Echoes of Baal's Seven Thunders and Lightnings in Psalm XXIX and Habakkuk III 9 and the

Identity of the Seraphim in Isaiah VI

Author(s): John Day
Source: Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 29, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1979), pp. 143-151
Published by: BRILL
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1517435
Accessed: 18-09-2015 06:26 UTC

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1517435?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Vetus Testamentum.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Vol. XXIX, Fasc. 2
VetusTestamentum,

ECHOES OF BAAL'S SEVEN THUNDERS AND

LIGHTNINGS IN PSALM XXTX AND HABAKKUK III 9
AND THE IDENTITY OF THE SERAPHIM
IN ISAIAH VI
by
JOHNDAY
Durham

It is generallyaccepted thatPs. xxixhas closeparallelswithBaal

mythology. Yahweh's theophany in the thunder-storm
(yv.3-9),
hisexaltation in thedivineassembly (v.1) andenthronementas king
all in
overthecosmicsea (v. 10) are paralleled theBaal mythology
of the Ugaritictexts1). Certainotherparallelswiththe Ugaritic
textshavealsobeensuggested andit hasbeenarguedthatPs. xxix
wasoriginally writtenas a Canaanite psalmin honourofBaal2), but
it is notmyintention to evaluate theseclaimshere.Rather,it is my
purposeherefirst ofall to drawattention to a noteworthyfeature
of thispsalmwhichis paralleled in Baal mythology butwhichhas
hitherto remained unnoticed, namelythe sevenfold manifestation
of thedeityin thethunder. It has oftenbeennoted3) thatit is a
striking featureofthispsalmthatthevoiceofYahweh(qolYahweh)
is depicted as resounding in thethunder seventimes(vv.3, 4a, 4b,
5, 7, 8, 9). However,so faras I am aware,theparallelofBaal's seven
thunders has neverpreviously beennoted4). In theUgaritictextRS
24.245lines3b-4we readof Baal:

1) Cf.especiallytheaccountof Baal's defeatof Yam in CTA 2 and Baal's the-

ophanyin thestormin CTA 4. vii. 25-37.
2) Cf. T. H. Gaster,"The earliestknownmiracle-play?", Folk-lore44 (1933),
p. 382, n. 13, "Psalm 29", JQR, N.S. 37 (1946-7),pp. 55-65; H. L. Ginsberg,
"A PhoenicianHymnin the Psalter",Atti del XIX Congresso Internazionaledegli
Orientalistici
(Rome, 1935), pp. 472-6, The UgaritTexts (Jerusalem,1936), pp.
129-31(in Hebrew); F. M. Cross,"Notes on a CanaanitePsalmin the Old Tes-
tament",BASOR 117 (Feb. 1950),pp. 19-21; A. Fitzgerald,"A Note on Psalm
29", BASOR 215 (Oct. 1974),pp. 61-3.
3) E.g., by R. Tournay,"En marged'une traductiondes Psaumes", RB 63
(1965), p. 175.
4) However, D. N. Freedman and C. F. Hyland, "Psalm 29 : a structural
analysis",HTR 66 (1973),p. 241 n. 5, do notethatCTA 29 enumerates thename
of Baal seven timesin a listof gods whilethe Akkadianparallel(RS 20.24) has
Adad bursag fazi followedby the name of Adad a further six times.

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
144 JOHN DAY

3b Jb't.brqm(Ih) Seven lightnings(he had),

4 tmnt.'isr rct.'s. brqy(h) Eight storehousesof thunderwere
the shaftsof (his) lightnings.

