The strange and curious pantheon of biblical gods and monsters (part 2)
This is a continuation of the subject of biblical mythology started here.
Now, let's continue our quest with...
The Devil (Gr. διάβολος - slanderer, accuser)- when the Hebrew Bible was first translated into Greek (the famous Septuagint), the translators often used Greek word "diabolos" as a counterpart for the Hebrew "satan", so the two terms became interchangeable. The idea of slandering is already intimated in the Hebrew texts that have been mentioned in connection with Satan - Zechariah 3 and Job 1. After all, Satan or the Devil accuses Job of having ulterior motives, causing all kinds of trouble for the protagonist of the story.
The Christian tradition has really taken off with the concept of the Arch-Enemy of God, way beyond what was suggested in the Hebrew Bible. Devil tempts Jesus (Matthew 4:1), incites Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2), he casts believers into prison (Rev 2:10) and he is to find his ultimate destruction in the specially secured facility, namely, the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). In Revelation the devil is also named as "dragon" and "that old serpent", hearkening back to the Eve's temptation in the Garden of Eden, although no such allusions exist in the Hebrew Bible.
Hopfer, Devil and death surprising two women. Etching on paper. 1520. Augsburg, Germany.
Lucifer (Lat. Light Bearer) - the word "Lucifer" is obviously not Hebrew, it is a Latin translation of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל (pronounced "Hehlel") which literally means "shining one". The term is mentioned only once in the Hebrew Bible - in a familiar passage in Isaiah 14:12 - "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" While the immediate context suggests that the immediate object of discussion is the King of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar?), there are also plenty of indications in the verses that follow that the speaker might be invoking some latent symbolism - "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." (Isaiah 14:13-15). While most of the rabbinical exegesis focused on the immediate context, viz. the human dramatis persona, the Christian tradition, going back to Origen (see D.J. Halpern, The Heavenly Journey in Judaism, 1988) insisted that a supernatural being was alluded to. "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven', asserts Jesus in Luke 10:17 in a highly imitative fashion to Isaiah. Some scholars have pointed to the similar pattern of the plot described in Isaiah to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Tower of Babel - aka any human attempt to circumvent restrictions and rise above mortality, human limitations to the place of supreme power - and the inevitable Fall that these attempts have precipitated. Personification of this attitude of antagonism is a recurring theme in many mythological motifs.
Illustration by Paul Gustave Doré for John Milton's Paradise Lost, the Devil hurled down from Heaven.
Rephaim ( רְפָאִים - "Shadows") - Can you guess what these "shadows" might be? Yes, they are ghosts of the dead. The principal text describing them is Isaiah 14:9 - "Sheol [viz. Hell] beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades [rephaim] to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations" (English Standard Version.) In this passage the Rephaim are excited to see the king of Babylon, portrayed as a type of Adolf Hitler of the ancient times, to come join their "party". Rephaim are described as the somnolent (they are roused from sleep), emaciated shadows of their former selves - "All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?" (Is. 14:10). Another lovely reference to the Rephaim occurs in Proverbs in the context of warning young men against falling for the whores. By way of discouraging this type of behavior, the writer of Proverbs declares that prostitutes have Rephaim for her guests, and that her visitors will end up with them in Sheol. Sic!
"And as the cranes go, making their sounds, forming a long flight, of themselves, in the air, so I saw the shadows come..." (Dante, Inferno, Canto 5) Illustration by Paul Gustave Doré, 1865.
Leviathan (לִוְיָתָן) - probably the most famous "monster" of the Bible that inspired Thomas Hobbes' famous treatise of the same name. Job 41 is a unique passage in the Bible - an entire chapter that is devoted to... zoology:
"Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?...Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered... Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron..." (Job 41:1-4,14-17,19-20).
Whenever the translators of the Bible were unsure about the meaning of one of the words used in the original Hebrew, instead of translating it, they simply transliterated it. This was the case with cherubim, seraphim, and Leviathan. From the description above it should be clear that we are not dealing with anything that we might see in a Zoo: this is a fire-breathing scaly monster, which brings up stories of dragons and krakens combined into one.
