LXX and of Hebrews and James should be 'PaxijS in Mattliew appears at tirst improbable. But the latter has the support of Josejihus, who always speaks of Rahab as t; Paxd/S?;. A second objection w ould be more serious if it rested on the mention of Rahab alone, but it is a chronological dilhculty not ati'ected by the question oi her identity, and may therefore be dismissed here. There is no improbability in tlie marriage of Rahab to Salmon son of Nahshon (Nu 7", 1 Ch S") (see Alford on Mt 1'). The diliiculty arises from the names Boaz, Obed, Jesse being made to bridge the interval between Rahab and David.
LiTEKATiJRE.— In addition to authorities already cited, see Bengel, Liglitfoot, and Olsliauscn on Mt l' ; Mill, Descent ana Parnita'je of the Saeiour; Patrick, Grotius, Ilitzig, Keil, DiUmann, and Steueroagel on Jos 2 and 6 ; Schleusner, Lex, NT, t.v. rifw. A. S. AGLEN.
RAHAB (nn-i). — A mythological and symbolical term meaning ' the raging monster,' ' the impetuous one,' which occurs 6 times in OT (RV).
As a verb, 3m is found twice in Qal : Pr 63 ' importune thy friend' (.W 'make sure' [Toy remarks that 'importune is hardly strong enough ; beset, btxiege, assaii better express the inipetuusitv involved in the lleb. tenn '] ; LXX irttpoluvi -rbr (•:ut <r»u);' la S^ 'the child shall behave himself proudly" (Chevne, PB, 'the boy shall be insolent'; LXX Tpo(rxc^u vi T«.i.s>) ; and twice in Hiphil : Ca G^ ' tliine eyes have over- come me' (RVm 'make rae afraid' [so Budde, set^rn mlck in Sclirecken] ; AVm 'have puffed me up' ; Duhm, rerjcn mich auf [so Siegfried-Stade. errrgrn (fii'^chleehtlicfi)] ; LXX etviTr^.piufftcr fa ; but it is very doubtful whether these last three renderings are possible ; probably ' contuse ' or ' perturb' [Syr. vOOlJ |l is the meaning, see Driver, LOT^ 440 n.); Pa 1383 'Thou didst encourage me '(Driver, Par. P«<ii(cr, ' Thou niakest me proud ' ; LXX irc^viiiprru; /^i).— The noun 3.11 is used in Ps 9010 [only] 'their pride' (AV, following Kimchi, interprets the root here falsely in the sense of ' strength ' [so in Is 307 and Ps 13S"J ; L.XX T« wXtTov «iT4J» [by confusion with D3il), and the adjective 3.11 (in plur.) in Ps iOW (only) 'the proud' (LXX
fjUtTXliTYlTCti),
1, The first occurrence of arri we shall examine is Job 9" 3ni 'itv snqv' vrnn iSN 3'e';-N^> ii'j.s' ; LXX B aurbi yap dTr^crrpajrrat 6pyr]f, vtt* ain-ou ^Kdfx<p67}aav KTiT-q ri iiT oipaviv ; KV 'God will not withdraw his anger, the helpers of Rahab [m. 'or arroganctj, see Is 30' '] do [m. ' or did '] stoop under him ' ; AV '(If) God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers [m. ' Heb. helpers of pride or strength '] do stoop under him.' The meaning distinctly appears to be, ' God withdraws not his anger (till it has accomplished its purpose) ; even the helpers of R.ahab bowed [note the perf. <nn-^', referring to some definite occasion] under him ; how much less can I (Job) stand before him.' What now is the allu.sion ? There can be little doubt that it is to the mytliical conflict in which the Creator was said to have vanquished the supjiosed primeval dragon of the deep. This myth is most familiar to us in the Babylonian Creation-epos, where there is a very detailed account of the victory of Marduk over Tianiat (cf. t!-h6m, Gn 1") and her eleven ' helpers' (.see art. BABYLONIA in vol. i. p. 220'' f. ; Sayce, HCM 63 ff. ; Ball, Light from tJie East, 2ff.).
From the use of Rahab for the raging sea monster (who appears, in certain forms of the myth current amongst the Jews, to have been thought of not as finally destroyed, but as imprisoned in the sea, and destined to be slain at last by Jahweh's sword, Is 27' ; cf. the Egyptian myth of the defeat of the serpent Apopi) the transition is easy to the appli- cation of the term to the sea itself. So in 2. Job 2(j''^, where, however, the same mythological allusion underlies the two parallel clauses, ' He quelleth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through Rahab'(3ni fr: '\T\y.2nyt c;n i':i 'ini?; LXX B t'lTxiJ' KaTiTtavaev t7]v BiXaaaav, ^iri<m)^p Si larpuTcii Tb K^ros) ; RV 'He stirreth up [m. 'oi stilleth '] the sea with his power, and by his under- standing he smiteth through Rahab' ; AV(wrongly)
RAHAM
KAIN
195
' He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he sniitetli througli the proud ' [m. 'H>ih. pride']. Cf. I's 74'--'». 3. Very similar is Is 61' I';? ri;;"'!? 3rn nzsr'^r. K'.i-nN niSn ; LXX B oi/ <ri> ef ij ^prjfjLoOaa $d\affffav, vSwp d^uaaov vXijOos ; RV * art thou (sc. the arm of the LORD) not it that cut Kahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon ? ' ; AV ' art thou not it that liath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?' The reference here appears to be to the destruction of the Egyptians, under the figure of a monster (see Sea JfoXSTEU), at the Red Sea (cf. v.'" 'art thou not it which dried up the sea, the waters of the ^eat deep; that made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over ? '). 4. One otlier parallel to this is Ps 89'" '" r"?" •■>•"!< zrn 7^nr ; LXA. <ri> ^aTreffwffas us Tpav/xarlav VTrtpTJ- iparov; AVand UV 'Thou hast broken Rahab [m. 'or Egypt '] in pieces, as one that is slain.' The mean- ing of this clause is interpreted by what follows, ' Thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strengtli,' and this again by the preceding verse, 'Thou rulest the pride of the sea; when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.' There may be a veiled allusion to Egypt here, as in Is 51', but such a conclusion is not necessary.