seven-heads! (KTU 1.3:3.38–41) | OLD TESTAMENT Did Yahweh rage against the rivers, Or was Your anger against the rivers (nahar), Or was Your wrath against the sea (yam), That You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation? (Hab. 3:8) In that day Yahweh will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea. (Isa. 27:1) “You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan. (Psa. 74:13–14) |
END NOTES
[1] Hermann Gunkel first suggested this theme in Schöpfung und Chaos in Urzdt und Endzeit (1895).
[2] Bruce R. Reichenbach, “Genesis 1 as a Theological-Political Narrative of Kingdom Establishment,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 13, 1 (2003).
[3] Clifford, Creation Accounts, 8, n. 13.
[4] Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1944, 1961, 1972), 77–78.
[5] “Charioteer of the Clouds” also appears in these texts: KTU 1.3:4:4, 6, 26; 1.4:3:10, 18; 1.4:5:7, 60; 1.10:1:7; 1.10:3:21, 36; 1.19:1:43; 1.92:37, 39.
[6] KTU 1.2:4:27–32.
[7] See KTU 1.5:1:1–35.
[8] KTU 1.5:1:1–4.
[9] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Ugaritic Pantheon (dissertation) (Ann Arbor, MI: Brandeis University, 1973), 212.
[10] See also Is. 51:9; Ezek. 32:2; Rev. 12:9, 16, 17.
[11] Ps. 89:9–10; Isa. 51:9–10; Job 26:12–13. Psa. 18, 29, 24, 29, 65, 74, 77, 89, 93, and 104 all reflect chaoskampf. See also Exod. 15, Job 9, 26, 38, and Isa. 51:14-16; 2 Sam. 22.
[12] John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 21.
[13] Ibid., 27.
[14] Schaeffer, Francis. Art and the Bible. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1973, 91.
This post is adapted from God Against the gods: Storytelling, Imagination and Apologetics in the Bible by Brian Godawa. Brian Godawa is an award-winning Hollywood screenwriter (To End All Wars), a controversial movie and culture blogger (www.Godawa.com), an internationally known teacher on faith, worldviews and storytelling (Hollywood Worldviews), an Amazon best-selling author of Biblical fiction (Chronicles of the Nephilim), and provocative theology (God Against the gods). His obsession with God, movies and worldviews, results in theological storytelling that blows your mind while inspiring your soul. And he’s not exaggerating.
Comments