Psalm 74:14 hints at the multi-headedness of the creature - "Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces..." Psalm 104:26 describes Leviathan as a sea monster - "There[in the sea] go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein." Apparently, God has some sort of grudge against the Leviathan, because the latter does not fare too well in the end: "In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." (Isaiah 27:1)
Paul Gustave Doré, Destruction of Leviathan, 1865. Engraving.
As will be mentioned in coming sections on Yam and Rahab, the descriptions of these cosmic battles between Yahweh and the sea with its monsters are very much reminiscent both of Ugaritic (Baal cycle) and other Near Eastern mythologies. Even the Greek mythology offers its own parallels of taming the unruly archaic forces of nature (represented by the mysterious beasts of the Okeanos). This is another strand of evidence pointing to the cultural and religious appropriation of Yahweh from neighboring nations into the Hebrew pantheon. The etymology of the word is unclear; pronounced "Leeh-vih-ah-tahn" with an accent on last syllable, it may be related to Arabic "lawiya" or "twisting one", other scholars point to it being a proper name, and not denoting a generic class of beings.
The Frontispiece to T. Hobbes' "Leviathan", 1651.
Behemoth (בַּהֲמוֹת) - Just like Leviathan the translators, being at a loss to find a suitable counterpart in their language, simply transliterated the Hebrew "beh-heh-mawh". Most English speakers do not use "behemoth" in their casual conversation; curiously, in Russian culture the original Hebrew word has found a stable meaning - a shorter synonym of the more clunky Greek word "hippopotamus". More on that in a minute. The description of the behemoth also comes from the book of Job:
"Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares."
Upon reading this, some might say that this is just some kind of "large quadruped", and in fact, some exegesis ends the matter there. However, I believe that in fact, it is more complicated and more interesting than that. "He moveth his tail like a cedar" does not seem to describe anything like a hippo or a bull or any other animal from the Mesopotamian region. Some really devoted creationists have proposed that Job described a Brontosaurus which had somehow survived the Flood :). A more plausible explanation is that Behemoth, like Leviathan (whose descriptions follows immediately after, in Job 41) is another member of the archaic Semitic pantheon of mythical creatures. While the etymology of Behemoth points to "behema" (beast, ox, cattle), its grammatical usage in Job suggests "a singular being of awesome dimensions, a 'super ox' of mythic proportions and possessing supernatural characteristics, hence the 'Beast' par excellence." (Botterweck, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 1975, pp.6-17). Some scholars have compared Behemoth to the Bull of Heaven slain by Enkidu and Gilgamesh. It appears we'll never know for sure, but the search itself has proven fascinating.
The picture of a behemoth (hippo) from New History of Ethiopia by Hiob Ludolph (pub. in 1682), emphasizing its supposed ferocity.
The Apocryphal literature had picked up on the ambiguities of Behemoth's character. The part of Enoch I which dates around 100 BCE - 70 AD already intimates that Leviathan is the female monster dwelling in the Abyss while Behemoth is the male monster dwelling in the hidden desert of Dundayin, east of Eden.
The Devil riding on a Behemoth. Liber Floridus (book of flowers) - an 11th century Medieval Encyclopedia
In the literary work that I seem to be inexorably pulled back to - Mikhail Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" - there is an especially peculiar member of Woland's entourage, - a giant black "cat" by the name of Begemot (a Russian transliteration of Behemoth). Perhaps the reference is not without its symbolism, given that Behemoth's strength and self-reliance could be easily construed as defying God's order.
Cat "Begemot" from Bortko's film "Master and Margarita", 2005.
This then concludes this post. Be sure to follow and stay tuned for the continuation of the story where we will explore Yam (not the vegetable), Rahab (not the harlot) and Tannin (not what you do at the beach). Cheers!