Free shipping on all orders over $79* Limited Time Only
Track My Order
Help Centre
Likes
My Wish ListsLogin / Join
Booktopia
Australia's local bookstore
Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Two Strange Beasts : Leviathan and Behemoth in the Second Temple - K. Williams Whitney

Two Strange Beasts

Leviathan and Behemoth in the Second Temple

By: K. Williams Whitney

Paperback | 1 January 2006

At a Glance

Paperback

$89.76

or 4 interest-free payments of $22.44 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

The ancient myth of a battle between a Divine Warrior and a primordial monster undergoes significant development in postbiblical and rabbinic literatures. This development is the focus of the present study. In particular, it examines the monsters Leviathan and Behemoth, showing that the postbiblical and rabbinic traditions about them are derived from ancient sources that are not all preserved in the biblical texts.In the Apocalypse of Abraham and the Ladder of Jacob, the monster Leviathan is placed at the juncture of heaven and the underworld. This cosmological focus appears in rabbinic literature in traditions concerning Behemoth, Leviathan, and the world rivers, and concerning Leviathan as the foundation of the axis mundi. These originate in the Divine Warrior's enthronement upon the vanquished chaos dragon.A second role in which Leviathan and Behemoth appear in postbiblical literature is as food for the eschatological banquet. Whitney studies this in a variety of sources, among them 4 Ezra 6:47-52, 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 29:4, and 1 Enoch 60:7-9, 24, and a number of rabbinic texts. In one tradition, the battle between God and monster becomes an angelic hunt, described by the Greek word kynegesia. This sometimes referred to battles between beasts in the arena, and in a variant tradition Leviathan battles Behemoth in a fight to the death before the banquet. The "food for the righteous" motif possibly stems from the introduction of hunting imagery into the combat myth: the prevalence of hunting banquets gave rise to the expectation that these monsters, the prey in a divine hunt, would feed the righteous at the end of time.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-FictionReligion & BeliefsJudaismSociety & CultureSocial GroupsSocial & Cultural Aspects of Religious GroupsJewish StudiesReligionHistory of ReligionLiterature, Poetry & PlaysHistory & Criticism of LiteratureAspects of Religion for Non-Christians
TheologyArchaeologyArchaeology by Period & RegionChristianityBiblical Studies & ExegesisLanguage & LinguisticsLinguisticsPalaeography, The History of WritingWriting Systems, AlphabetsLanguage Learning & TeachingSpecific Skills of Learning LanguageWriting Skills

More in Writing Systems, Alphabets

Nikki Hind : Dressed For Success - John Dickson

Nikki Hind

Dressed For Success

Hardcover

RRP $25.99

$22.75

12%
OFF
Craig Shanahan: Cooking up a Storm : Big Visions - John Dickson

Craig Shanahan: Cooking up a Storm

Big Visions

Paperback

RRP $25.99

$22.75

12%
OFF

This product is categorised by