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Job 3:8-Cosmological Snake-Charming and Leviathanic Panic in a Near Eastern Setting

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Author

Summary, in English

The author examines the intriguing mention of “those who curse Yamm” and “rouse Leviathan” in Job 3:8, and tries to relate these expressions to Near Eastern religious history. The old assumption that two texts inscribed on Aramaic incantation bowls indicate the full background of these expressions is challenged, and further evidence is sought in texts such as the Enuma Elish, the Gnosticizing “Hymn of the Pearl” and in a passage from the Hittite myth of Illuyanka. A pattern emerges in which the users of the Aramaic incantations are not themselves “those who curse Yamm” but that they, too, refer back to a much larger and more intricate tradition concerning spells powerful enough to bind the chaotic powers of the sea.

Department/s

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Pages

265-271

Publication/Series

Zeitschrift für Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

Volume

122

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

De Gruyter

Topic

  • Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

Keywords

  • Job 3:8
  • Leviathan
  • Hymn of the Pearl
  • Illuyanka
  • Yamm
  • curse-magic

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0044-2526