“... it is relevant to note that Resheph in North- west Semitic mythology was a god of pesti- lence and, contrary to Mot, was thought to have children (to judge from Job 5:7). A pantheon list from Ugarit identifies Resheph with -·Nergal, the Mesopotamian deity of pestilence and the underworld. Resheph is also associated with 'arrows' at Ugarit (KTU 1.82:3) and in Cyprus (KAI 32:3-4) which some take to refer to his role in bringing plagues (although S. IVRY con- strued the arrows as a sign of luck because of the practice of belomancy: cf. \V. J. FULCO, The Canaanite God ReJep [New Haven 1976]49-51; J. C. DE MOOR, UF 16 (1984) 239). Resheph's connection with plagues and pestilence is also found in Hab 3:5 (cf. Dcut 32:24) where he forms pan of Yahweh's chthonian entourage along with -Dcber ('Pestilence'). ~Itost noteworthy for the present discussion is the reference to 'the sons of Resheph' in Job 5:7. Historians of Israelite religion use Job 5:7 (and similar- ly the hekor miiwet material [see below)) to fonn one of two conclusions. They argue that the expression 'the sons of Resheph' refers either to (a) the children of Resheph (= minor deities) who, like their father, bring disease or (b) a transfonned biblical idiom (emasculating Canaanite myth) for various forms of illness. But these are not mutually exclusive positions. A vivid mythology can still underlie figurative lan- guage. ...”