The Good and Evil Serpent (174 page)

155
. I assume that the Book of Isaiah is trifurcated: First Isaiah (chs. 1–39), Second Isaiah (chs. 40–55), and Third Isaiah (chs. 56–66).

156
. Baumgarten and Schwartz,
Damascus Document
, p. 21.

157
. KBL, 3.1118.

158
. See esp.:
TANAKH, The Holy Scriptures
(Jerusalem, 1997); see also BDB 891, KB 3.1118; E. Klein in
A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language
, p. 587, seems confused, stating that this noun denote “a kind of bird (prob. meaning ‘arrow-snake’).” Alonso Schökel et al., in
Diccionario biblica hebreo-español
, prefers
“Vibora, serpiente”
suggest only that the Hebrew noun, vlQp, may denote, perhaps, a “snake”
(¿Culebra?)
, p. 665.

159
. M. Sokoloff in
A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
prefers “jumper,” which is etymologically sound (p. 499).

160
. Fabry,
TDOT
9.361. I do not think we can link the Hebrew name for snakes or serpents with the
termini technici
in Latin developed by ophiologists.

161
. See Sperber,
The Eible in Aramaic
(Leiden, 1992) 3.69.

162
. See Klein,
A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language
, p. 587. Also see KBL, 3.117.

163
. I have doubts that a “hedgehog” was known in biblical times. I have never seen one in Israel or Palestine, and it does not appear in P. France’s
An Encyclopedia of Eible Animals
(Tel Aviv, 1986). France wrote for a popular audience.

164
. See the color photograph in J. C. Trever,
Scrolls from Qumran Cave I
(Jerusalem, 1972) Plate XXVIII.

165
. For a discussion of Aramaic influence on 1QIs
^a
, see E. Y. Kutscher,
The Language and Linguistic Background of the Isaiah Scroll (1QIs
^a
)
(Leiden, 1974); see esp. chap. 4 and pp. 566–67. Note, e.g., that the scribe of this scroll in 24:7 inscribed for the Hebrew
the Aramaic form
. Invaluable, for working on Kutscher’s masterpiece, is E. Qimron,
The Language and Linguistic Eackground of the Isaiah Scroll (IQIs
^a
)
(Leiden, 1979).

166
. See Trever,
Scrolls from Qumran Cave I
, Plate XII. Also see Kutscher,
The Language and Linguistic Background of the Isaiah Scroll
, pp. 281–82, 312.

167
. The absence—not necessarily the omission—of the objective pronoun is noteworthy.

168
. See Isa 14:3, 22.

169
. See, e.g., E. Kautzsch, ed.,
GKC
, trans. A. E. Cowley (Oxford, 1910); P. Joüon,
A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew
, trans. and revised T. Muraoka (Rome, 1991) pp. 4850; B. K. Waltke and M. O’Connor,
An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax
(Winona Lake, Ind., 1990) see esp. pp. 24–25; and H. Bauer and P. Leander,
Historische Grammatik der habräischen Sprache des Alten Testamentes
(Tübingen, 1922 [2nd ed.]; reprinted as Olms Paperbacks 19; Hildesheim, Zürich, New York, 1991) p. 92.

170
. As is well known,
scriptio defectiva
is earlier. Both so-called plene and defective spellings are found at Qumran and Masada. See the following publication: S. Talmon et al.,
Hebrew Fragments from Masada
(Jerusalem, 1999) esp. pp. 134–34.

171
. Kutscher,
The Language and Linguistic Background of the Isaiah Scroll
, p. 282.

172
. I presently do not know of any Qumran text in which this noun appears.

173
. So H. Gunkel,
Schöpfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit
(Göttingen, 1895) p. 32.

174
. See Fabry in
TDOT
9.358. Alonso Schökel et al., in
Diccionario biblica hebreoespañol
, rightly report that this noun denote
“Rahab, monstruo o fiera mitológica,”
p. 691.

175
. So, BDB, p. 923; KBL 3.1193; Klein,
A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language
, p. 608.

176
. Rahab is certainly “Egypt” in Ps 87:4 since it is associated with other nations, viz. “Babylon,” Philistia,” and “Ethiopia.”

177
. For more, see the excellent work by J. Day,
God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea: Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament
(Cambridge, New York, 1985) esp. pp. 91–92. Also see Day, “Rahab,”
AYBD
V.610–11.

178
.“The helpers of Rahab” in Job 9:13–14 are reminiscent of Tiamat’s “helpers”
(Enuma Elish
4.107). Perhaps one should think about Leviathan and Behemoth.

179
. See Day,
God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea
, pp. 6–7.

180
. Also see 4Q381 Frg. 15.5 and especially the critical note to the Hebrew text in Charlesworth, ed.,
Pseudepigraphic and Non-Masoretic Psalms and Prayers
, ed. E. M. Schuller (Tübingen, Louisville, 1997) p. 14.

181
. S. A. Cook suggested that “burning-serpent,” derived from “the Egyptian winged griffin
seref
or the Akkadian
sarräpu
, ‘the burner.’ “
The Religion of Ancient Palestine in the Light of Archaeology
(London, 1930) p. 54.

182
. See J. H. Charlesworth, “Phenomenology, Symbology, and Lexicography: The Amazingly Rich Vocabulary for ‘Serpent’ in Ancient Greek,”
RB
111 (2004) 499–515.

183
. See, e.g., KBL 12.1360.

184
. The noun to TfJTC, was used to describe the monster that confronted Andromeda (Euripides,
Fragmenta
121). See LSJM 949.

185
. See the mid-third-century fresco in the Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter. For a color photograph, see F. Mancinelli,
Catacombs and Basilicas: The Early Christians in Rome
(Florence, 1981) p. 41 (illus. 78).