This, of course, is an example of the well-knownphenomenon of

the graded numerical sequence 5). M. Haran has pointed out that
thisliterarydevice is not only employedto denote an indefinitenum-
ber but can also be used to indicate a definitenumber-either the
firstor the second in the sequence-the parallel number not being
intendedto be taken literallybut having the natureof what he calls
"automatism". In this connection,he suggests that the numerical
sequence seven/eightin Ugaritic and the Old Testament actually
serves to indicate the definitenumber seven 6). I would adduce the
followingpoints in supportof this understandingof the seven/eight
sequence: (i) As is well-known,seven is a highlysignificant number
in Ugariticand in the ancientnear east generally.One would there-
fore expect it to be frequentlyencounteredin graded numericalse-
quences. This is in fact the case, but whereas the sequence seven/
eight in Ugaritic is exceedinglycommon, the sequence six/sevenis
very rare7). This supports the view that the seven/eightsequence
(and not the six/sevensequence) denotes seven. (ii) It is noteworthy
that in the Aqhat text (CTA 19.i.42-4) we read that Baal failed for
seven/eightyearswhereasin the Baal text(CTA 6.v.8-9) we read of
simply a seven year cycle in the conflictbetween Baal and Mot
(whetherintended literallyor symbolicallybeing unimportantfor
thepresentpurpose). (iii) So faras theparticularseven/eight sequence
relatingto Baal's lightningsand thundersis concerned,it is surely
significantthat we have other evidence attestingthe specifically
sevenfoldnatureof Baal, to whichattentionwas drawnabove in note 4.
It may thereforebe maintainedthat RS 24.245 lines 3b-4 allude
to both Baal's sevenfold lightningsand thunders,just as Ps. xxix
depicts Yahweh's thunderingseven times. Furthermore,it is inter-
estingat thispoint to note thatthe parallelmay be drawneven closer
by looking at the contextin both passages. Ps. xxix is clearlyrelated
to the well-knownenthronementpsalms and, indeed, v. 10 actually

5) Cf. W. M. W. Roth, "The numerical sequence x/x+ 1 in the Old Testa-

ment",VT 12 (1962),pp. 300-11,Numerical Sayings A Form
in theOld Testament.
CriticalStudy,SVT 13 (1965); M. Haran, "The gradednumericalsequenceand
thephenomenonof 'automatism'in biblicalpoetry",SVT 22 (1972),pp. 238-67.
6) M. Haran,esp. p. 256.
7) L. R. Fisher (ed.), Ras ShamraParallels1 (Rome, 1972), pp. 345,
382.

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ECHOES OF BAAL'S SEVEN THUNDERS AND LIGHTNINGS 145

states,"The Lord sitsenthroned over the flood,the Lord sitsen-

thronedas kingforever." Similarly, in RS 24.245lines1-3a,imme-
diatelyprior to thereference to Baal's sevenlightnings and thunders,
we read of Baal's enthronement like the flood:b'l.yb. ktbt.gr hd.
r(y) 8) kmdb.btk.grh'il spn.b(tk)gr tl'iyt,"Baal sits enthroned,
havingthemountain as a throne,Hadad (theshepherd) liketheflood
in themidstof his mountain, the god of Zaphon in the (midstof)
themountainofvictory".Therecan surelybe no doubt,in thelight
of theseparallels,thatthesevenfoldthunderof Yahwehin Ps. xxix
is yeta further instanceofthispsalm'sappropriation ofmotifsderiv-
ing ultimately from Baal mythology which should be added to the
listofthosenotedbyearlierscholarsand referred to at thebeginning
of thisarticle.
Ps. xxixis nottheonlyplacein theBiblewhichmentions theseven
thunders, forwe reedin theNew Testament in Rev. x 3-4thatwhen
a mighty angel9) "calledout,theseventhunders sounded.Andwhen
had
the seventhunders sounded,I was about to write,but I heard
a voice fromheavensaying,'Seal up whatthe seventhunders have
said, and do not writeit down' ". As the commentatorspoint out 10),
it is strikingthatthe apocalyptist refersto "theseven thunders"
with
(act rTt& rpovrat) the article
definite withoutexplanation, thus
suggesting thattheywereknownto his readers.Theycan therefore
notbe adjudgedsimplyan ad hoccreationformedafterthe analogy
of the numerousothersevenfoldphenomenaof the Apocalypse.
Whethertheirimmediatederivationwas fromPs. xxix,as is often
held11),or fromsomeindependent it is clearthattheseven
tradition,
thunders in Rev. x 3-4 constitute
anotherexampleof apocalyptic's
ultimateindebtedness to Canaanitemythology 12).

