Do you want to stay informed about this journal? Click the buttons to subscribe to our alerts.
Abstract
This paper reexamines the problem of the origins of a popular medieval and modern image of the devil as an anthropomorphic creature with hooves and horns and seeks to reconstruct the analogous ancient image of a satyr-like devil as it could be witnessed in diverse sources, including Hellenistic mythology, rabbinic legends, and early Christian texts. It seems that, not belonging completely to any of these worlds, this therianthropic motif emerges from a complicated literary history wherein Greco-Roman Pan, Jewish seirim, and other mythological figures graft themselves and their imagery around the forces of the demonic. The main argument of the paper as a whole centers around the place of 3 Baruch in this complicated history. This composition may contain the only physical description and detailed treatment of demonic seirim-satyrs in early Jewish literature and the earliest notion of satyr-like demons available to us.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Ameisenowa Zofia “Das messianische Gastmahl der Gerechten in einer hebräischen Bibel aus dem 13. Jahrhundert. Ein Beitrag zur eschatologischen Ikonographie bei den Juden.” Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums 1935 79 409 422
-
Ameisenowa Zofia “Animal-Headed Gods, Evangelists, Saints and Righteous Men.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 1949 12 21 45
-
Andersen Francis I. Charlesworth James H. “2 Enoch.” The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 1983–1985 Vol. 1 New York Doubleday 91 221
-
Anz Wilhelm Zur Frage nach dem Ursprung des Gnostizismus 1897 Leipzig August Pries
-
Bauckham Richard “Early Jewish Visions of Hell.” Journal of Theological Studies 1990 41 355 385
-
Berlin Andrea M. “The Archaeology of Ritual: The Sanctuary of Pan at Banias/Caesarea Philippi.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 1999 315 27 45
-
Black Matthew The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch: A New English Edition with Commentary and Textual Notes 1985 Leiden E.J. Brill
-
Bohak Gideon Ancient Jewish Magic: A History 2008 Cambridge Cambridge University Press
-
Brown Dennis Vir trilinguis: A Study in the Biblical Exegesis of Saint Jerome 1992 Kampen Kok Pharos
-
Bullard Roger Aubrey The Hypostasis of the Archons: The Coptic Text with Translation and Commentary 1970 Berlin Walter de Gruyter
-
Burgess Joseph A. A History of the Exegesis of Matthew 16.17–19 from 1781 to 1965 1976 Ann Arbor Edwards Brothers Inc
-
Collins Adela Yarbro Cosmology and Eschatology in Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism 1996 Leiden E.J. Brill
-
Corrigan Kathleen Ovadiah Asher “The ‘Jewish Satyr’ in the 9th Century Byzantine Psalters.” Hellenic and Jewish Arts: Interaction, Tradition and Renewal 1998 Tel Aviv Tel Aviv University 351 368
-
Davidson H.R. Ellis Scandinavian Mythology 1982 London Hamlyn
-
Davidson H.R. Ellis The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe 1993 London Routledge
-
Dean-Otting Mary Heavenly Journeys: A Study of the Motif in Hellenistic Jewish Literature 1984 Frankfurt Peter Lang
-
Frazer James George The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion 1922 Abridged Edition London Macmillan and Co
-
Gilhus Ingvild Sælid Animals, Gods and Humans: Changing Attitudes to Animals in Greek, Roman and Early Christian Ideas 2006 London Routledge
-
Ginzberg Louis The Legends of the Jews 1909–1938 Philadelphia Jewish Publication Society of America 7 vols
-
Halperin David J. The Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel’s Vision 1988 Tübingen Mohr-Siebeck
-
Harlow Daniel C. The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) in Hellenistic Judaism and Early Christianity 1996 Leiden E.J. Brill
-
Henze Matthias The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar: The Ancient Near Eastern Origins and Early History of Interpretation of Daniel 4 1999 Leiden Brill
-
Himmelfarb Martha Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses 1993 New York Oxford University Press
-
Huggins Ronald V. “Noah and the Giants: A Response to John C. Reeves.” Journal of Biblical Literature 1995 114 103 110
-
Immisch Johann Heinrich Otto “Matthäus 16.18.” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 1916 17 18 26
-
James Montague Rhodes Apocrypha Anecdota: Second Series 1897 Cambridge Cambridge University Press
-
Kamesar Adam Jerome, Greek Scholarship, and the Hebrew Bible: A Study of the Quaestiones Hebraicae in Genesim 1993 Oxford Clarendon Press
-
Keel Othmar The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms 1977 New York Seabury Press
-
Kinzig Richard Kalmin Wolfram & Schwartz Seth “Jewish and ‘Judaizing’ Eschatologies in Jerome.” Jewish Culture and Society under the Christian Roman Empire 2003 Leuven Peeters 409 429
-
Kirk Geoffrey Stephen The Nature of Greek Myths 1974 New York Penguin Books
-
Kulik Alexander 3 Baruch: Greek-Slavonic Apocalypse of Baruch 2010 Berlin Walter de Gruyter
-
Lang Andrew Custom and Myth 1968 New York AMS Press
-
Lash Christopher J.A. “Where Do Devils Live? A Problem in the Textual Criticism of Ephesians 6, 12.” Vigiliae Christianae 1976 30 161 174
-
Lévi-Strauss Claude Needham R. Totemism 1963 Boston Beacon Press
-
Lawson John Cuthbert Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion: A Study in Survivals 1910 Cambridge Cambridge University Press
-
