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Jewish mythologyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jewish mythology is the sacred and traditional narratives that help explain and symbolize Judaism. Elements ofJewish mythology have had a profound influence on Christian and Islamic mythology, as well as world culture ingeneral. Christian mythology directly inherited many of the narratives from the Jewish people, sharing in commonthe narratives from the Old Testament. Islamic mythology also shares many of the same stories; for instance, acreation account spaced out over six periods, the legend of Abraham, the stories of Moses and the Israelites,and many more.

Contents

1 Tanakh

1.1 Zoroastrian influence

1.1.1 Linear history

1.2 Genesis creation narrative

1.2.1 The "combat myth"1.3 Garden of Eden

1.4 The Flood

1.5 Watchers

2 Jewish apocrypha3 Merkabah mysticism

4 Talmud

5 Kabbalah

6 Popular culture

7 See also

8 Citations and notes9 References10 Further reading

Tanakh

See also: Myth of origins, National myth, and Pious fiction

Jewish mythology contains similarities to the myths of other Middle Eastern cultures. The ancient Hebrews often

participated in the religious practices of their neighbors, worshiping other gods alongside Yahweh.[1] Thesepagan religions were forms of nature worship: their deities were personifications of natural phenomena like

storms and fertility.[2] Because of its nature worship, Mircea Eliade argues, Near Eastern paganism expressed

itself in "rich and dramatic mythologies" featuring "strong and dynamic gods" and "orgiastic divinities".[2]

The Biblical prophets, including Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, had a concept of the divine that differedsignificantly from that of the nature religions. According to Jewish mythology, their lives were full of miracles,signs, and visions from God that kept Jewish mythology alive, growing, and distinct from the pagan mythologiesof its neighbors. Instead of seeing the God of Israel as just one national god, these prophets saw him as the one

God of the entire universe.[3]

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The prophets condemned Hebrew participation in nature worship, and they refused to completely identify the

divine with natural forces.[3] In so doing, they set the stage for a new kind of mythology — a mythology

featuring a single God who exists beyond the natural world.[4] Unlike Tammuz, who dies and revives along with

the vegetation,[5] the God of the Hebrew prophets is beyond nature[6] and, therefore, isn't bound by the naturalrhythms:

"Where the Babylonian gods were engaged in an ongoing battle against the forces of chaos, andneeded the rituals of the New Year festival to restore their energies, Yahweh can simply rest on the

seventh day, his work complete."[7]

Through the prophets' influence, Jewish mythology increasingly portrayed God as aloof from nature and acting

independently of natural forces.[8] On one hand, this produced a mythology that was, in a sense, more complex.Instead of eternally repeating a seasonal cycle of acts, Yahweh stood outside nature and intervened in it,producing new, historically unprecedented events:

"That was theophany of a new type, hitherto unknown—the intervention of Jahveh in history. Itwas therefore something irreversible and unrepeatable. The fall of Jerusalem does not repeat thefall of Samaria: the ruin of Jerusalem presents a new historic theophany, another 'wrath' of Jahveh.[…] Jahveh stands out from the world of abstractions, of symbols and generalities; he acts in

history and enters into relations with actual historical beings."[9]

On the other hand, this transcendent God was absolutely unique and hard for humans to relate to.[10] Thus, themyths surrounding him were, in a sense, less complex: they did not involve the acts of multiple, anthropomorphic

gods.[3] In this sense, "Jahveh is surrounded by no multiple and varied myths", and did not share in the "rich and

dramatic mythologies" of his pagan counterparts.[2]

The Hebrew prophets had to struggle against the nature gods' popularity, and Jewish mythology reflects this

struggle.[11] In fact, some Jewish myths may have been consciously designed to reflect the conflict betweenpaganism and a new uncompromising monotheism. In Psalm 82, God stands up in the Divine Council and

condemns the pagan deities:[12] although they are gods, he says, they will die like mortal men.[13] KarenArmstrong interprets the creation myth of Genesis 1 "as a poised, calm polemic against the old belligerent

cosmogonies", particularly the Babylonian cosmogonic myth.[14] The Babylonian Enuma Elish describes thegod Marduk earning kingship over the other gods, battling the monster Tiamat, and creating the world from hercorpse. In contrast, Armstrong argues, in the Genesis account (and in the book of Isaiah that describe Yahweh'svictory over the sea-monster Leviathan),

"the sun, moon, stars, sky and earth are not gods in their own right, hostile to Yahweh. They aresubservient to him, and created for a purely practical end. The sea-monster is no Tiamat, but is

God's creature and does his bidding."[15]

Zoroastrian influence

R. C. Zaehner, a professor of Eastern religions, argues for Zoroastrianism's direct influence on Jewish

eschatological myths, especially the resurrection of the dead with rewards and punishments.[16]

Linear history

See also: Philosophy of history#Cyclical and linear history

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One traditional depiction of the cherubim and

chariot vision, based on the description by Ezekiel.