8) Cf. RS 24.252 line 3 forthe restorationhdr('y).

9) ProbablyMichael,since theangel constitutes the seventhof thearchangels
(cf. Rev. viii 2) whichappearin Rev. viii 7 ff.and is clearlythe mostimportant
ofthem.Thattheseventhunders shouldsoundin responseto thevoiceof Michael
is significant in view of the factthatthereis otherevidenceof Michael'spos-
sessingBaalisticfeatures;e.g., he defeatstheseven-headeddragon(cf.Leviathan)
in Rev. xii 7-9. At thesame time,thedescription in Rev. x 1 is closelyrelatedto
thedescription of theone likea son of manin Rev. i 13-15.This too is significant
in view of theprobabilitythatthe imageryof the one like a son of man has its
originsin thefigureof (Yahweh-)Baal, as arguedby J. A. Emerton,"The origin
of theSon ofMan imagery",JTS, N.S. 9 (1958),pp. 225-42.
10) E.g., H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse ofJohn(London, 1907), p. 127.
n) E.g., A. Feuillet,L'Apocalypse(Bruges,1962), p. 45.
12) Cf.F. M. Cross,Canaanite MythandHebrewEpic (Cambridge,Mass., 1973),
pp. 345 n. 8 and 346 n. 13.
IO0

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
146 JOHNDAY

One passagein theOld Testament whichis closelyrelatedto Ps.

xxixis Hab. iii. LikePs. xxix,Hab. iii alludesto Yahweh'stheophany
in thestorm(vv.3-4,9, 11, andpassim),includingan allusionto the
Sinai theophany 13) (v. 3), Yahweh's exaltation over the cosmicsea
(vv. 8-10, 15), and the upheavalof natureat Yahweh's appearing
(vv.6-7, 10-11).In keepingwiththe close parallelismwhichexists
betweenPs. xxixand Hab. iii,I suggestthatthesolutionto thenote-
worthycruxin Hab. iii 9 liesin seeingtherea reference to Yahweh's
sevenarrowsof lightning, comparableto Yahweh'sseventhunders
in Ps. xxix. The MT reads 'eryahte'orqastekad
sebi'ot ma.t.tot
'omer.The
firstpartof theverseis to be translated,"Utterlylaid bare is your
bow". It is in thesecondpartoftheversethatthecruxlies.The most
commonexpedient ofmodernscholarsis to followthetextoftheso-
called "Barberini"versionwhichreadseX6prccxaS
pooxacsTq cpap&paos
oaTou and to emend the MT to sibba'tdma.ttt 'aspdteki "you sated
yourquiverwitharrows"14).However,whilstthisyieldsa tolerable
sense it shouldprobablybe rejected,as it is unwiseto trustthe
solitarytestimonyof the Barberiniversion since the supposed
corruptionof 'aspdtekd to 'jmeris quite considerableand, it may
also be noted,the Barberiniversionwas not averseto paraphrastic
rendering. As statedabove,I proposeto see an allusionto Yahweh's
seven arrows of lightninghere, comparableto Yahweh's seven
thundersin Ps. xxix. This presupposesreadingsib'at mattotin-
steadof MT se_buoit mattotand this can claimthe supportof the
TLXXwhich has which is surelyan internalLXX
&n'(r&) 15) nxJTr-rp
corruptionfrom CTor&
arx77rrpc,or perhaps better,&n.tert& wjaxTrrpa,
literally"rods", are
as has often been noted 16). That the mattogt,
Yahweh'sarrowsor shaftsis clearfromthe context(cf. too v. 14)
It is possible
flashesoflightning.
as is also thefactthattheyrepresent
thatwe should retainthe MT and render"sevenfoldarrows"17)

