{"id":69769,"date":"2020-02-06T12:22:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T10:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69769"},"modified":"2022-05-04T13:40:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T10:40:45","slug":"beshalach-god-v-the-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/beshalach-god-v-the-gods\/","title":{"rendered":"Beshalach &#8211; God v. The gods"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/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":[384,429,368],"acf":{"old_id":"69769","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46171,"related_cahpter":"1082","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Tiamat and Marduk \u2013 beware!\r\n\r\n","content":"<p>Avner Moriah\u2019s painting for <em>Parashat Beshalach <\/em>pictures the Israelites making their way across a vivid blue sea while the Egyptian army is drowning. Above we see the spiral forms the artist uses to symbolize the spirit of God and on the left is a blue column that represents the pillar of cloud, the mark of God\u2019s Presence. At the bottom of the picture, in front of the pillar, we see Moses, holding his rod, leading a procession of people with their animals.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, the frame around the picture, which is made up of mostly black and white sketches of mythical figures, similar to depictions found on Near Eastern cylinder seals. What do those images mean and how are they related to the <em>parasha<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is to be found in the realization that this picture is not a visualization of the narrative account of the crossing of the Sea described in Exodus 14. Rather, the artist chooses to illustrate the poetic rendering of that miracle as related in <em>Shirat Hayyam <\/em>(<em>The<\/em> <em>Song at the Sea<\/em>) in Exodus 15.<\/p>\n<p>Having left Egypt, the Israelites will be faced with the Ancient Near Eastern mythologies and the gods of the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Canaanites. The frame of images is an interpretation of ideas that appear in <em>Shirat Hayyam<\/em>, which allude to such gods: \u201cThe Lord, the warrior \u2013 Lord is His name. The <em>deeps<\/em> covered them \u2013 they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the foe. And with the blast of Thy nostrils the <em>waters<\/em> piled up \u2013 the floods stood straight like a wall; the <em>deeps<\/em> froze in the heart of the <em>sea<\/em>\u201d (Exod. 15:3, 5\u20136, 8,).<\/p>\n<p>The images in the frame tell us that God\u2019s victory was not only His conquest of Pharaoh but also His mastery over the mythical gods of the sea, the deeps and the waters. A similar struggle is mentioned in Isaiah 51:9\u201310: \u201cAwake, awake, clothe yourself with splendor, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the days of old, as in former ages. It was you that hacked Rahab in pieces, that pierced the Dragon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sketched images in the frame are of such mythical gods. One, Tiamat, the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves, is rendered as a female dragon. She is eventually defeated and cut to pieces by the young god Marduk, known later as Bel, a name derived from the Semitic word\u00a0<em>baal<\/em>, or \u201clord,\u201d of all the gods. Upon experiencing the miracle at the sea the Israelites became aware of God\u2019s might and accepted the truth of the words \u201cthe Lord will reign for ever and ever\u201d (Exod. 15:18). They finally understood that God is the only God, the mighty One, Who overcame not only the Egyptians but an entire array of mythical forces, and exclaimed: \u201cWho is like you, O Lord, among the celestials? Who is like you, majestic awesome in splendor, working wonders!\u201d (Exod. 15:11).<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69773,"id":69773,"title":"16 Be-shallah","filename":"16-Be-shallah.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/beshalach-god-v-the-gods\/16-be-shallah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"16-be-shallah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69769,"date":"2020-02-06 10:22:21","modified":"2020-02-06 10:22:38","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1988,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah-768x966.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":966,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah-814x1024.jpg","large-width":814,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah.jpg","1536x1536-width":1221,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah.jpg","2048x2048-width":1629,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah-954x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":954,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/16-Be-shallah-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"The Chapter Illustrated","main_caption":"Beshalach - God v. 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