The mythologist Joseph Campbell believes the Judeo-Christian idea of linear history originated with the Persianreligion of Zoroastrianism. In the mythologies of India and the Far East, "the world was not to be reformed, but

only known, revered, and its laws obeyed".[17] In contrast, in Zoroastrianism, the current world is "corrupt [...]

and to be reformed by human action".[17] According to Campbell, this "progressive view of cosmic history"[18]

"can be heard echoed and re-echoed, in Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaean, Arabic, and every tongue of the

West".[19]

Other traditional cultures limited mythical events to the beginning of time, and saw important historical events as

repetitions of those mythical events.[20] According to Mircea Eliade, the Hebrew prophets "valorized" history,

seeing historical events as episodes in a continual divine revelation.[21] This doesn't mean that all historical

events have significance in Judaism;[22] however, in Jewish mythology, significant events happen throughouthistory, and they are not merely repetitions of each other; each significant event is a new act of God:

"The fall of Samaria actually did occur in history [...] It was therefore something irreversible andunrepeatable. The fall of Jerusalem does not repeat the fall of Samaria: the ruin of Jerusalem

presents a new historic theophany."[23]

By portraying time as a linear progression of events, rather than an eternal repetition, Jewish mythology

suggested the possibility for progress.[24] Inherited by Christianity, this view of history has deeply influencedWestern philosophy and culture. Even supposedly secular or political Western movements have worked within

the world-view of progress and linear history inherited from Judaism.[25] Because of this legacy, the religioushistorian Mircea Eliade argues that "Judaeo-Christianity makes an innovation of the first importance" in

mythology.[26]

Eliade believes that the Hebrews had a sense of linear time before their contact with Zoroastrianism,[27] butagrees with Zaehner that Judaism elaborated its mythology of linear time with eschatological elements thatoriginated in Zoroastrianism. According to Eliade, these elements include ethical dualism, the myth of a savior,

and "an optimistic eschatology, proclaiming the final triumph of Good".[27]

Genesis creation narrative

See also: Genesis creation narrative

The "combat myth"

Many of the Hebrews' neighbors had a "combat myth"about the good god battling the demon of chaos; oneexample of this mytheme is the Babylonian Enuma

Elish.[28] A lesser known example is the very

fragmentary myth of Labbu.[29] According to historianBernard McGinn, the combat myth's imagery influencedJewish mythology. The myth of God's triumph overLeviathan, a symbol of chaos, has the form of a combat

myth.[30] In addition, McGinn thinks the Hebrewsapplied the combat myth motif to the relationship

between God and Satan. Originally a deputy in God's court, assigned to act as mankind's "accuser" (satanmeans "to oppose"), Satan evolved into a being with "an apparently independent realm of operation as a source

of evil" — no longer God's deputy but his opponent in a cosmic struggle.[31]

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Destruction of Leviathan, 1865 by

Gustave Doré. This sea monster was

mentioned 6 times in the Hebrew

Bible.

Even the Exodus story shows influence. McGinn believes the "Song ofthe sea", which the Hebrews sang after seeing God drown theEgyptian army in the Red Sea, includes "motifs and language from thecombat myth used to emphasize the importance of the foundationalevent in Israel's religious identity: the crossing of the Red Sea and

deliverance from the Pharaoh."[30] Likewise, Armstrong notes thesimilarity between pagan myths in which gods "split the sea in halfwhen they created the world" and the story of the Exodus from Egypt,in which Moses splits the Sea of Reeds (the Red Sea) — "thoughwhat is being brought into being in the Exodus, is not a cosmos but a

people".[15] In any case, the motif of God as the "divine warrior"fighting on Israel's behalf is clearly evident in the Song of the Sea (Ex.15). This motif is recurrent in poetry throughout the HebrewScriptures (I Samuel 2; Zechariah 9:11-16;14:3-8).