13) In spiteof thereference to mdbr qdsin Ugariticin CTA 23.65 it is preferable

to see in Ps. xxix 8 an allusionto the nativeIsraeliteSinai theophanytradition
comparableto Hab. iii 3 ratherthana reference to some Syrianlocation.
14) E.g., W. Nowack, Die kleinen Propheten (Gottingen,31922),p. 280.
15) See J. Ziegler,Duodecim Prophetae(G6ttingen,1943),p. 270,forfulltextual
details.
16) The view thatthe LXX originallyread str&aapparently goes backto Gre-
vius (cf. J. Ziegler,loc.cit.)and has subsequently been followedby such distin-
guishedLXX scholarsas J. F. Schleusner, E. Nestle,F. X. Wutzand J. Ziegler.
17) Cf. H. Ewald, Die Propheten desaltenBundes(G6ttingen,1868), pp. 47, 50.
This view is noted as a possibilityby J. H. Eaton, Obadiah,Nahum,Habakkuk
andZephaniah (London, 1961),p. 113,and "The originand meaningof Habakkuk

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ECHOES OF BAAL'S SEVEN THUNDERS AND LIGHTNINGS 147

ratherthan"sevenarrows",butagainstthisis thefactthatelsewhere
in the Old Testamentabu'jotis onlyused in expressions of time.I
would therefore renderthisverse,"Utterlylaid bare are yourbow
and sevenarrowswitha word". (For the co-ordination of "your
bow" and "sevenarrows"withoutthecopulaone maycomparethe
immediately precedingversewhere,similarly, we find"yourhorses"
and "yourchariots"in apposition.)The idea beingexpressed, there-
fore,is thatsimplyby thedivinewordof commandYahweh'sbow
and sevenarrowsare broughtforthfromtheirrespective bow case
and quiver.This conceptis paralleledelsewherein the Old Testa-
mentwherewe readofYahweh'scommanding hisswordintoaction
(cf.Jer. xxv29, xlvii6-7; Zech. xiii7).
Returning now to the subjectof Baal's seventhunders and light-
nings I wish to point out a furtherUgaritictext which,I believe,
refersto thembut has hitherto remainedundetected. In CTA 5.v.
6b-ll thegod Mot commandsBaal to descendintotheunderworld
togetherwith his meteorological phenomena:w'at. qh 'rptk.rhk.
mdlkmtrk.'glmk.
. msbn
b g .
rtn. nrk 'mk.pdry.bt 'ar 'mk.f{t}ly.bt.
rb,"And you, take yourclouds,yourwind,yourchariotteam18),
yourrain,takewithyou yoursevenservitors and youreightboars,
take Pidriyadaughterof dew with you, and Taliya daughterof
showerswith you". Baal's seven servitorsand eightboars have
hitherto not been identified withcertainty.This is anotherexample
of theseven/eight numerical sequencediscussedabove,a poeticway
of alludingto Baal's sevenservitors. "Boars" is probablyeitheran
3", ZA7 76 (1964), p. 152, thoughin the latterhe expressesa preference for
the rendering"Adjuredare the shaftswitha word" (cf. p. 145).
18) The meaningof mdlis much disputed.Oftenit is thoughtto referto the
lightning butno satisfactory
etymologyhas been suggestedwhichfitsthismean-
ing. J. C. de Moor, "Der mdlBaals im Ugaritischen",ZAW 78 (1966), pp.
69-71, for example,has suggestedthe translation"thunderbolt",comparing
Akkad,mudulu "pole", but againstthisstandsthefactthatthe Heb. and Aram.
cognates have /, not d. Some, e.g. G. R. Driver, CanaaniteAIythsand Legends
(Edinburgh,1956), p. 161, favourthe translation"bucket" (cf. Heb. deli,etc.)
However,the bestsolutionseemsto be to connectmdlwiththeverbmdlfound
elsewherein Ugariticand whichmeans"to harness"(CTA 4.iv.9, 19.ii.52,57).
Baal's mdlwould then be "that which is harnessed",i.e. his "chariot team"
drawingthe clouds (cf. Hab. iii 8). Cf. J. Aistleitner'stranslation"Gespann",
Worterbuch der Ugaritischen
Sprache(Berlin,31967),no. 744a. It is interestingto
note thatin a hymnto Ishkur,Ishkurwho "rides the storm"like Baal is com-
missionedby Enlil, "Let the seven windsbe harnessedbeforeyou like a team,
harnessthewindsbeforeyou" (J. B. Pritchard [ed.], ANET [Princeton,31969],
p. 578). (On the Ugariticverb mdl,cf. J. C. Greenfield, "Ugariticmdland its
cognates",Biblica45 [1964], pp. 527-34,who regardsit as a metathesisof the
root Imd"to bind,tie", whichis attestedin MishnaicHebrew and Syriac.)

