RELS 346 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Psalm 104, Psalm 74, Sea Monster

• School: University of Calgary
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: RELS 346
• Professor: Tinu Ruparell

Document Summary

Leviathan is a monstrous threat to microcosmos: written out of political & theological crisis, desecration and destruction of jerusalem temple by invading babylonians. Babylon, to destroy jerusalem: psalm of disorientation, voice is in crisis and breakdown, not confident, has more in common w baal-anat and enuma elish than psalm 104, victory of god > leviathan is parallel to marduk > tiamat. God"s people: any nation liberated from egypt, adheres to divine law, microcosm of order, therefore, a threat to god"s people is a threat to god and cosmos. Ex: psalm 89: god crushes rahab (proud/haughty), defeating egypt and primordial chaos water, prophet recalls god"s former might with god"s current slumber. Imagines leviathan"s punishment: to make a monster out of an enemy is to endow it with unworldly power, enemy nation, babylon, is a monster, unique b/c the battle is anticipated rather than remembered, lending hope. Isaiah 8: personifies king of assyria, who destroyed israel, as flood waters.