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91-585: In Jewish mythology , a dybbuk ( / ˈ d ɪ b ə k / ; Yiddish : דיבוק , from the Hebrew verb דָּבַק ‎ dāḇaq meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being exorcised . Dybbuk comes from the Hebrew word דִּיבּוּק ‎ dibūq , meaning 'a case of attachment', which

182-466: A creation-account spaced out over six periods, the legend of Abraham , the stories of Moses and the Israelites , and many more. The writings of the biblical prophets, including Isaiah , Ezekiel , and Jeremiah , express a concept of the divine that is distinct from the mythologies of its neighbors. Instead of seeing the god of Israel as just one national god , these writings describe Yahweh as

273-705: A demigod (such as Heracles or Enkidu ) enfolded into Jewish religious lore, or as an archetypical folk hero . According to the Book of Samuel , Saul and the Israelites are facing the Philistines in the Valley of Elah . Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelites to send out a champion of their own to decide the outcome in single combat , but Saul

364-478: A literal or logical sense. Today, however, they are seen as symbolic narratives which must be understood in terms of their own cultural context. Charles Long writes: "The beings referred to in the myth – gods, animals, plants – are forms of power grasped existentially. The myths should not be understood as attempts to work out a rational explanation of deity." While creation myths are not literal explications , they do serve to define an orientation of humanity in

455-406: A mezuzah —a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Torah verses—to the doorposts of a home. While the mezuzah primarily serves as a reminder of faith and adherence to God’s commandments, it is also viewed as a protective amulet against harmful spirits, including dybbuks. The *Zohar*, a foundational Kabbalistic text, suggests that a properly affixed mezuzah can prevent such entities from entering

546-459: A cave in the rock of Etam . An army of Philistines came to the Tribe of Judah and demanded that 3,000 men of Judah deliver them Samson. In order to avoid a war and with Samson's consent, they tied him with two new ropes and were about to hand him over to the Philistines when he broke free of the ropes. Using the jawbone of a donkey, he slew 1,000 Philistines. Samson falls in love with Delilah in

637-613: A common origin in the eastern Asiatic coastal region, spreading as peoples migrated west into Siberia and east to the North American continent. However, there are examples of this mytheme found well outside of this boreal distribution pattern, for example the West African Yoruba creation myth of Ọbatala and Oduduwa . Characteristic of many Native American myths, earth-diver creation stories begin as beings and potential forms linger asleep or suspended in

728-441: A creation crafted by a deity, creation from the work of two creators working together or against each other, creation from sacrifice and creation from division/conjugation, accretion/conjunction, or secretion. An alternative system based on six recurring narrative themes was designed by Raymond Van Over: The myth that God created the world out of nothing – ex nihilo – is central today to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and

819-467: A dim and nonspecific past that historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore ('at that time'). Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them, revealing their central worldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context. Creation myths develop in oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions; found throughout human culture , they are

910-503: A female sky deity falls from the heavens, and certain animals, the beaver , the otter , the duck , and the muskrat dive in the waters to fetch mud to construct an island. In a similar story from the Seneca , people lived in a sky realm. One day, the chief's daughter was afflicted with a mysterious illness, and the only cure recommended for her (revealed in a dream) was to lie beside a tree and to have it be dug up. The people do so, but

1001-482: A fragment of pagan mythology about gods interbreeding with humans to produce heroes. R. C. Zaehner, a professor of Eastern religions, argues for Zoroastrianism's direct influence on Jewish eschatological myths , especially the resurrection of the dead with rewards and punishments. The mythologist Joseph Campbell believed the Judeo-Christian-Islamic idea of linear history originated with

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1092-564: A hole opening to the underworld to stories about their subsequent migrations and eventual settlement in their current homelands. The earth-diver is a common character in various traditional creation myths. In these stories a supreme being usually sends an animal (most often a type of bird, but also crustaceans, insects, and fish in some narratives) into the primal waters to find bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land. Some scholars interpret these myths psychologically while others interpret them cosmogonically . In both cases emphasis

