Rahab (Hebrew: רַהַב‎, Modern: Rahav, Tiberian: Rahaḇ, "blusterer") is used in the Hebrew Bible to indicate pride or arrogance, a mystical sea monster, as an emblematic or poetic name for Egypt, and for the sea.

Biblical usage

As primeval seamonster

Rahab appears in Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 51:9-10, and

Job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...

26:12. Rahab, in these passages, takes the meaning of primeval, chaotic, multi-headed sea-dragon or Leviathan. The

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

ns told of a sky-god,

Marduk Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of ...

, and a sea-goddess, Tiamat, battling for supreme power over the other gods, in the

Enūma Eliš The ' (Akkadian Cuneiform: , also spelled "Enuma Elish") is the Babylonian creation myth (named after its opening words). It was recovered by English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard in 1849 (in fragmentary form) in the ruined Library of Ashur ...

. It has been speculated these two characters in the Babylonian myth are parallel to the creation stories found in the biblical passages containing the name Rahab.

As insolence or pride

In Isaiah 30:7, ''rahaḇ'' becomes a proverbial expression that gives an allusion to the Hebrew etymology ''insolence''. In the

Book of Job The Book of Job (; hbo, אִיּוֹב, ʾIyyōḇ), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), and is the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Scholars ar ...

, ''rahaḇ'' occurs in the Hebrew text and is translated in the King James Version as "proud".

Egypt

Rahab is a poetical name for Egypt. It might have Egyptian origins that were accommodated to the Hebrew language. However, there is nothing revealing in the

Coptic language Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: , ) is a language family of closely related dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third-century AD in Roman Egypt. Coptic ...

Jewish folklore

In medieval Jewish folklore, Rahab is a mythical sea monster, a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

of the waters, the "

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

ic angel of the sea". Rahab represents the primordial abyss, the water-dragon of darkness and chaos, comparable to Leviathan and Tiamat. Rahab later became a particular demon, inhabitant of the sea, especially associated with the Red Sea.

Modern culture

Rahab is the official Hebrew name for the planet

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

in a vote organised by the

Academy of the Hebrew Language The Academy of the Hebrew Language ( he, הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית, ''ha-akademyah la-lashon ha-ivrit'') was established by the Israeli government in 1953 as the "supreme institution for scholarship on t ...

in 2009."Uranus and Neptune get Hebrew names at last"
Haaretz.com"Hebrew names to Uranus and Neptune"
Hayadan.org.il Several

Israel Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

submarines also bear the name, including the fifth Dolphin class submarine slated to enter service in late 2015, the

INS Rahav ''Rahav'' has been borne by three ships of the Israeli Navy and may refer to: * , a S-class submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited un ...

. In the video game '' Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'', the boss character Rahab is a vampire who has evolved into a marine fish-like creature, possibly a reference to the mythic sea monster.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahab Demons in Judaism Dragons Jewish legendary creatures Mythological aquatic creatures Sea monsters Tiamat Leviathan