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Isaiah 27 · Leviathan and the asherim
“The Destruction of Leviathan”, Gustave Doré’s plate for Isaiah 27:1. · Gustave Doré, La Sainte Bible, 1866, plate 122 · public domain
27.1
The Book of Isaiah 27.1 · The LORD will punish Leviathan27.1The LORD will punish Leviathan
These chapters (Isaiah 24 to 27) look to the end of the age, when the LORD judges the powers of the earth. After a song of resurrection, the chapter opens with the sea monster brought down.
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בַּיּוֹם1
ba-yyôm
In the day
הַהוּא2
ha-hûʾ
thatthe that
יְהוָה3
YHWH
the LORD
יִפְקֹד4
yip̄qōḏ
will punishwill visit
בְּחַרְבוֹ5
bə-ḥarḇô
with his sword,in his sword
הַקָּשָׁה6
ha-qqāšâ
hard,the hard
וְהַגְּדוֹלָה7
wə-ha-ggədôlâ
greatand the great
וְהַחֲזָקָה8
wə-ha-ḥăzāqâ
and strongand the strong
, עַל9
ʿal
upon
לִוְיָתָן10
liwyāṯān
Leviathan
the
בָּרִחַ11
bāriaḥ
fleeingfugitive
נָחָשׁ12
nāḥāš
serpentsnake
וְעַל13
wə-ʿal
and upon
לִוְיָתָן14
liwyāṯān
Leviathan
the
עֲקַלָּתוֹן15
ʿăqallāṯôn
twistingcrooked
נָחָשׁ16
nāḥāš
serpentsnake
וְהָרַג17
wə-hāraḡ
and will killand he will slay
אֶת־18
ʾeṯ-
mark of the accusative
הַתַּנִּין19
ha-ttannîn
the dragontannin
אֲשֶׁר20
ʾăšer
thatwhich
is
בַּיָּם׃21
ba-yyām
in the sea
. In that day the LORD will punish with his hard, great and strong sword, Leviathan the fleeing serpent and Leviathan the twisting serpent and will kill the dragon that is in the sea.
In that day the LORD will punish with his hard, great and strong sword, Leviathan the fleeing serpent and Leviathan the twisting serpent and will kill the dragon that is in the sea.
↔ echoes in other books:····
27.9
The Book of Isaiah 27.9 · The guilt of Jacob will be atoned for27.9The guilt of Jacob will be atoned for
Near the end of Isaiah 27, after the song of the vineyard and the scattering of Israel. God explains how Jacob's guilt is cleared, and what it takes.
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Therefore by this Jacob's guilt will be atoned for, and this is all the fruit of removing his sin: when he makes all altar stones like chalk stones crushed to pieces Asherah poles and incense altars will not stand.
↔ echoes in other books:····
This verse is a quotation, or close to it, of Canaanite poetry six centuries older. A tablet from Ugarit says of the god Baal: “When you struck Lītānu, the fleeing serpent, finished off the twisting serpent, the tyrant with seven heads…” Isaiah’s “fleeing serpent” (nāḥāš bārîaḥ) and “twisting serpent” (nāḥāš ʿăqallātôn) use the same two adjectives, and Leviathan is Lītānu. The tannîn, the dragon in the sea, is the tunnanu the goddess Anat boasts of muzzling.
Isaiah keeps the monster and changes the hero. The sword is YHWH’s, and the battle moves from the beginning of time to “that day” at its end. The Greek turned the name into a description: τὸν δράκοντα ὄφιν, “the dragon, the serpent”, and that is the beast Revelation 12:9 calls “the ancient serpent”.
The Greek Bible (Septuagint, Swete 1894): ἐπὶ τὸν δράκοντα ὄφιν φεύγοντα, ἐπὶ τὸν δράκοντα ὄφιν σκολιόν, “upon the dragon, the fleeing serpent; upon the dragon, the crooked serpent”. the printed page, p. 146