1183-520: A home. Additionally, Jewish folklore includes accounts where neglected or improperly maintained mezuzot were believed to make homes susceptible to dybbuk possession. These perspectives emphasize the mezuzah’s dual role in Jewish life: as both a symbol of faith and a spiritual safeguard. Jewish mythology Hebrew Judeo-Aramaic Judeo-Arabic Other Jewish diaspora languages Jewish folklore Jewish poetry Jewish mythology

1274-408: A man complains that the tree was their livelihood, and kicks the girl through the hole. She ends up falling from the sky to a world of only water, but is rescued by waterfowl . A turtle offers to bear her on its shell, but asked where would be a definitive dwelling place for her. They decide to create land, and the toad dives into the depths of the primal sea to get pieces of soil. The toad puts it on

1365-468: A man named Noah was righteous (because he walked with God) and blameless among the people. God instructs Noah to build an ark and directs him to bring at least two of every animal inside the boat, along with his family. The flood comes and covers the world. After 40 days, Noah sends a raven to check whether the waters have subsided, then a dove; after exiting the boat, Noah offers a sacrifice to God, who smells "the sweet savour" and promises never to destroy

1456-480: A scientist, a poet, or a shaman, can easily be misunderstood. Mythologists have applied various schemes to classify creation myths found throughout human cultures. Eliade and his colleague Charles Long developed a classification based on some common motifs that reappear in stories the world over. The classification identifies five basic types: Marta Weigle further developed and refined this typology to highlight nine themes, adding elements such as deus faber ,

1547-514: A servant to shave his hair. Samson loses his strength and he is captured by the Philistines who blind him by gouging out his eyes. They then take him to Gaza, imprison him, and put him to work turning a large millstone and grinding corn. One day, the Philistine leaders assemble in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon , for having delivered Samson into their hands. They summon Samson so that people can watch him perform for them. The temple

1638-505: A sexual union and serve as genealogical record of the deities born from it. In the second form of world parent myths, creation itself springs from dismembered parts of the body of the primeval being. Often, in these stories, the limbs, hair, blood, bones, or organs of the primeval being are somehow severed or sacrificed to transform into sky, earth, animal or plant life, and other worldly features. These myths tend to emphasize creative forces as animistic in nature rather than sexual, and depict

1729-448: A single starting point, we encounter an infinity of them, each of which poses the same problem. ... There are no entirely satisfactory solutions to this dilemma. What we have to find is not a solution but some way of dealing with the mystery .... And we have to do so using words. The words we reach for, from God to gravity , are inadequate to the task. So we have to use language poetically or symbolically; and such language, whether used by

1820-483: A staged ascent or metamorphosis from nascent forms through a series of subterranean worlds to arrive at their current place and form. Often the passage from one world or stage to the next is impelled by inner forces, a process of germination or gestation from earlier, embryonic forms. The genre is most commonly found in Native American cultures where the myths frequently link the final emergence of people from

1911-425: A stone from his sling and hits Goliath in the center of his forehead, Goliath falls on his face to the ground, and David cuts off his head. The Philistines flee and are pursued by the Israelites "as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron ". David puts the armor of Goliath in his own tent and takes the head to Jerusalem , and Saul sends Abner to bring the boy to him. The king asks whose son he is, and David answers, "I am

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2002-524: A tension between the idea of world-formation and the omnipotence of God, and by the beginning of the 3rd century creation ex nihilo had become a fundamental tenet of Christian theology. Ex nihilo creation is found in creation stories from ancient Egypt , the Rig Veda , and many animistic cultures in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and North America. In most of these stories, the world is brought into being by

2093-583: Is a new act of God: "The fall of Samaria actually did occur in history [...] It was therefore something irreversible and unrepeatable. The fall of Jerusalem does not repeat the fall of Samaria: the ruin of Jerusalem presents a new historic theophany." By portraying time as a linear progression of events, rather than an eternal repetition , Jewish mythology suggested the possibility for progress . Inherited by Christianity, this view of history has deeply influenced Western philosophy and culture. Even supposedly secular or political Western movements have worked within