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
148 JOHNDAY

honorificanimal title or a militarytitle19). J. C. de Moor 20) has

arguedthatthe sevenservitors correspond withthestarsknownas
thePleiades,sevenofwhichcan be seenwiththenakedeye,and he
comparesthe Akkadiannameforthemzappu "bristle".However,
the Pleiadesbecameinvisiblefor only a shortwhile at Ugaritat
about the timeof Baal's death,disappearing in the secondhalfof
Marchand reappearing towardsthe end of April.In view of the
otherthingswhichare to accompanyBaal intothe underworld we
shouldexpectsomething which remained thereforthe whole period
ofBaal's death,notsomething whichdisappeared forlittlemorethan
a month.Furthermore, sinceall theotherthingsmentioned aremeteo-
rologicalphenomena, one has everyreason to believethat Baal's
sevenservitors also represent meteorologicalphenomena. Of all the
moresignificant of Baal's manifestationsonlythethunder and light-
ning have been omitted 21) and we should certainlyexpect some
reference to themhere.It may therefore plausibly arguedthat
be
Baal's "seven servitors... eight boars" representpersonifications
ofhisthunder and lightning and areto be connected withhis"seven
lightnings... eightstorehousesof thunder"referred to earlier.In
keeping with thisit may also be pointed out that RS 24.245 imme-
diatelyafterthe referenceto the seven thunders and lightnings goes
on to mentionthedew goddesTaliya(line5, r'ish.tply. y.bn. n(h),
"Taliyamadehis head wonderful between(his) eyes"),justas CTA
5. v. 10-11immediately followsthereference to the sevenservitors
withan allusionto thedewgoddessesPidriyaand Taliya.
The identification of Baal's seven thundersand lightnings with
his sevenservitors naturallyleads one to concludethatthethunder
and lightning couldbe personified by theCanaanitesand considered
as constitutinghis servants.This recallsPs. civ 4 whereYahwehis
praisedas on "who makes... fireand flamehis servants".The
Canaaniteoriginof thisconceptis supported by thecontext, forthe
precedingversespeaksof Yahweh'smakingthe cloudshis chariot,
preciselyafterthe mannerof Baal, whilethe followingverses(vv.
6-9) allude to Yahweh's controlof the cosmicsea, a well-known
Old Testamentappropriation fromthe Canaanites.
19) Cf. P. D. Miller,"Animalnamesas designations in Ugariticand Hebrew",
Ugarit-Forschungen2 (1970), pp. 178-80.
20) The SeasonalPatternin theUgariticMythofBaclu (Neukirchen,1971), pp.
187-8.
21) Cf. above n. 18 for criticismof the view thatthe lightningis denotedby
mdl.