186
. In
Das Buch des Propheten Jesaja
(Göttingen, 1981 [5th ed.]) p. 127, O. Kaiser suggested this plural noun meant “geflügelte Schlangen” (flying serpents), but then this implies the appearance of noun no. 15.

187
. Alonso Schökel et al., in
Diccionario biblica hebreo-español
, rightly report that D’Q7V) means
“Serpiente, dragón, áspid,”
p. 739. I prefer choosing a word that distinguishes this Hebrew noun—namely “winged-serpents.” Also possible would be “fiery winged-serpents” to bring out the etymological root “to burn.” See the insights shared by G. B. Gray in
The Book of Isaiah
(Edinburgh, 1912) vol. 1, p. 105.

188
. See the judicious response by J. N. Oswalt in
The Book of Isaiah
(Grand Rapids, 1986) p. 179. H. Wildberger opts for “a serpent-shaped demon” (“einen schlangen-gestaltigen Dämon”).
Jesaja
(Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1972) p. 247.

189
. E. J. Kissane,
The Book of Isaiah, I
(Dublin, 1941) p. 74.

190
. I. Engnell,
The Call of Isaiah
(Uppsala, 1949) p. 33.

191
. R. B. Y. Scott, “The Book of Isaiah,”
The Interpreter’s Bible
5 (New York, 1956) p. 208.

192
. G. M. Tucker, “The Book of Isaiah 1–39,” in
The New Interpreter’s Bible
(Nashville, 2001) vol. 6, p. 102. We have discussed serpent iconography that shows the serpent with wings; hence, the Seraphim can have wings and be serpents.

193
. J. Blenkinsopp insightfully states that Seraphim “is elsewhere a poisonous snake,” and that it “is tempting to associate this aspect of the vision scenario with the cult object in the Jerusalem Temple known as Nehushtan, a bronze serpent with healing powers of Mosaic origin to which incense was offered (2Kgs 18:4 cf. Num 21:6, 8–9).”
Isaiah 1–39
(New York, London, 2000) p. 225.

194
. K. Joines,
JBL
86 (967) 410–15; O. Keel and C. Uehlinger,
Gods, Goddesses, and Images of Gods
, p. 273. The contributor of D’Q7V) to KBL 3.1360 seems so blinded by the traditional approach to Hebrew lexicography that he misses Keel’s point. Apparently he never studied the lexicography of iconography in the ancient Near East. The contributor seems to think that ophidian iconography cannot have human form.

195
. G. W. E. Nickelsburg,
1 Enoch 1
, ed. K. Baltzer (Minneapolis, 2001) p. 296.

196
. See H. Freedman, trans.,
Midrash Rabbah: Genesis
(London, 1951) vol. 1, p. 178.

197
. I presently do not know of a passage in the Qumran Scrolls in which this noun appears. While Ethiopic has numerous loanwords from Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, Coptic, and Arabic, it has tended to use only names for snake that are unique to it. For example, “adder” in Ethiopic is
‘f ot
. See W. Leslau,
Comprehensive Dictionary of Ge ‘ez (Classical Ethiopic)
(Wiesbaden, 1991).

198
. In the Peshitta this Hebrew noun is translated by
barmänä
which denote some form of snake.

199
. Bodenheimer, in N-pnn nw-Nl ‘nn, p. 349 suggests that “pD’DV) is the
Cerastes cerastes or Cerastes cornutus
.

200
. For a drawing of a cockatrice, see France,
An Encyclopedia of Bible Animals
, p. 42.

201
. Cohen,
Biblical Hapax Legomena in the Light of Akkadian and Ugaritic
, p. 109.

202
. Today this noun often denote the crocodile
(Crocodilus nilotica)
.

203
. Both “dragon” and “dragons” appear in many passages in the Qumran Scrolls; cf. Charlesworth,
GCDS
, esp. pp. 522–23.

204
. See Jechielis,
Aruch Completum sive Lexicon
8.251–52.

205
. See the citations collected by Sokoloff,
A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
, pp. 344–45.

206
. Theodotion translated |’3n in Job 3:8 by öpÄKcov. See Foerster, “öpÄKcov,”
TDNT
2.283.

207
.
The Hebrew Scriptures: Hebrew and English
(Jerusalem, 1996) p. 1095.

208
. Words within brackets are mine.

209
. U. Cassuto,
The Goddess Anath
, trans. I. Abrahams (Jerusalem, 1971) pp. 92–93.

210
. For the Hebrew text and translation, see N. Slifkin,
Nature’s Song
, p. 32.

211
. Many Aramaic and Syriac nouns have erroneously been claimed to denote a “snake;” see I. Löw, “Aramäische Schlangennamen,”
Fauna und Mineralien der Juden
(Hildesheim, 1969) pp. 35–40. He suggested eleven nouns probably denoted snake in “Aramaic” and Syriac. Other Syriac nouns for “snake” that he did not include are
dypsds
(vocalization uncertain) (this is a Greek loanword; see Appendix II), and
bewyä
that is paralleled by Persian, Arabic, and possibly pre-biblical Hebrew. On
bewyä
and Arabic, see Hassano Bar Bahlule’s
Lexicon Syriacum
, ed. R. Duval; vol. 1, col. 724. Löw correctly rejected nouns that did not mean “snake.”

212
. See Löw, “Aramäische Schlangennamen,”
Fauna und Mineralien der Juden
, p. 35. I do not find this noun in the lexicons; it is not, e.g., in Sokoloff’s
A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
and he often cites Löw’s research.

213
. See Löw,
Fauna und Mineralien der Juden
, p. 35. The noun is not listed in Sokoloff’s
A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
.

214
. See Brockelmann,
LexSyr
, p. 134.