2184-457: Is a nominal form derived from the verb דָּבַק ‎ dāḇaq 'to adhere' or 'cling'. The term first appears in a number of 16th-century writings, though it was ignored by mainstream scholarship until S. An-sky 's 1920 play The Dybbuk popularised the concept in literary circles. Earlier accounts of possession (such as that given by Josephus ) were of demonic possession rather than that of ghosts. These accounts advocated orthodoxy among

2275-472: Is afraid. David , bringing food for his elder brothers, hears that Goliath has defied the armies of God and of the reward from Saul to the one that defeats him, and accepts the challenge. Saul reluctantly agrees and offers his armor, which David declines, taking only his staff, sling ( Hebrew : קָלַע qāla‘ ) and five stones from a brook. David and Goliath confront each other, Goliath with his armor and javelin, David with his staff and sling. David hurls

2366-505: Is declared to be unlucky to do things twice, as eating, drinking, or washing, Rabbi Dunai recognized that this was an old tradition. A remarkable custom mentioned in the Talmud is that of planting trees when children are born and intertwining them to form the huppah when they marry. Yet this idea may be originally Iranian and is also found in India. It may be possible to distinguish in

2457-496: Is likened to the act of giving birth. The role of midwife is usually played by a female deity, like the spider woman of several mythologies of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Male characters rarely figure into these stories, and scholars often consider them in counterpoint to male-oriented creation myths, like those of the ex nihilo variety. Emergence myths commonly describe the creation of people and/or supernatural beings as

2548-634: Is not a unique event brought on by a divine choice; instead, it's one of the destructions and recreations of the universe that happen at regular intervals in Hindu mythology . This recurrence also happens in Mesopotamian floods or disasters, although is because of the discontent of the gods because of the noise made by humans, told in the Erra Epic . The Patriarchs in Hebrew bible are Abraham , his son Isaac , and Isaac's son Jacob , also named Israel ,

2639-483: Is placed on beginnings emanating from the depths. According to Gudmund Hatt and Tristram P. Coffin , Earth-diver myths are common in Native American folklore , among the following populations: Shoshone , Meskwaki , Blackfoot , Chipewyan , Newettee , Yokuts of California, Mandan , Hidatsa , Cheyenne , Arapaho , Ojibwe , Yuchi , and Cherokee . American anthropologist Gladys Reichard located

2730-409: Is seen when Samson was on his way to ask for the Philistine woman's hand in marriage, when he was attacked by a lion. He simply grabbed it and ripped it apart, as the spirit of God divinely empowered him. After the Philistines burned Samson's wife and father-in-law to death, Samson, in revenge, slaughtered many more Philistines, saying, "I have done to them what they did to me". Samson then took refuge in

2821-411: Is so crowded and all the rulers of the entire government of Philistia have gathered there too, some 3,000 people in all. Samson is led into the temple, and he asks his captors to let him lean against the supporting pillars to rest. He prays for strength and God gives him strength to break the pillars, causing the temple to collapse, killing him and the people inside. Academics have interpreted Samson as

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2912-483: Is the body of myths associated with Judaism . Elements of Jewish mythology have had a profound influence on Christian mythology and on Islamic mythology , as well as on Abrahamic culture in general. Christian mythology directly inherited many of the narratives from the Jewish people, sharing in common the narratives from the Old Testament . Islamic mythology also shares many of the same stories; for instance,

3003-471: Is the bringing of order from disorder, and in many of these cultures it is believed that at some point the forces preserving order and form will weaken and the world will once again be engulfed into the abyss. One example is the Genesis creation narrative from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis . There are two types of world parent myths, both describing a separation or splitting of a primeval entity,

3094-493: The Book of Ezekiel depicts Adam and Eve as walking around the Garden of Eden naked due to their innocence. The man was free to eat off of any tree in the garden, but forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil . Last of all, the L ORD God made a woman ( Eve ) from a rib of the man to be a companion to the man. However, the serpent tricks Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Following Eve, Adam broke