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ECHOES OF BAAL'S SEVEN THUNDERS AND LIGHTNINGS 149

Similarly,in myview,theseraphim in Is. vi are to be regardedas

personifications of the lightning 22). This is supportedby the fact
thatwhentheseraphimcalledout thefoundations of thethresholds
shookand theTemplewas filledwithsmoke(v. 4), whichsuggests
thattheyhad thunder-like voices and a fierynature,as even their
name indicates(lit. "burningones"). Moreover,the effectof the
callingout oftheseraphim recallsreferences to Yahweh'stheophany
in the thunderand lightningelsewherein the Old Testament,cf.
especially Ps. xviii8-9,"Then theearthreeledand rocked;thefoun-
dationsalso of themountains trembled and quaked,becausehe was
angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils,and devouringfirefromhis
mouth;glowing coals flamed from him". Whatis distinctive about
Is. vi is thatfeatures of Yahweh'stheophany have been splitoffon
to the seraphim, just as Baal's thunders and lightnings wereappar-
of
entlycapable being detached from the god and as his
personified
servants.
The case forthe seraphim'sultimatederivationfrom,or at any
rate close connectionwith, Baal's seven thunderand lightningser-
vitorsis further strengthened whenthe close parallelsbetweenIs.
vi and Ps. xxixare bornein mind.As A.R. Johnsonnoted23) after
discussingPs. xxixand its SitZ imLebenin the Autumnfestival,it
is difficultto dissociateIsaiah's call visionin Is. vi fromthisback-
ground:theallusionsto Yahweh'skingship(Is. vi 5), his gloryand
holiness(Is. vi 3) and theimpression of an earthquake(Is. vi 4) all
have parallelsin Ps. xxix.Now, it will be recalledthatin Ps. xxix
Yahweh's theophanytakesthe formof a sevenfoldmanifestation
in thethunder and thishas been shownabove to deriveultimately
fromthephenomenon of Baal's seventhunders. Sincethe seraphim
in Is. vi playthetheophanic rolewhichtheseventhunders have in
Ps. xxixit is plausibleto supposethattheyhavetheirultimate origin
in Baal's seventhunderand lightning servants.It may,in fact,not
be entirely fortuitous thatin 2 Enoch B xix 6 the seraphimare ac-
tually stated to be seven in number.(Though,admittedly, in theA
texttheyare six.)
However,whilstinfunction the seraphim maybe regardedas per-
sonificationsofthelightning having a Canaanite originwithanalogies
in Baal's lightningservants, in formit maybe accepted,as certain
22) There is nothingnew in this view which is, in fact,ratherwidelyheld.
However,partof the line of argumentation pursuedbelow is novel.
23) Sacral Kingship
in AncientIsrael(Cardiff,
21967),p. 64 n. 5.

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
150 JOHN DAY

other scholars have suggested24), that they are winged serpents

(uraei) with an ultimatelyEgyptianorigin.In thisthereis an analogy
with the cherubimwhich, as winged sphinxes,are ultimatelyEgyp-
tian in origin as regards form but could symbolize the clouds on
which Yahweh rode in the manner of the Canaanite god Baal (cf.
Ps. xviii 11) 25). That the seraphimhave a serpentinebody is sup-
portedby thefactthatelsewherein the Old Testamenttheword sdrdp
means "serpent", including two places elsewhere in Isaiah where
a flyingserpentis actuallyspoken of (cf. Num. xxi 6, 8; Deut. viii 15;
Is. xiv 29, xxx 6) 26). However, though a serpentinebody is presup-
posed, theseraphimin Is. vi clearlyhave a humanhead,wings,feetand
hands. In thistheyare like theEgyptianuraei,symbolsof both human
and divine kingship(cf. Is. vi, where the contextis thatof Yahweh's
kingship),which could also have theseadded appendagesas occasion
demanded27).The winged uraeus,moreover,is attestedin Palestine,
includingthe era in which Isaiah lived 28). Further,it is probable, as

