My Weird Bible: Week 1 | Brent Cunningham

Week 1: When God fights Dragons

Helpful Vocabulary

HEBREW & UGARITIC WORDS

YAM (יָם) [yahm]
HEB: "sea." Also the name of the Canaanite/Ugaritic sea god that Baal supposedly fought.

TANNINIM (תַּנִּינִים) [tan-nee-NEEM]
HEB: "sea monsters" or "dragons." Plural of tannin. Related to the Ugaritic chaos creature Tannun.

LIWYATAN (לִוְיָתָן) [liv-yah-TAHN]
HEB: "Leviathan." Cognate to the Ugaritic sea serpent Litanu.

RAHAB (רַהַב) [RAH-hab]
HEB: another chaos monster (not the same as Rahab the prostitute from Joshua—different Hebrew word). Often used symbolically for Egypt.

TEHOM (תְּהוֹם) [teh-HOME]
HEB: "the deep" or primordial waters of chaos (Gen 1:2).

CHAOS CREATURES IN THE BIBLE

LEVIATHAN
Multi-headed sea serpent representing chaos and evil (Job 41, Ps 74, Is 27). Often depicted as fire-breathing and unconquerable by humans.

RAHAB
Another name for the chaos monster, used especially in connection with God's defeat of Egypt (Is 51:9-10). Not to be confused with Rahab from Jericho.

THE FLEEING SERPENT / THE TWISTING SERPENT
Poetic descriptions of Leviathan found in Is 27:1. These exact phrases appear in ancient Ugaritic texts describing their chaos monster Litanu.

THE DRAGON (tannin)
General term for chaos creature/sea monster. Can refer to serpent-like or dragon-like beings representing evil and disorder.

THE THREE-FOLD PATTERN

CREATION: God defeats chaos at the beginning (Ps 74)
SALVATION: God defeats chaos in the Exodus (Is 51:9-10)
CONSUMMATION: God will defeat chaos finally (Is 27:1; Rev 21:1)