3185-622: The Chukchi and Yukaghir , the Tatars , and many Finno-Ugric traditions, as well as among the Buryat and the Samoyed. In addition, the earth-diver motif also exists in narratives from Eastern Europe, namely Romani , Romanian, Slavic (namely, Bulgarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), and Lithuanian mythological traditions. The pattern of distribution of these stories suggest they have

3276-621: The Land of Goshen in the time of Joseph and Jacob , but a new pharaoh arose who enslaved and oppressed the children of Israel. At this time Moses was born; the Pharaoh had commanded that all male Hebrew children born would be drowned in the river Nile, but Moses' mother placed him in an ark and concealed the ark in the bulrushes by the riverbank, where the baby was discovered and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, and raised as an Egyptian. One day after Moses had reached adulthood he killed an Egyptian who

3367-477: The Valley of Jezreel . But God informed Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many – with so many men, there would be reason for the Israelites to claim the victory as their own instead of acknowledging that God had saved them. At first Gideon sent home those men who were afraid and invited any man who wanted to leave, to do so; 22,000 men returned home and 10,000 remained. Yet with the number, God told Gideon they were still too many; Gideon brought his troops to

3458-541: The haggadic legends of biblical character those portions that probably formed part of the original accounts from those that have been developed by the exegetic principles of the haggadists . Creation myth Creation myths often share several features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions . They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities , human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily. They are often set in

3549-581: The kabbalistic schools. One such aspect was the appearance of the shedim ; these became ubiquitous to the ordinary Jews with the increased access to the study of the Talmud after the invention of the printing press. The classical rabbis themselves were at times not free from sharing in the popular beliefs. Thus, while there is a whole catalog of prognostications by means of dreams in Ber. 55 et seq., and instructions for ameliorating those dreams and Rabbi Johanan claimed that those dreams are true which come in

3640-487: The valley of Sorek . The Philistines approach Delilah and induce her with 1,100 silver coins to find the secret of Samson's strength so that they can capture their enemy. While Samson refuses to reveal the secret and teases her with false answers, he is finally worn down and tells Delilah that God supplies his power because of his consecration to God as a Nazirite and that if his hair is cut off he will lose his strength. Delilah then woos him to sleep "in her lap" and calls for

3731-748: The " Song of the Sea ", which the Hebrews sang after seeing God drown the Egyptian army in Yam Suph , includes "motifs and language from the combat myth used to emphasize the importance of the foundational event in Israel's religious identity: the crossing of the Red Sea and deliverance from the Pharaoh". Likewise, Armstrong notes the similarity between pagan myths in which gods "split the sea in half when they created

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3822-671: The Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism . In the mythologies of India and the Far East, "the world was not to be reformed, but only known, revered, and its laws obeyed". In contrast, in Zoroastrianism, the current world is "corrupt [...] and to be reformed by human action". According to Campbell, this "progressive view of cosmic history" "can be heard echoed and re-echoed, in Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaean, Arabic, and every tongue of

3913-533: The Israelite camp and gave each of his men a trumpet ( shofar ) and a clay jar with a torch hidden inside. Divided into three companies, Gideon and his 300 men marched on the enemy camp. He instructed them to blow the trumpet, give a battle cry and light torches, simulating an attack by a large force. As they did so, the Midianite army fled ( Judges 7:17–22 ). Later, their leaders were caught and killed. Samson

4004-713: The Jews willingly absorbed elements of pagan mythology. According to the creation narratives in Genesis , Adam and Eve were the first man and woman. In the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible , chapters one through five, there are two creation narratives with two distinct perspectives. In the first, Adam and Eve (though not referenced by name) were created together in God's image and jointly given instructions to multiply and to be stewards over everything else that God had made. In

