Monsters vs Humans - Beshalach - Mythic Torah

Bridgman's - Pharaoh's Army Engulfed by the Sea

Have you ever wanted to watch a movie with giant robots smashing huge monsters (and why would you not)?

Then 'Pacific Rim' directed by Guillermo del Toro is the movie for you.

I recently watched this movie on a flight from London to New York, my normal time to catch up with movies now I have a young baby and am flying to the UK once a month, and was impressed by the sheer spectacle of the Jaeger machines crushing monstrous Kaiju.

I've written a lot about Leviathan over the last couple of years, in my series of From the Deep, but this movie really conjures up imagery that is strikingly similar, as robots drop from the sky to smash the monsters rising from the depths of the ocean.

A similar spectacle could have been present in this week's parasha of Beshalach, that tells the story of the Israelites fleeing Egypt and their miraculous crossing of the Sea of Reeds.

From the Deep - Monstrous Pride - Leviathan in Ezekiel 32

Ezekiel 32:2-6

^2]‘Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

‘“You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster (tanim) in the seas, thrashing about in your streams, churning the water with your feet and muddying the streams.

^3] ‘“This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘“With a great throng of people I will cast my net over you, and they will haul you up in my net.
^4] I will throw you on the land and hurl you on the open field. I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you and all the wild animals gorge themselves on you.
^5] I will spread your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your remains.
^6] I will drench the land with your flowing blood all the way to the mountains, and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.

ב בֶּן-אָדָם שָׂא קִינָה עַל-פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ-מִצְרַיִם וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו כְּפִיר גּוֹיִם נִדְמֵיתָ וְאַתָּה כַּתַּנִּים בַּיַּמִּים וַתָּגַח בְּנַהֲרוֹתֶיךָ וַתִּדְלַח-מַיִם בְּרַגְלֶיךָ וַתִּרְפֹּס נַהֲרֹתָם:
ג כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה וּפָרַשְׂתִּי עָלֶיךָ אֶת-רִשְׁתִּי בִּקְהַל עַמִּים רַבִּים וְהֶעֱלוּךָ בְּחֶרְמִי:
ד וּנְטַשְׁתִּיךָ בָאָרֶץ עַל-פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה אֲטִילֶךָ וְהִשְׁכַּנְתִּי עָלֶיךָ כָּל-עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהִשְׂבַּעְתִּי מִמְּךָ חַיַּת כָּל-הָאָרֶץ:
ה וְנָתַתִּי אֶת-בְּשָׂרְךָ עַל-הֶהָרִים וּמִלֵּאתִי הַגֵּאָיוֹת רָמוּתֶךָ:
ו וְהִשְׁקֵיתִי אֶרֶץ צָפָתְךָ מִדָּמְךָ אֶל-הֶהָרִים וַאֲפִקִים יִמָּלְאוּן מִמֶּךָּ:

Last week on 'From the Deep' we looked at Ezekiel's first prophecy against Egypt (Ez 29) in which he calls Pharaoh the sea monster lying amidst the streams. Just 3 chapters later, Ezekiel is repeating a similar idea, only this time even more epic in scale.

Now Pharaoh is not just among the streams but in the seas, God will not just fish the monster out of the water and leave him in the desert but fill the mountains and valleys with Pharaoh's remains - the blood will drench the land.

Pharaoh thought he was a kefir, a young fierce lion, roaming over land in command of everything. But God says that he is wrong, Pharaoh is nothing other than a big fish - monstrous, certainly, but when plucked from the water, his natural habitat, he will be nothing more than food for the beasts.

Rashi (the classic 11th C commentator) writes: "You should have lain in your streams like the law of fish, and not come out to dry land. But you were haughty in your heart and compared yourself to a young lion that rules over the land and tears prey."

What does this text have to teach us about pride?

From the Deep - Aaron's Staff - Exodus 7

8 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 

9 "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying: 'Perform a wonder'; then say to Aaron: Take your staff, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent (tanin)."

10 Then Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent (tanin).

ח וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר: ט כִּי֩ יְדַבֵּ֨ר אֲלֵכֶ֤ם פַּרְעֹה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר תְּנ֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם מוֹפֵ֑ת וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֣ אֶֽל־אַֽהֲרֹ֗ן קַ֧ח אֶֽת־מַטְּךָ֛ וְהַשְׁלֵ֥ךְ לִפְנֵֽי־פַרְעֹ֖ה יְהִ֥י לְתַנִּֽין: י וַיָּבֹ֨א מֹשֶׁ֤ה וְאַהֲרֹן֙ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֔ה וַיַּֽעֲשׂוּ־כֵ֔ן כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֖ר צִוָּ֣ה יְהוָֹ֑ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֨ךְ אַֽהֲרֹ֜ן אֶת־מַטֵּ֗הוּ לִפְנֵ֥י פַרְעֹ֛ה וְלִפְנֵ֥י עֲבָדָ֖יו וַיְהִ֥י לְתַנִּֽין:

Moses receives signs to show God's power both to the Israelites and then to Pharaoh, including the miraculous transformation of a staff into a serpent.

The original instruction for this miracle came in Exodus 4:3-4, in which Moses tells God that the Israelites won't listen to him, and God replies telling him to throw his staff on the ground where it becomes a snake. The word used here is nachash, which seems to clearly indicate a mundane snake, albeit transformed miraculously by the power of God.

But when it comes time to confront Pharaoh, the staff does not become a nachash but rather a tanin, the word that we have already seen in Genesis 1 last week refers to Sea Monsters, something monstrous and supernatural. Then all Pharaoh's sorcerer's repeat the trick, and their staffs also become serpents (taninim). But Aaron's staff swallows all the others, proving the supremacy of God.

Should we take this shift in language seriously? And if so, what does it mean that the staff became a tanin for Pharaoh and the Egyptians?