| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1180.1 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Ps. 85.10 | Mon Nov 13 1995 16:35 | 8 |
| Well, are these creatures factual or mythical? Were dragons around at
one time, but are now extinct? Are dragons actually other creatures
which have been misidentified?
Or are dragons the stuff of poetry, imagery and symbolism?
Richard
|
| 1180.2 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Mon Nov 13 1995 16:45 | 10 |
|
I could be mistaken, but I don't believe that the "dragon" as mentioned
in the Bible are those creatures we may visualize as being flame throwing
reptiles.
Jim
|
| 1180.3 | Dragons are not yet extinct | COVERT::COVERT | John R. Covert | Mon Nov 13 1995 17:35 | 5 |
| Anyone ever seen a Komodo dragon?
Very large lizard which exists today.
/john
|
| 1180.4 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Ps. 85.10 | Mon Nov 13 1995 18:32 | 8 |
| .3
So, the dragons spoken of in the Bible are in fact Komodo dragons?
I sense that's not what you're saying.
Richard
|
| 1180.5 | | COVERT::COVERT | John R. Covert | Mon Nov 13 1995 21:42 | 3 |
| Actually, the Greek word "drakon" was originally used for any large serpent.
/john
|
| 1180.6 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Mon Nov 13 1995 22:13 | 9 |
|
Precisely..
Jim
|
| 1180.7 | | POWDML::FLANAGAN | let your light shine | Tue Nov 14 1995 09:10 | 9 |
| Actually it is common in Near Eastern mythology for the God to slay the
premordial monster usually a sea monster.
The old testament does not directly capture this theme in its creation
story but shadows of that battle between God and the sea monster are
glimpsed in the Psalms and elsewhere.
What is shows is the congrence between the most primitive forms of
Yahweh worship and other Near Eastern religions.
|
| 1180.8 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Ps. 85.10 | Tue Nov 14 1995 20:52 | 5 |
| Yes, curiously, the Greek word "drakon" literally means "the seeing
one," according to my dictionary.
Richard
|
| 1180.9 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Tue Nov 14 1995 22:40 | 16 |
|
According to Strong's concordance, the word translated as dragon (strong's
#8577) used 6 times in the OT, is the Hebrew word tanniyn, or tanniym
pronounced tan-'neen is a marine or land *monster* (italics strong's)
or dragon, sea-monster, serpent whale.
In the NT, strongs 1404, drakon (drak' own) used 13 times and is an
alternate form of derkomai (to look); a fabulous kind of serpent.
Jim
|
| 1180.10 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Ps. 85.10 | Wed Nov 15 1995 14:04 | 14 |
| .9
Well, that fits with my understanding of what a dragon is supposed to
be. Thanks for the research, Jim.
As I read the Hebrew Bible, identifying a creature as a dragon usually
indicated that the beast was more extraordinary than simply a large
serpent. As you can see in .0, the word dragon appears more than 6
times in the OT. In some of them, especially the expressions having
to do with dragons and owls, I can see it merely meaning snakes.
Shalom,
Richard
|
| 1180.11 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Wed Nov 15 1995 17:17 | 12 |
|
I didn't look up the plural usages, only the singular, hence my total
is a bit less than what you posted.
Jim
|
| 1180.12 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Ps. 85.10 | Thu Nov 16 1995 13:59 | 7 |
| Notice .0 also contains references to "leviathan" and to a creature
apparently bearing the proper name "Rahab."
What are these?
Richard
|