24) Cf. especiallyK. R. Joines,"Wingedserpentsin Isaiah's inauguralvision",

JBL 86 (1967), pp. 410-15,and Serpent symbolism in theOld Testament (Haddon-
field,N.J., 1974), pp. 42-60. Joineswas anticipatedby J. Pedersen,Israel: its
lifeand culture III-IV (Copenhagen,1940), p. 711, and A. Reifenberg,Ancient
HebrewSeals (London, 1950), p. 23.
25) On the cherubim, cf. R. de Vaux, "Les cherubinset l'arched'alliance.Les
sphinxgardienset les tronesdivinsdans 1'ancienorient",Melanges del'Universite
SaintJoseph 37 (1961),pp. 93-124.
26) The meaning "serpent" was presumablyderived from "burning one'
because of the burningnatureof the serpent'sbite; cf. Heb. hemdh "venom"
(lit. "heat"), used in connectionwith snakesin Deut. xxxii24, 33; Ps. lviii 5,
cxl4. In thecase of theheavenlyseraphimofIs. vi thereappearsto be an extension
of meaningin thattheyhave a literallyfierynature,as theirassociationwith
smoke,forexample,indicates(v. 4).
27) Cf. K. R. Joines,JBL86 (1967),pp. 412-13.
28) Cf. K. R. Joines,pp. 413-14.For a studyof 9th-7th centuryB.C. Hebrew
sealsbearingthefour-winged serpent, cf.W. A. Ward,"The four-winged serpent,
on Hebrewseals", Rivistadeglistudiorientali XLIII (1968),pp. 135-43,who com-
paresIs. xiv 29 and xxx6 but on p. 142 n. 5 deniesthattheseraphimof Is. vi are
wingedserpents.Ward findsthe closestanalogyto the seraphimof Is. vi in a
Neo-Hittitesix-winged"genie" fromTell Halaf (ancientGozan), followingthe
suggestionof M. Fr. von Oppenheim,Der TellHalaf. Eine neueKulturimaltesten
Mesopotamien (Leipzig,1931),p. 152 (cf.plate32b). This viewhasalso beenheldby
K. Galling,Biblisches Reallexikon (Tiibingen,1937),col. 385 (cf.fig.3 in col. 384),
and H. Wildberger, Jesaja1-12 (Neukirchen,1972), p. 247, who further believe,
that the figureholds a snake in each hand (cf. Hebrew sarap).However, the,
"snakes" are probablyratherto be interpreted as streamsof water,as thedepic-
tion is similarto whatare clearlystreamsof watergraspedby thefigureof the
fish-manfromTell Halaf (cf. E. D. van Buren,Theflowing vaseand thegodwith
streams[Berlin,1933],pp. 141-2andplateXXII, fig.80). Apartfromthesixwings,
therefore, thereis no parallelherewiththeseraphimof Is. vi, which,in view of

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ECHOES OF BAAL'S SEVEN THUNDERS AND LIGHTNINGS 151

de Savignac29)and othershave suggested,that the seraphimof

Isaiah's Templevisionare relatedto the bronzeserpentNehushtan
thatwas apparently in theTempleuntilthetimeof Hezekiah(cf.2
Kings xviii4) and whichis explicitly calleda idrapin Num. xxi 8.
In conclusion,then,it maybe arguedthatechoesof Baal's seven
thunders andlightnings maybe detected in Ps. xxixand,lesscertainly,
in Hab. iii 9; also,it appearsthatBaal's lightningscouldbe personi-
fiedas his servantsand thatthisor some similarconceptioninpart
lies behindthe idea of the seraphimin Is. vi.
Postscript
The recentwork by 0. Keel, Jahwe-Visionen undSiegelkunst(Stuttgart,1977),
whichcontainsa detailedtreatment of theseraphimon pp. 70-115,appearedtoo
late to be notedin theabove article.Space forbidsa thoroughcritiquehere,but
it maybe noted thatwhilstI totallysupportKeel's view thatthe originof the
formof theseraphimis to be soughtin thatof thewingeduraeus-and it should
be pointedout thathis treatment of theiconographicalattestation
of thewinged
uraeusin Palestinein theperiodaroundthe8thcenturyB.C. on pp. 103-10now
supersedesthat of W. A. Ward noted above in n. 28-I remainunconvinced
by his denial of any relationshipbetweenthe seraphimand lightning(p. 80),
whichignoresboththe connectionof the seraphim"burningones" withsmoke
(Isa. vi 4), implyinga literallyfierynature,and theforceof such a close parallel
to Isa. vi 4 as Ps. xviii8-9,wherethecontextclearlyindicatesthatthetheophanic
fireand smoke are to be understoodmeteorologically in termsof lightning.
Keel poses a falseantithesis whenhe writes(loc. cit.),"Jahweerscheintin Jes6
als thronender K6nig und nichtals Wettergottheit in Sturm,Erdbeben,Donner
und Blitz."

theirname,musthave someserpentineconnection.(I am indebtedto Prof.W. G.

Lambertforthe reference
to the workby van Burenand fordiscussingthe Tell
Halaf figurewith me.)
29) "Les 'Seraphim', ", VT 22 (1972), pp. 320-5.

This content downloaded from 129.115.103.99 on Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:26:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions