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 - Human Monsters - Leviathan in Ezekiel 29

Ezekiel 29:2-5
2] 'Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3] Speak to him and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

"I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
    you great sea monster (Tanim) lying among your streams.
You say, ‘The Nile belongs to me;
    I made it for myself.

4] But I will put hooks in your jaws
    and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.
I will pull you out from among your streams,
    with all the fish sticking to your scales. 

5] I will leave you in the desert,
    you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall on the open field
    and not be gathered or picked up.
I will give you as food
    to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky."

ב בֶּן-אָדָם שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ עַל-פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וְהִנָּבֵא עָלָיו וְעַל-מִצְרַיִם כֻּלָּהּ: 

ג דַּבֵּר וְאָמַרְתָּ כֹּה-אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה הִנְנִי עָלֶיךָ פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ-מִצְרַיִם הַתַּנִּים הַגָּדוֹל הָרֹבֵץ בְּתוֹךְ יְאֹרָיו אֲשֶׁר אָמַר לִי יְאֹרִי וַאֲנִי עֲשִׂיתִנִי:
ד וְנָתַתִּי (חַחִיים) [חַחִים] בִּלְחָיֶיךָ וְהִדְבַּקְתִּי דְגַת-יְאֹרֶיךָ בְּקַשְׂקְשֹׂתֶיךָ וְהַעֲלִיתִיךָ מִתּוֹךְ יְאֹרֶיךָ וְאֵת כָּל-דְּגַת יְאֹרֶיךָ בְּקַשְׂקְשֹׂתֶיךָ תִּדְבָּק:
ה וּנְטַשְׁתִּיךָ הַמִּדְבָּרָה אוֹתְךָ וְאֵת כָּל-דְּגַת יְאֹרֶיךָ עַל-פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה תִּפּוֹל לֹא תֵאָסֵף וְלֹא תִקָּבֵץ לְחַיַּת הָאָרֶץ וּלְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם נְתַתִּיךָ לְאָכְלָה: 

What does it mean to call someone a monster?

In our society, we throw the word around easily but with certain common targets - child molesters, serial killers, terrorists, dictators. To call someone a monster is to deny humanity to them, to say that we cannot begin to understand their abhorrent actions because they are not like us, they are something alien and terrifying. Calling anyone a monster works as a societal defence mechanism, forming a strong boundary between us and them, putting them on the other side, beyond the pale and beyond the point where they can be understood.

In Ezekiel 29 (and 32 that we will look at next week) the prophet calls Pharaoh a monster.

From the Deep - God's Mighty Arm - Isaiah 51

Isaiah 51:9-10
    9] Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in days of old, in the generations of old. Are you not the one that struck Rahav and slew the sea monster (Tanin)? 10] Are you not the one that dried the sea (Yam), the waters of the great deep (Tehom); who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? 

ט עוּרִ֨י עוּרִ֤י לִבְשִׁי־עֹז֙ זְר֣וֹעַ ה' ע֚וּרִי כִּ֣ימֵי קֶ֔דֶם דּוֹר֖וֹת עוֹלָמִ֑ים הֲל֥וֹא אַתְּ־הִ֛יא הַמַּחְצֶ֥בֶת רַ֖הַב מְחוֹלֶ֥לֶת תַּנִּֽין: י הֲל֤וֹא אַתְּ־הִיא֙ הַמַּֽחֲרֶ֣בֶת יָ֔ם מֵ֖י תְּה֣וֹם רַבָּ֑ה הַשָּׂ֨מָה֙ מַֽעֲמַקֵּי־יָ֔ם דֶּ֖רֶךְ לַֽעֲבֹ֥ר גְּאוּלִֽים:

Isaiah 51 is a deep well of mythical ideas - the prophet describes the people calling on the Arm of God from exile, saying that just as the arm of God slew the sea monster in the mythic past, it should redeem us today from our troubles.

Note that each part of these two verses may be referring to a different event. Verse 9 describes the victory over the chaos monster in ancient times (known as the chaoskampf , that we already saw in Psalm 74). The beginning of verse 10 (drying up the sea and the great deep) seems to refer to the Flood narrative, a prime example of victory over the chaos waters. The end of verse 10, referring to the passage of the redeemed, refers to the splitting of the Red Sea in Exodus 15. Then verse 11, that describes how the ransomed of God will return home, is a prediction about the future redemption. The speakers argue that since God has defeated the monster many times, both in the primordial past, at the flood and at the exodus, God can do it again (David Gunn, Journal of Biblical Literature, '75).

We've already seen the terms Tanin, Yam and Tehom in mythological contexts, though Isaiah 51 ties all of them together very neatly. The new term for the chaos monster here is Rahav but we won't dwell on it too much here. Instead, I want to focus on the tone of these verses - why call on the Arm of God? Why not God God's self?

From the Deep - Leviathan in Jewish Tradition - Genesis 1

Arthur Rackam, 'Leviathan'

21] And God created the great taninim, and every living creature that creepeth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 

כא  וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים; וְאֵת כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם לְמִינֵהֶם, וְאֵת כָּל-עוֹף כָּנָף לְמִינֵהוּ, וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.  


Welcome to the first blogpost of "From the Deep" a series of short thoughts and reflections on Leviathan in Jewish tradition, starting from the Bible and then spreading forward (and even backward) in history.

We begin, as all things do, with Genesis 1, in which God creates the world through speech over the course of 7 days.