Some comparative mythologists think Jewish mythology absorbedelements from pagan mythology. According to these scholars, evenwhile resisting pagan worship, the Jews willingly absorbed elements

of pagan mythology.[32]

Garden of Eden

See also: Tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Tree of life

Joseph Campbell notes that the Garden of Eden narrative's forbidden tree is an example of a motif "very popular

in fairy tales, known to folklore students as the One Forbidden Thing".[33] For another example of the OneForbidden Thing, see the Serbian fairy tale Bash Chelik, in which the hero is forbidden to open a certain doorbut he does anyway, thereby releasing the villain. Also see the classic story of Pandora's box, which existed inancient Greek mythology.

The Flood

Main articles: Flood myth and Genesis flood narrative

The Genesis flood narrative has similarities to ancient flood stories told worldwide. One of the closest parallels isthe Mesopotamian myth of a world flood, recorded in The Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Hebrew Bible flood story(Genesis 6:5-22), God decides to flood the world and start over, due to mankind's sinfulness. However, Godsees that a man named Noah was righteous (because he walked with God) and blameless among the people.God instructs Noah to build an ark, and directs him to bring at least two of every animal inside the boat, alongwith his family. The flood comes and covers the world. After 40 days, Noah sends a raven to check whether thewaters have subsided, then a dove; after exiting the boat, Noah offers a sacrifice to God, who smells "the sweetsavour" and promises never to destroy the earth by water again -and making the rainbow a symbol of this

promise. Similarly, in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh,[34] the bustle of humanity disturbs the gods, whodecide to send a flood. Warned by one of the gods, a man named Utnapishtim builds a boat and takes his familyand animals inside. After the flood, Utnapishtim sends a dove, then a swallow, then a raven to check whetherthe waters have subsided. After exiting the boat, Utnapishtim offers a sacrifice to the gods, who smell "the sweetsavour" and repent their choice to send the flood.

Another ancient flood myth is the Hindu story of Matsya the fish. According to this story,[35] the god Vishnutakes the form of a fish and warns the ancestor Manu about a coming flood. He tells Manu to put all thecreatures of the earth into a boat. Unlike the Biblical and Mesopotamian floods, however, this flood is not a

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Noah's Ark, oil on canvas painting by Edward Hicks,

1846 Philadelphia Museum of Art

unique event brought on by a divine choice; instead,it's one of the destructions and recreations of theuniverse that happen at regular intervals in Hindumythology.

Watchers

Main articles: Watcher (angel) and Nephilim

Also possibly derived from pagan mythology is thestory of the "Watchers" (Genesis 6:1-4). Accordingto this story, heavenly beings once descended toearth, intermarried with humans, and produced thenephilim, "the heroes of old, men of renown". Jewishtradition regards those heavenly beings as wicked

angels,[36] but the myth may be a fragment of paganmythology about gods interbreeding with humans to

produce heroes.[37]

Jewish apocrypha

Main article: Jewish apocrypha

Merkabah mysticism

Main article: Merkabah mysticism

Talmud

The Jewish people's tendency to adopt the neighboring pagan practices, denounced as it had been by the Jewishprophets, returned with force during the Talmudic period. However, almost no mythology was borrowed untilthe Midrashic and Talmudic periods, when what can be described as mysticism emerged in the kabbalisticschools. One such aspect was the appearance of the "Shedim", or demons; these became ubiquitous to the

ordinary Jews[38] with the increased access to the study of the Talmud after the invention of the printing press.

The classical rabbis themselves were at times not free from sharing in the popular beliefs. Thus, while there is awhole catalog of prognostications by means of Dreams in Ber. 55 et seq., and Rabbi Johanan claimed that those

dreams are true which come in the morning or are dreamed about us by others, or are repeated,[39] Rabbi Meïr

declares that dreams help not and injure not.[40] Dream interpretation is not however a factor in consideringmythologyfication of Talmud knowledge since it was at the time a part of the wider nascent development of whatlater became the discipline of Psychology, and also incorporated Astrology, and effect of digestion onbehaviour.

An example of typical mythology in the Talmud (חולין נט ע"ב - ע"ב, Chullin 59b) exists as a discussion about agiant deer and a giant lion which are both originated in a mythical forest called "Bei Ilai". The deer is called"keresh". The lion, called "tigris", is said to be so big that there is space of 9 feet between the lobes of his lung.The Roman Caesar Hadrian once asked a Rabbi to show him this lion, since every lion can be killed, but the

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Rabbi refused and pointed out that this is not a normal lion. The Roman Caesar insisted, so the Rabbi called forthe lion of "Bei Ilai". He roared once from a distance of 400 amot and all the city walls of Rome tumbled down.Then he came to 300 amot and roared again and the front teeth and molars of Roman men fall out.