4095-551: The Lion of Bei Ilai, since every lion can be killed, but the Rabbi refused and pointed out that this is not a normal lion. The emperor insisted, so the Rabbi reluctantly called for the lion of "Bei Ilai". He roared once from a distance of 400 parasangs , and all pregnant women miscarried and all the city walls of Rome tumbled down. Then he came to 300 parasangs and roared again, and the front teeth and molars of Roman men fell out, and even

4186-475: The Pharaoh to refuse, and only after God had subjected Egypt to ten plagues did the Pharaoh relent. Moses led the Israelites to the border of Egypt, but there God hardened the Pharaoh's heart once more, so that he could destroy the Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea Crossing as a sign of his power to Israel and the nations. From Egypt, Moses led the Israelites to biblical Mount Sinai , where he

4277-472: The Talmud exists as a discussion about a giant deer and a giant lion which both originated in a mythical forest called "Bei Ilai". ( Bei means house in Aramaic) The deer is called "Keresh" ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic : קֶרֶשׁ , romanized:  qeresh ), it has one horn, and its skin measures 15 cubits in length. The Roman emperor Hadrian once asked Joshua ben Hananiah to show him

4368-643: The West". Other traditional cultures limited mythical events to the beginning of time, and saw important historical events as repetitions of those mythical events. According to Mircea Eliade, the Hebrew prophets "valorized" history, seeing historical events as episodes in a continual divine revelation. This doesn't mean that all historical events have significance in Judaism; however, in Jewish mythology, significant events happen throughout history, and they are not merely repetitions of each other; each significant event

4459-489: The ancestor of the Israelites . These three figures are referred to collectively as the patriarchs of Judaism , and the period in which they lived is known as the patriarchal age . The narrative in Genesis revolves around the themes of posterity and land. Abraham is called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land originally given to Canaan but which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. Various candidates are put forward who might inherit

4550-479: The boat, Utnapishtim offers a sacrifice to the gods, who smell "the sweet savour" and repent their choice to send the flood. Another ancient flood myth is the Hindu story of Matsya the fish. According to this story, the god Vishnu takes the form of a fish and warns the ancestor Manu about a coming flood. He tells Manu to put all the creatures of the earth into a boat. Unlike the biblical flood, however, this flood

4641-556: The combat myth motif to the relationship between God and Satan . Originally a deputy in God's court, assigned to act as mankind's "accuser" ( satan means "to oppose" – Hebrew : שָּׂטָן satan , meaning "adversary"), Satan evolved into a being with "an apparently independent realm of operation as a source of evil" – no longer God's deputy but his opponent in a cosmic struggle. Even the Exodus story shows combat-myth influence. McGinn believes

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4732-436: The commandment and ate of the forbidden fruit. God curses only the serpent and the ground. He prophetically tells the woman and the man what will be the consequences of their sin of disobeying God. Then he banishes "the man" from the Garden of Eden to prevent him from eating also of the tree of life , and thus living for ever. East of the garden there were placed Cherubim , "and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep

4823-477: The distribution of the motif across "all parts of North America", save for "the extreme north, northeast, and southwest". In a 1977 study, anthropologist Victor Barnouw surmised that the earth-diver motif appeared in " hunting-gathering societies ", mainly among northerly groups such as the Hare , Dogrib , Kaska , Beaver , Carrier , Chipewyan , Sarsi , Cree , and Montagnais . Similar tales are also found among

4914-501: The earth by water again – making the rainbow a symbol of this promise. Similarly, in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh , the bustle of humanity disturbs the gods, who decide to send a flood. Warned by one of the gods, a man named Utnapishtim builds a boat and takes his family and animals inside. After the flood, Utnapishtim sends a dove, then a swallow, then a raven to check whether the waters have subsided. After exiting

5005-549: The emperor himself fell from his throne. He begged the Rabbi to send it back. The Rabbi prayed, and it returned to its place. The authorities of the Talmud seem to be particularly influenced by popular conception in the direction of folk medicine . A belief in the Evil eye was also prevalent in Talmudic times, and occasionally omens were taken seriously, though in some cases recognized as being merely popular beliefs. Thus, while it

