Texts in Conversation
Genesis 9 and the opening of the Iliad both describe deities with bows, reflecting a common tradition in ancient Near Eastern and Greek tradition where storm deities use them. In Genesis, God hangs his bow in the sky to signal the end of the violent flood, while Apollo shoots his from the clouds.
Share:
Iliad Book 1
Classical
Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. He came down furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow rolled with thunder as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. First he smote their mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were burning.
Date: 940 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Genesis 9:13
Hebrew Bible
11 I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: 13 I will place my bow35 in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the bow35 appears in the clouds, 15 then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Search:
Notes and References
"... The Babylonian chief god, Marduk, appears to fashion his own arms—a bow, arrow, club, net, lightning, and winds—with which he rides to meet the monstrous Tiamat in his storm chariot, drawn by a team of four creatures. The tendency in many of the traditions was for a figure originally associated with rain to evolve into a storm god, then into an armed storm god, and finally into a war god. Yahweh is an armed storm god/warrior (hanging up his bow after he destroys the world with a flood in Genesis 9:13), as is the Greek Apollo, who showers the Greeks with his arrows of plague: “Apart from the ships / he halted and let fly, and the bowstring slammed / as the silver bow sprang, rolling in thunder away” (Homer, Iliad) ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.