Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.67
-
pISSN : 1229-0521 / eISSN : 2799-9890
- https://journal.kci.go.kr/ksots
KJCKorea
Journal Central
The Meaning and the Function of the Serpent (Exod 7:8-13) in the Plagues Narrative
- Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
- Abbr : KJOTS
- 2022, 28(2), pp.203-236
- DOI : 10.24333/jkots.2022.28.2.203
- Publisher : Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
- Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
- Received : March 31, 2022
- Accepted : May 19, 2022
1광신대학교
Accredited
ABSTRACT
This study aim to discuss the incident of the serpent in the plagues narrative of Exod 7:8-13. In this paper, I would like to argue that the incident of the serpent is included as one of the plagues as a starting point that leads up to the God’s judgment.
In order to prove my opinion, firstly, I analyze the Hebrew words that mean the serpent or the snake, and search their usages in cognate languages. Especially, by focusing on !yNIT; and vx'n" mentioned in Exod 7, I investigate that such words meaning a serpent could have a positive or negative meaning depending in the context. Secondly, by comparing the story of Eve and the serpent in Gen 3, which is a similar story with the incident of the serpent in Exod 7, I suggest a new interpretation for this incident. Finally, I explore the literary structure of the plagues narrative and the relationship between the plagues and the Egyptian gods. It reveals that the incident of the serpent is the starting point of the plagues narrative and at the same time, also one of the plagues in this narrative.
This study highlights not only the importance of the incident of the serpent (which is easy to miss), but helps us to understand the delicate literary structure of the plagues narrative the narrator designs. In addition, it makes us understand that YHWH is clearly showing the Egyptians as well as to the Israelites and also to the reader, that the Egyptian gods worshiped by the Egyptians are worthless through the plagues (with the incident of the serpent) in this narrative.
Statistics
-
174 Viewed
-
71 Downloaded
Tools
Issue List
Citation status
* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.
[journal]
장석정
/ 2011
/
The Warning of the Seventh Plague(Ex 9: 13-21) Reconsidered
/ 구약논단
/ 한국구약학회
17(2)
: 12~32
[book]
Bird, Phyllis A.
/ 1997
/ Missing Persons and Mistaken Identities : Women and Gender in An-cient Israel
/ Fortress
[book]
Brodie, Thomas L.
/ 2001
/ Genesis as Dialogue: A Literary, Historical, and Theological Com-mentary
/ Oxford University Press
[book]
Carmichael, Calum M.
/ 1996
/ Go to the Land I Will Show You: Studies in Honor of Dwight W. Young
/ Eisenbrauns
: 15~25
[journal]
Cartun, Ari Mark
/ 1991
/ ‘Who Knows Ten?’: The Structural and Symbolic Use of Num-bers in the Ten Plagues: Exodus 7:14-13:16
/ Union Seminary Quarterly Review
45
: 65~119
[book]
Cassuto, U.
/ 1967
/ A Commentary on the Book of Exodus
/ The Magnes Press
[book]
Cassuto, U.
/ 1971
/ The Goddess Anath : Canaanite Epics of the Patriarchal Age
/ The Magnes Press
[book]
Charlesworth, James H.
/ 2010
/ The Good and Evil Serpent : How a Universal Symbol Became Christianized
/ Yale University Press
[book]
Childs, Brevard S.
/ 1974
/ The Book of Exodus
/ Westminster John Knox Press
[book]
Choi, John H.
/ 2010
/ Traditions at Odds: The Reception of the Pentateuch in Biblical and Sec-ond Temple Period Literature (LHBOTS 518)
/ T&T Clark
[book]
Condren, Mary
/ 1989
/ The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland
/ Harper & Row
[journal]
Cox, Dorian Coover
/ 2006
/ The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart in Its Literary and Cultural Contexts
/ BS
163
: 292~311
[book]
Cross, Frank Moore
/ 1973
/ Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic : Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel
/ Harvard University Press
[journal]
Currid, John D.
/ 1995
/ The Egyptian Setting of the Serpent: Confrontation in Exodus 7,8-13
/ Biblische Zeitschrift
39
: 203~224
[thesis]
Davids, Le Grande
/ 1986
/ Serpent Imagery in Ancient Israel: The Relationship between the Literature and the Physical Remains
/ PhD
/ The University of Utah
[book]
Davis, John J.
/ 1971
/ Moses and the Gods of Egypt : Studies in the Book of Exodus
/ Baker
[book]
Day, John
/ 1985
/ God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea : Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament
/ Cambridge University Press
[journal]
David A. Diewert
/ 1987
/ Job 7:12: Yam, Tannin and the Surveillance of Job
/ JBL
106
: 203~215
[book]
Dolansky, Shawna
/ 2007
/ Milk and Honey: Essays on Ancient Israel and the Bible in Appreciation of the Judaic Studies Program at the University of California, San Diego
/ Eisenbrauns
: 3~21
[book]
Dozeman, Thomas B.
/ 2009
/ Exodus (ECC)
/ Eerdmans
[book]
Enns, Peter
/ 2000
/ Exodus (NIV Application Commentary)
/ Zondervan
[book]
Enz, Jacob J.
/ 1980
/ The New Way of Jesus: Essays Presented to Howard Charles
/ Faith and Life Press
: 29~38
[book]
Epp, Theodore H.
/ 1975
/ Moses : Vol. II. God Strengthens His Man
/ Back to the Bible Broadcast
[journal]
Exum, J
/ 1983
/ ‘You Shall Let Every Daughter Live’: A Study of Exodus 1:8-2:10
/ Semeia
28
: 63~82
[journal]
Fabry, Heinz-Josef
/ vx'n"
/ TDOT
9
: 356~369
[book]
Fohrer, Georg
/ 1964
/ Überlieferung und Feschichte des Exodus: Eine Analyse von Ex 1-15(BZAW 91)
/ Walter de Gruyter
[book]
Ford, William A.