5096-733: The eve of their weddings, typically in a sexual fashion by entering the women through their vaginas, which is seen in An-sky's play. However, men and boys could be posessed as well. In psychological literature, the dybbuk has been described as a hysterical syndrome. In traditional Jewish communities, the concept of the dybbuk served as a socially acceptable way of expressing unacceptable urges, including sexual ones. Within Jewish mysticism and folklore, particularly in Kabbalistic traditions, protective practices were also used to ward off these malevolent spirits. One such practice involves affixing

5187-617: The face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. Thus the city was called Babel. The Genesis flood narrative has similarities to ancient flood stories told worldwide. One of the closest parallels is the Mesopotamian myth of a world flood, recorded in The Epic of Gilgamesh . In the Hebrew Bible flood story (Genesis 6:5–22), God decides to flood the world and start over, due to mankind's sinfulness. However, God sees that

5278-465: The first two chapters of the Book of Genesis . In the first, Elohim , the Hebrew generic word for God , creates the heavens and the earth in six days, then rests on, blesses and sanctifies the seventh . In the second story, God, now referred to by the personal name Yahweh , creates Adam , the first man, from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden , where he is given dominion over the animals. Eve ,

5369-405: The first woman, is created from Adam and as his companion. God creates by spoken command and names the elements of the world as he creates them. Genesis 1:1–2:3 creation order: In the second story (Genesis 2:4–2:25) the order is different; God created man, the Garden of Eden and planted trees, the living creatures and then the first woman. Many of the Hebrews' neighbors had a "combat myth" about

5460-682: The forty years had passed, Moses eventually led the Israelites into the Land of Canaan. Gideon was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites was decisive. He went on to send out messengers to gather together men in order to meet an armed force of the people of Midian and the Amalek that had crossed the Jordan River , and they encamped at the Well of Harod in

5551-483: The good god battling the demon of chaos ; one example of this mytheme is the Babylonian Enûma Eliš . A lesser known example is the very fragmentary myth of Labbu . According to historian Bernard McGinn , the combat myth's imagery influenced Jewish mythology. The myth of God's triumph over Leviathan , a symbol of chaos, has the form of a combat myth. In addition, McGinn thinks the Hebrews applied

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5642-469: The land after Abraham; and, while promises are made to Ishmael about founding a great nation, Isaac , Abraham's son by his half-sister Sarah , inherits God's promises to Abraham. Jacob is the son of Isaac and Rebecca and regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites as his twelve sons became the progenitors of the " Tribes of Israel ". The story of the exodus is told in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Israelites had settled in

5733-442: The medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides felt it was the only concept that the three religions shared. Nonetheless, the concept is not found in the entire Hebrew Bible. The authors of Genesis 1 were concerned not with the origins of matter (the material which God formed into the habitable cosmos), but with assigning roles so that the cosmos should function. In the early 2nd century CE, early Christian scholars were beginning to see

5824-448: The morning or are dreamed about us by others, or are repeated, Rabbi Meïr declares that dreams help not and injure not. Dream interpretation is not however a factor in considering mythologyfication of Talmud knowledge since it was at the time a part of the wider nascent development of what later became the discipline of Psychology , and also incorporated Astrology , and effect of digestion on behaviour. An example of typical mythology in

5915-404: The most common form of myth. Creation myth definitions from modern references: Religion professor Mircea Eliade defined the word myth in terms of creation: Myth narrates a sacred history; it relates an event that took place in primordial Time, the fabled time of the "beginnings." In other words, myth tells how, through the deeds of Supernatural Beings, a reality came into existence, be it

6006-515: The myth of a savior , and "an optimistic eschatology, proclaiming the final triumph of Good". The Jewish people's tendency to adopt the neighboring pagan practices, denounced as it had been by the Jewish prophets, returned with force during the Talmudic period. However, almost no mythology was borrowed until the Midrashic and Talmudic periods, when what can be described as mysticism emerged in

