Abstract
This article suggests that Genesis 1 and Psalms 8, 18 and 89 reflect a mythological tradition which described the creation of the human king as Yhwh’s counterpart in the divine battle against chaos. The residual royal features of the narrative of the creation of אדם in Genesis 1—the creation of the אדם in the image of god, to exercise dominion—appear in a context of a polemical revision of Yhwh’s Chaoskampf and are suggestive of the older tradition’s inclusion of the king’s commissioning as Yhwh’s representative and earthly counterpart in these activities. Psalm 8 similarly associates the creation of a royal figure with the exertion of authority and dominion over chaos, using the same image of god language as Genesis 1 to describe this figure and to articulate his special relationship with Yhwh. Psalm 18 and especially Psalm 89 affirm the location of the king’s Chaoskampf commission in the midst of Yhwh’s own Chaoskampf activities, with the latter’s use of parental language echoing the image of god language in Genesis 1.
Highlights
It is well known that the Hebrew Bible presents the relationship between YHWH and the Davidic king as intimate.[1]
Psalm 8 associates the creation of a royal figure with the exertion of authority and dominion over chaos, using the same image of god language as Genesis 1 to describe this figure and to articulate his special relationship with YHWH
Kraus has made a significant point out of the fact that the language applied to אדםis applied to YHWH (Pss. 29:1; 104:1), in doing so he deliberately attempts to lessen its royal aspect and to draw a strong distinction between the rule of אדםand the rule of a king: “The king has peoples and enemies of the historical area subjected to him (Ps. 110:1); man has animals subordinated to him (Gen. 1:28ff.).”[40]. This kind of adaptation of royal language of dominion has already been noted with reference to Genesis 1; here too it seems likely to have originated in ideas about the breadth of the human king’s responsibilities, adapted in the present context to refer to the אדםin royal terms.[41]
Summary
It is well known that the Hebrew Bible presents the relationship between YHWH and the Davidic king as intimate.[1] The Davidic king was viewed as the representative of YHWH on earth as well as a principal mediator of YHWH’s relationship with the people. Texts such as Psalm 72 speak of the king as the instrument of YHWH’s justice, while passages like 2 Kings 8 cast him in the central intercessory role between YHWH and the people. Read together and in light of other biblical and ancient Near Eastern texts, this material contains echoes of an otherwiseobscured tradition describing the creation of the human king, in the divine image, as YHWH’s counterpart in his battle against chaos
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