The authorities of the Talmud seem to be particularly influenced by popular conception in the direction of folkmedicine. A belief in the Evil eye was also prevalent in Talmudic times, and occasionally omens were takenseriously, though in some cases recognized as being merely popular beliefs. Thus, while it is declared to be

unlucky to do things twice, as eating, drinking, or washing,[41] Rabbi Dunai recognized that this was an old

tradition.[42] A remarkable custom mentioned in the Talmud is that of planting trees when children are born and

intertwining them to form the huppah when they marry.[43] Yet this idea may be originally Persian[citation needed]

and is also found in India.[44]

It may be possible to distinguish in the haggadic legends of Biblical character those portions that probablyformed part of the original accounts from those that have been developed by the exegetic principles of thehaggadists.

The uniqueness of the Talmudic style of both recording meaning and deriving it using exegesis places the manyseemingly mythological components of the much larger halachic content into a content very unlike the purelystory-telling corpus of other cultures.

Kabbalah

Main article: Kabbalah

Popular culture

In the past century to modern day, there have been many retellings of Jewish myths (mostly from the Torah),and adaptations for the modern public. They have mostly been in the regions of science fiction, as Isaac Asimovnoted in his introduction to More Wandering Stars:

"...Can science fiction be part of Jewish culture? From fantasy stories we know?/ And as I think ofit, it begins to seem to me that it is and we do know. And the source? From where else? From theHebrew source for everything-- From the Bible. We have but to look through the Bible to see forourselves."

—Isaac Asimov

He goes on to show parallels between biblical stories and modern science fiction tropes:

Let there be light was an example of advanced scientific mechanisms

God is an extraterrestrial

Adam and Eve as colonists on a new planet

The serpent was an alien, as Earth snakes don't speak or show any intelligence

The flood was a story of a world catastrophe, and the survivors

The Tower of Babel (like Metropolis, which it inspired in part)

Moses vs. the Egyptian magicians is advanced technological warfare

Samson as sword and sorceryThe first chapter of Ezekiel is a UFO account.

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The Hugo Awards, one of the highest distinctions for science fiction writers, have been awarded to biblicallyderived stories. For instance Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream", Larry Niven's"Inconstant Moon" and Harlan Ellison's "The Deathbird".

Another example is Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series, which uses kabbalah elements whilenarrating a reinterpretation of events surrounding Adam, Eve and Lilith in a futuristic and apocalyptic way.

It is often suggested that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two Jewish creators of Superman, essentially the

beginning of superhero comics and comic books, were partly inspired by the story of the Golem of Prague.[45]

See also

Arabic mythology

Panbabylonism

Religion and mythology

Culture of Asia

Oriental studies

Tower of Babel

NimrodSamson

Citations and notes

1. ^ Armstrong, p. 93; Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 136

2. ̂a b c Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 141

3. ̂a b c Armstrong, p. 93

4. ^ Armstrong, pp. 95-96; Irwin, pp. 323-34

5. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 140

6. ^ Irwin, p. 233

7. ^ Armstrong, p. 96; see also Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 143

8. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, pp. 141-42; Irwin, p. 230, 233

9. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 152-53

10. ^ Irwin, p. 233; Armstrong, p. 82-83, 93-94

11. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 142; Armstrong, p. 94

12. ^ Armstrong, p. 93-93

13. ^ Psalms 82:6-7

14. ^ Armstrong, p. 95

15. ̂a b Armstrong, p. 96

16. ^ Zaehner, p. 58

17. ̂a b Campbell, p. 191

18. ^ Campbell, p. 192

19. ^ Campbell, p. 190

20. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 190; Eliade, Myth and Reality, pp. 11-12

21. ^ Eliade, A History of Religious Ideas, vol. 1, p. 356

22. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 153

23. ^ Eliade, Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries, p. 152

24. ^ Irwin, p. 323

25. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 69; Campbell, p. 201

26. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 64

27. ̂a b Eliade, A History of Religious Ideas, vol. 1, p. 302

28. ^ McGinn, p. 23

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References

Jewish Encyclopedia. Ed. Cyrus Adler, et al. 22 May 2008 JewishEncyclopedia.com

(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/).

