engleski

The Leviathan and the Serpent in the Old Testament

The Leviathan and the serpent represent a clear insight into the complexity of the mythopoetic Biblical world. The few Biblical passages where Leviathan is mentioned are balancing between mythological imagery and deep expressions of despair of the author (e.g. Psalm 74 ; Isaiah 27 and Job 3). Therefore, the correct interpretation of the texts will have to encompass the mythological background (reaching to the Ugaritic, Egyptian and other Ancient Near East influences), as well as the authors psycho-social situation. The motive of the serpent provides us with a similar context and challenge, with a slight difference: since ophidophobia is imprinted in the human consciousness it is a rather common motive in the Bible, opened to sometimes contrasting interpretations, the serpent being a symbol of wisdom, death, healing or idolatry. The motive of the serpent is only accented in as the introduction to the problem of Leviathan. Animal can not communicate with humans in a verbal manner, therefore, the animal symbolism in the Old Testament, and in the Bible as a whole, often expresses states or situations characterised by incapacity of expression. This dimension of communication opens the symbolism to a variety of interpretations, but with a clear contextual guideline: the faith of the Biblical writer. In the article two lines of interpretation are suggested, the texts expressing the experience of an individual point to an universaliation of the motive of the evil animal, setting the image in the cosmic context. On the other hand, texts with an implied communal author point to specific historical events.

Leviathan; serpent; curse; cosmic battle; (un)creation; Baal; Yam; exodus; animal symbolism

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