Chaos Uncreated

Book excerpt: This monograph presents a challenge to the view that the Hebrew Bible contains allusions to Yahweh’s battle with chaos, showing how the term has been inappropriately applied in a range of contexts where far more diverse spheres of imagery should instead be recognised. Through the construction of a careful diachronic model (developed with particular reference to the Psalter), the author presents a persuasive case for reversing common assumptions about the development of Israelite religion, finding instead that the combat motif was absent in the earliest period, whilst the slaying of a dragon was attributed to Yahweh only in a distinctive monotheistic adaptation, which arose from around 587 B.C.