{"id":66310,"date":"2019-11-30T07:57:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T05:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=66310"},"modified":"2023-06-23T07:40:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T04:40:09","slug":"there-be-dragons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/there-be-dragons\/","title":{"rendered":"There Be Dragons"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[982,404],"acf":{"old_id":"66310","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"361","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And in the role of the dragon: Leviathan","content":"

Our chapter begins with: <\/span><\/p>\n

In that day the LORD will punish, with His great, cruel, mighty sword, Leviathan the elusive serpent\u2014 Leviathan the twisting serpent; He will slay the Dragon of the sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

In ancient Near Eastern mythology, serpents and dragons were employed by the goddess of the sea, Tihamat (Hebrew: <\/span>tehom<\/span><\/em>, cf. Genesis 1: 2), in her losing primordial battle against Marduk, god of the sky. The Hebrew Bible transformed them from mythological characters into symbols of evil that would be overcome by the forces of good in the messianic age.<\/span><\/p>\n

Malbim,* in his typical fashion, assigned different significances to each creature and, correspondingly, to each of the three dimensions of God\u2019s sword: its greatness, cruelty, and might.<\/span><\/p>\n

Great denotes the quality of the iron that withstands any attempt to break it. Cruel denotes the quantity, its extended length. Mighty denotes the strength, thickness, and weight\u2026 The great sword will punish the Leviathan straight serpent, a great fish that resembles a bolt in mid-sea that prevents boats from passing by. This great sword will overcome it. The cruel sword will punish the Leviathan crooked serpent, a serpentine fish so long that it encircles the whole world by winding itself about the globe. This sword will exceed its length. The mighty sword in weight and strength will overcome the dragon in the ocean (the whale\u2014\u05d5\u05d5\u05d0\u05dc\u05e4\u05d9\u05e9) who cannot be slain by the sword. It will be overcome by virtue of [the sword\u2019s] weight and strength.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, there are nations whose power derives from the strength of their country, whose inhabitants dwell in lofty mountains or fortresses\u2014resembling the straight serpent who blockades passersby. Others are powerful on account of the length and breadth of their territories and the size of their populations, resembling the crooked serpent. And there are those who are powerful on account of the bravery of their heroes and the giants who dwell therein, resembling the Leviathan (whale) in the ocean.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as our knowledge of classical mythology helps us understand why a weak-point is called an Achilles heel, say or a drunken orgy is a bacchanalia, an appreciation of ancient Near Eastern mythology clarifies biblical figures of speech. There are no dragons in the ocean, but there are people and nations who act out the role of dragons throughout the course of history.<\/span><\/p>\n

*For the significance of Malbim\u2019s commentary to the Book of Isaiah,<\/span> see our introduction to chapter 1.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":66315,"id":66315,"title":"is27-dragon","filename":"is27-dragon.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is27-dragon.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/there-be-dragons\/is27-dragon\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is27-dragon","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":66310,"date":"2019-11-30 05:57:29","modified":"2019-11-30 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