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by SHAUL BAR In the ancient world from the mid-third millennium up until the end of the first century BCE, Resheph was a well-known deity. The worship of Resheph is found in Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic and Egyptian texts. In these texts Resheph is described in various ways, such as the god or gatekeeper of the underworld, god

RESHEPH IN THE HEBREW BIBLE by SHAUL BAR In the ancient world from the mid-third millennium up until the end of the first century BCE, Resheph was a well-known deity. The worship of Resheph is found in Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic and Egyptian texts. In these texts Resheph is described in various ways, such as the god or gatekeeper of the underworld, god of pestilence, god of war and god of healing. In the Hebrew Bible Resheph is mentioned 7 times. Here we will examine the nature of Resheph in the Hebrew Bible. We will demonstrate that Resheph has several meanings; among them “pestilence,” “arrow,” and “fire.” Each occurrence has the connotation of some type of destructive force. This destructive force brings death which is under the control of God. RESHEPH AS A DEITY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD The god Resheph is mentioned in documents and appears as a theophoric element in personal names from the mid-third millennium until the end of the first century BCE. The deity is first mentioned in Syria among the documents of Ebla. Here Resheph is given a quarter of the city and a gate is named after him. In the second millennium BCE the worship of Resheph was exported from Syria to Palestine and then to Egypt. In Ugaritic texts Resheph is the god or gatekeeper of the underworld, as well as the god of war and pestilence, which he spreads with his bow and arrow. He is mentioned twice in the epic of Keret. When the death of the king’s family is described, it is written that mhmst yitsp rsp – “one fifth Resheph gathered unto himself”– which is understood as a reference to plague or pestilence.1 Here Resheph functions like Nergal, the Babylonian god of the underworld, who was a master of plagues. Later, Resheph is mentioned as one of the divine guests at the party which Keret hosts for the gods.2 In mythology he is described as the god of pestilence, who kills men and beasts by shooting his fiery arrows at them. This is evidently the source of the Ugaritic expression “Resheph, the lord of arrow.”3 A similar epithet can be found in a Phoenician inscription from Kition in Cyprus, which reads, rsp hs, “Resheph of the arrow.”4 In another Phoenician inscription from Cyprus, dated 363 BCE, Resheph is likened to Apollo, who was known for his plague-bearing shafts.5 Some believe, however, that the association between Resheph and Apollo indicates that the former was a sun god in charge of justice.6 Resheph was an important deity in the Aramaic pantheon of the eighth century BCE. As indicated in the Panammu I inscription, the divine names Hadad and El are followed by Resheph.7 A Phoenician inscription from Karatepe mentions Baal and Resheph, which is evidence of the cult of Resheph.8 Here, Resheph occurs together with epithets such as Rsp Sprm, which may mean “(Resheph) of the he-goats” or “(Resheph) of the birds” or perhaps “stag.”9 Albright believed that Nergal’s totem was a predatory bird; in fact, Nergal was represented by a lion-headed staff. He alleged a link between Resheph and birds from the phrase Rsp Sprm, but it is not clear whether the latter word means “birds” or “goats.”10 Vattioni conjectured that Sprm is in fact the location of a temple of Resheph.11 Note, however, that according to a fifth-century BCE inscription from Sidon of King Bodashtart a large district of the city was called the “land of the Reshephs.”12 In Egypt, until the end of the Middle Kingdom, Resheph is found only in foreign personal names. It was Amenophis II who adopted Resheph as a deity. Beginning with the Eighteenth Dynasty he was known as a god of war; Pharaoh, as a warrior, was compared to him.13 Egyptian iconography portrays Resheph as a warrior wearing a short kilt with tassels and the crown of Upper Egypt on his head. We have no clue why Amenophis II selected a foreign deity as one of his patrons. After Amenophis II, there are few references to Resheph until the period of the Ramessids, when he became a popular deity. In the later period he is no longer the patron of Pharaoh but a deity of the common people. In magical texts, Resheph is a god of healing. Thus Resheph appears in two forms, as both a benevolent and generous deity and as a dangerous one. RESHEPH IN THE HEBREW BIBLE The Bible associates Resheph with calamity, notably with pestilence, arrows, and fire. We can learn about the nature of Resheph from Habakkuk’s description of the Lord: Pestilence (dever) marches before Him, and plague (resheph) comes forth at His heels (Hab. 3:5). This verse has two stichoi, with three words in each.14 Dever and Resheph are forces that serve the Lord and accompany Him when He is manifested as a warrior. Their function is to assault His enemies. One might say that Dever and Resheph are like the Lord’s horses and chariots or bow and arrows. It is not clear whether they are considered to be two separate forces with similar functions. As we know, the Canaanites considered Resheph to be the god of pestilence, and sometimes he is identified with the Babylon...