/ 2006
/ God, Pharaoh and Moses: Explaining the Lord’s Actions in the Exo-dus Plagues Narrative
/ Paternoster
[book]
Fretheim, Terence E.
/ 1991
/ Exodus
/ John Knox
[book]
Fretheim, Terence E.
/ 2005
/ God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation
/ Abingdon Press
[journal]
Galpaz-Feller, Pnina
/ 2002
/ The Hidden and Revealed in the Sign of the Serpent (Exodus 4:2-5; 7:8-14)
/ Biblische Notizen
114/115
: 24~30
[book]
Goodin, David K.
/ 2008
/ Creation’s Diversity: Voices from Theology and Science
/ T&T Clark
: 43~57
[journal]
Grossman, Jonathan
/ 2014
/ The Structural Paradigm of the Ten Plagues Narrative and the Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart
/ VT
64
: 588~610
[journal]
Guillaume, Philippe
/ 2004
/ Metamorphosis of a Ferocious Pharaoh
/ Bib
85
: 232~236
[book]
Hamilton, Victor P.
/ 2011
/ Exodus : An Exegetical Commentary
/ Baker Academic
[book]
Hamilton, Victor P.
/ 2005
/ Handbook on the Pentateuch
/ Baker
[book]
Hendel, Ronald
/ 2008
/ Sacred History Scared Literature: Essay on Ancient Israel, the Bible, and Religion in Honor of R. E. Friedman on His Sixtieth Birthday
/ Eisenbrauns
: 93~109
[book]
Hoffmeier, James K.
/ 1996
/ Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition
/ Oxford University Press
[book]
Houtman, Cornelis
/ 1993
/ Exodus 1
/ Kok Publishing House
[book]
Janzen, Waldemar
/ 2009
/ The Old Testament in the Life of God’s People: Essays in Honor of Elmer A. Martens
/ Eisenbrauns
: 159~172
[book]
Joins, Karen Randolph
/ 1974
/ Serpent Symbolism in the Old Testament: A Linguistic, Archae-ological, and Literary Study
/ Haddonfield House
[book]
Kitchen, K. A.
/ 1996
/ New Bible Dictionary
/ Intervarsity Press
: 713~717
[journal]
Lee, Archie C. C.
/ 1990
/ The Context and Function of the Plagues Tradition in Psalm 78
/ JSOTS
48
: 83~89
[journal]
Lesko, Barbara S.
/ 1991
/ Women’s Monumental Mark on Ancient Egypt
/ Biblical Archae-ologist
54
: 4~15
[book]
Lurker, Manfred
/ 1980
/ The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt: An Illustrated Dictionary
/ Thames and Hudson
[book]
Marrs, Rick R.
/ 1989
/ Johannine Studies:Essays in Honor of Frank Pack
/ Pepperdine University Press
: 132~147
[journal]
McCarthy, Dennis
/ 1965
/ Moses’ Dealings with Pharaoh: Ex 7,8-10,27
/ CBQ
27
: 336~347
[book]
McGlynn, Moyna
/ 2001
/ Divine Judgement and Divine Benevolence in the Book of Wisdom
/ Mohr Siebeck
[book]
Meyer, Lester
/ 1983
/ The Message of Exodus : A Theological Commentary
/ Augs-burg
[book]
Meyers, Carol
/ 2005
/ Exodus
/ Cambridge Univer-sity Press
[journal]
Noegel, Scott B.
/ 1996
/ Moses and Magic: Notes on the Book of Exodus
/ The Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society
24
: 45~59
[book]
Pennell, George E.
/ 1966
/ Jehovah, Not the Serpent, Thy God: A Study of the J Document
/ Big Mountain Press
[book]
Propp, William H. C.
/ 1999
/ Exodus 1-18 (AB 2)
/ Doubleday
[book]
Sarna, Nahum
/ 1991
/ The JPS Torah Commentary : Exodus
/ Jewish Publication Soci-ety
[book]
Silverman, David P.
/ 1991
/ Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice
/ Cornell University Press
: 7~87
[journal]
Smith, Duane E.
/ 2015
/ The Divining Snake: Reading Genesis 3 in the Context of Meso-potamian Ophiomancy
/ JBL
134
: 31~49
[book]
Smith, Mark S.
/ 1997
/ The Pilgrimage Pattern in Exodus (JSOTSup 239)
/ Sheffield Aca-demic Press
[journal]
Stackert, Jeffrey
/ 2011
/ Why Does the Plague of Darkness Last for Three Days?: Source Ascription and Literary Motif in Exodus 10:21-23, 27
/ VT
61
: 657~676
[book]
Traunecker, Claude
/ 2001
/ The Gods of Egypt
/ Cornell University Press
[journal]
Van Seters, John
/ 1986
/ The Plagues of Egypt: Ancient Tradition or Literary Invention?
/ ZAW
98
: 31~39
[book]
Wallace, Howard N.
/ 1985
/ The Eden Narrative (HSM 32)
/ Scholars Press
[book]
Walton, John H.
/ 1978
/ Chronological Charts of the Old Testament
/ Zondervan
[book]
Wilson, Leslie S.
/ 2001
/ The Serpent Symbol in the Ancient Near East: Nahash and Asherah:Death, Life, and Healing
/ University Press of America
[book]
Wright, Archie T.
/ 2005
/ The Origin of Evil Spirits (WUNT 2. Reihe 198)
/ Mohr Siebeck
[book]
York, Anthony
/ 1996
/ Go to the Land I Will Show You: Studies in Honor of Dwight W. Young
/ Eisenbrauns
: 393~410