Link Luther The Devil: The Archfiend in Art from the Sixth to the Sixteenth Century 1996 New York Harry N. Abrams
-
Mango Cyril “Diabolus Byzantinus.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 1992 46 215 223
-
Merivale Patricia Pan, the Goat-God: His Myth in Modern Times 1969 Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press
-
Midgley Mary Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature 1995 2nd rev. ed. London Routledge
-
Miller Patricia Cox “Jerome’s Centaur: A Hyper-Icon of the Desert.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 1996 4 209 233
-
Mobley Gregory “The Wild Man in the Bible and the Ancient Near East.” Journal of Biblical Literature 1997 116 217 233
-
Nickelsburg George W.E. Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishna: A Historical and Literary Introduction 1981 Philadelphia Fortress Press
-
Orlov Andrei A “The Flooded Arboretums: The Garden Traditions in the Slavonic Version of 3 Baruch and in the Book of Giants.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 2003 65 184 201
-
Ovadiah Asher and Sonia Mucznik “Orpheus from Jerusalem — Pagan or Christian Image?” Jerusalem Cathedra 1981 1 152 166
-
Picard Jean-Claude “Observations sur l’Apocalypse grecque de Baruch I: cadre historique fictif et efficacité symbolique,” Semitica 1970 20 77 103
-
Picard Jean-Claude “ ‘Je te montrerai d’autres mystères, plus grands que ceux-ci . . .’ Notes sur 3 Bar et quelques écrits apparentés.” Histoire et anthropologie des communautés juives et chrétiennes dans les sociétés anciennes 1991 Paris Centre d’analyse pour l’histoire du judaïsme hellénistique et des origines chrétiennes 17 40 École Pratique des Hautes Études, section des Sciences Religieuses
-
Reeves John C. “Utnapishtim in the Book of Giants?” Journal of Biblical Literature 1993 112 110 115
-
Rice Michael The Power of the Bull 1998 New York Routledge
-
Robinson James M. The Nag Hammadi Library 1990 San Francisco HarperCollins
-
Rupp Wayne L. Jr. Shape of the Beast: The Theriomorphic and Therianthropic Deities and Demons of Ancient Italy 2007 Ph.D. dissertation, The Florida State University
-
Schäfer Peter Geniza-Fragmente zur Hekhalot-Literatur 1984 Tübingen Mohr Siebeck 2 vols.
-
Scott Alan Origen and the Life of the Stars: A History of an Idea 1994 Oxford Clarendon Press
-
Smith Morton Studies in the Cult of Yahweh: New Testament, Early Christianity, and Magic 1996 Leiden E.J. Brill 2 vols.
-
Snaith Norman Henry “The Meaning of Se’irim.” Vetus Testamentum 1975 25 115 118
-
Schlossberg Eliezer “Did Nebuchadnezzar Become a Beast? (Dan 4:30) A Study in Medieval Exegesis,” Beit Mikra 1993 38 343 353
-
Stuckenbruck Loren T. “The ‘Angels’ and ‘Giants’ of Genesis 6:1–4 in Second and Third Century BCE Jewish Interpretation: Reflections on the Posture of Early Apocalyptic Traditions.” Dead Sea Discoveries 2000 7 354 377
-
Toepel Alexander “Planetary Demons in Early Jewish Literature.” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 2005 14 231 238
-
Uehlinger Christoph Weltreich und “eine Rede”. Eine neue Deutung der sogenannten Turmbauerzählung (Gen 11, 1–9) 1990 Freiburg, Schweiz Universitätsverlag
-
Vassiliev Athanasius Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina: Pars Prior 1893 Mosquae Universitatis Caesareae
-
Weingarten Susan The Saint’s Saints: Hagiography and Geography in Jerome 2005 Leiden Brill
-
Wertheimer Shlomo Aharon & Joseph Wertheimer Abraham Batei Midrashot: Twenty Five Midrashim Published for the First time from Manuscripts Discovered in the Genizoth of Jerusalem and Egypt, with Introductions and Annotations 1989 Jerusalem Ktav Yad Wasepher 2 vols.
-
Wilson John Francis Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan 2004 London I.B. Tauris
-
Wright Archie T. The Origin of the Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6.1–4 in Early Jewish Literature 2005 Tübingen Mohr Siebeck
-
25)
Picard 1991:14, 33–39; idem 1970:79.
-
27)
See Nickelsburg 1981:302–303 based on the contamination of Gen 11 and Dan 3 in Bib. Ant. 6. Cf. also Nebuchadnezzar, who in a similar manner was punished with lycanthropy (Dan 4:33).
-
34)
The translation is based on Robinson 1990.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 10168 | 2185 | 208 |
| Full Text Views | 386 | 49 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 254 | 128 | 8 |
Abstract
This paper reexamines the problem of the origins of a popular medieval and modern image of the devil as an anthropomorphic creature with hooves and horns and seeks to reconstruct the analogous ancient image of a satyr-like devil as it could be witnessed in diverse sources, including Hellenistic mythology, rabbinic legends, and early Christian texts. It seems that, not belonging completely to any of these worlds, this therianthropic motif emerges from a complicated literary history wherein Greco-Roman Pan, Jewish seirim, and other mythological figures graft themselves and their imagery around the forces of the demonic. The main argument of the paper as a whole centers around the place of 3 Baruch in this complicated history. This composition may contain the only physical description and detailed treatment of demonic seirim-satyrs in early Jewish literature and the earliest notion of satyr-like demons available to us.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 10168 | 2185 | 208 |
| Full Text Views | 386 | 49 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 254 | 128 | 8 |