Armstrong, Karen. A Short History of Myth. NY: Canongate, 2005.Ausubel, Nathan, ed. A Treasury of Jewish Folklore: The Stories, Traditions, Legends, Humor, and

Wisdom of the Jewish People NY: Crown Publishers, 1990.

Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology. NY: Penguin Compass, 1991.

Dennis, Geoffrey. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism. MN: Llewellyn

Worldwide, 2007.

Eliade, Mircea.

A History of Religious Ideas. Vol. 1. Trans. Willard R. Trask. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress, 1978.

Myth and Reality. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

Myths, Dreams and Mysteries. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Irwin, William A. "The Hebrews". (Frankfort et al. The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977. pp. 221–360.)

Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Jewish Folktales, Micha Joseph bin Gorion, translated by I. M. Lask,

Trans. Three volumes. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1976Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Jewish Folktales Abridged and Annotated Edition Micha Joseph bin

Gorion. This is a one volume abridged and annotated version, with an introduction and headnotes, by

Dan Ben-Amos. Indiana University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-253-31158-6.

Folktales of Israel Ed. Dov Noy, with the assistance of Dan Ben-Amos. Chicago: Chicago University

Press, 1963

Jewish Folktales from Morocco, Ed. Dov Noy, Jerusalem, 1964.

Jewish Folktales from Tunisia, Ed. Dov Noy, Jerusalem, 1964.

"Hebrew Parallels to Indian Folktales," Journal of the Assam Research Society, 15 (1963), pp. 37–45.Magoulick, Mary. "What is Myth?" Folklore Connections. Georgia College State University

(http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~mmagouli/defmyth.htm), 22 May 2008 .

29. ^ Labbu is discussed in terms of the developing "adversary" mythology of the Ancient Near East and the Judeo-Christian tradition, in Neil Forsyth, The Old Enemy: Satan & the Combat Myth (Princeton University press)1987:44f.

30. ̂a b McGinn, p. 24

31. ^ McGinn, p. 23-25

32. ^ Armstrong, p. 96; McGinn, p. 23-24

33. ^ Campbell, p. 109

34. ^ The Epic of Gilgamesh, p. 108-13

35. ^ Translation of the Hindu scripture Matsya 1:11-35 in Classical Hindu Mythology, p. 71-74

36. ^ McGinn, p. 25

37. ^ footnote on Genesis 6:1-4 in The New American Bible, St Joseph Edition

38. ^ G. Dennis, "Demons and Demonology," The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism

39. ^ Ber. 56b

40. ^ Gittin 52a, and parallels

41. ^ Pesachim 109b

42. ^ ib. 110b

43. ^ Gittin 57a

44. ^ W. Crookes, in "Folk-Lore," vii.

45. ^ For a sample discussion of this subject see "Superman and the Golem"(http://www.supermanfan.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=147).

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_mythology 9/9

McGinn, Bernard. Antichrist: Two Thousand Years of the Human Fascination with Evil. NY:

HarperCollins, 1994.

Mintz, Jerome R. Legends of the Hasidim: An Introduction to Hasidic Culture and Oral Tradition in

the New World Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1968

Four Master Folklorists And Their Major Contributions Peninnah Schram, from Opening Worlds ofWords, Peninnah Schram and Cherie Karo Schwartz

Segal, Robert A. Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Zong In-Sob. Folk Tales From Korea. Elizabeth: Hollym International, 1982.

Graves, Robert, "Introduction," New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology (trans. Richard Aldington

and Delano Ames), London: Hamlyn, 1968, pp. v-viii.

The Epic of Gilgamesh. Trans. N.K. Sandars. NY: Penguin, 1960.

Classical Hindu Mythology. Ed. and trans. Cornelia Dimmitt and J.A.B. van Buitenen. Philadelphia:Temple University Press, 1978.

New American Bible. St Joseph Edition. NY: Catholic Publishing Co. (Used as a source for some

scholarly information on comparative mythology found in its footnotes.)

Harris, Robert, Virtual Salt: A Glossary of Literary Terms (http://virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm) 2002.

Leaves from the Garden of Eden: One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales. Edited by Howard Schwartz.

New York, OUP USA, 2008, 540 pp.

Further reading

Campbell, Joseph (2001). Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor. Novato, California:

New World Library. ISBN 1-57731-202-3.

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