6097-497: The one god of the universe. The prophetic writings condemned Hebrew participation in nature worship, and did not completely identify the divine with natural forces. Through the prophets' influence, Jewish theology increasingly portrayed God as independent from nature and acting independently of natural forces. Instead of eternally repeating a seasonal cycle of acts, Yahweh stood outside nature and intervened in it, producing new, historically unprecedented events; Eliade wrote: "That

6188-472: The others go to their homes". ( Judges 7:4–7 ). During the night, God instructed Gideon to approach the Midianite camp. There, Gideon overheard a Midianite man tell a friend of a dream in which "a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian" ( Judges 7:13 ), causing their tent or camp to collapse. This was interpreted as meaning that God had given the Midianites over to Gideon. Gideon returned to

6279-675: The populace as a preventative measure. Michał Waszyński 's 1937 film The Dybbuk , based on the Yiddish play by S. An-sky, is considered one of the classics of Yiddish filmmaking . Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum , the Satmar rebbe (1887–1979), is reported to have supposedly advised an individual said to be possessed to consult a psychiatrist . Traditionally, dybbuks tended to be male spirits. According to Hayyim Vital, women could not become dybbuks because their souls did not participate in gilgul . Sometimes these spirits were said to possess women on

6370-464: The primordial realm. The earth-diver is among the first of them to awaken and lay the necessary groundwork by building suitable lands where the coming creation will be able to live. In many cases, these stories will describe a series of failed attempts to make land before the solution is found. Among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the earth-diver cosmogony is attested in Iroquois mythology :

6461-576: The sacred as the elemental and integral component of the natural world. One example of this is the Norse creation myth described in " Völuspá ", the first poem in the Poetic Edda , and in Gylfaginning . In emergence myths, humanity emerges from another world into the one they currently inhabit. The previous world is often considered the womb of the earth mother , and the process of emergence

6552-533: The same language. As people migrated from the east, they settled in the land of Shinar (Mesopotamia). People there sought to make bricks and build a city and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for themselves, so that they not be scattered over the world. God came down to look at the city and tower, and remarked that as one people with one language, nothing that they sought would be out of their reach. God went down and confounded their speech, so that they could not understand each other, and scattered them over

6643-407: The second narrative, God fashions Adam from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden where he is to have dominion over the plants and animals. God places a tree in the garden which he prohibits Adam from eating the fruit of. Eve is later created from one of Adam's ribs to be Adam's companion. The biblical story of Garden of Eden, most notably in the Book of Genesis chapters 2 and 3, and also in

6734-459: The son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite ." Also possibly derived from pagan mythology is the story of the "Watchers" (Genesis 6:1–4). According to this story, heavenly beings once descended to earth, intermarried with humans, and produced the nephilim , "the heroes of old, men of renown". Jewish tradition regards those heavenly beings as wicked angels, but the myth may represent

6825-405: The speech, dream, breath, or pure thought of a creator but creation ex nihilo may also take place through a creator's bodily secretions. The literal translation of the phrase ex nihilo is "from nothing" but in many creation myths the line is blurred whether the creative act would be better classified as a creation ex nihilo or creation from chaos. In ex nihilo creation myths, the potential and

6916-410: The substance of creation springs from within the creator. Such a creator may or may not be existing in physical surroundings such as darkness or water, but does not create the world from them, whereas in creation from chaos the substance used for creation is pre-existing within the unformed void. In creation from chaos myths, there is nothing initially but a formless, shapeless expanse. In these stories

7007-681: The turtle's back, which grows larger with every deposit of soil. In another version from the Wyandot , the Wyandot lived in heaven. The daughter of the Big Chief (or Mighty Ruler) was sick, so the medicine man recommends that they dig up the wild apple tree that stands next to the Lodge of the Mighty Ruler, because the remedy is to be found on its roots. However, as the tree has been dug out,

7098-533: The unknown and sometimes teach a lesson. Ethnologists and anthropologists who study origin myths say that in the modern context theologians try to discern humanity's meaning from revealed truths and scientists investigate cosmology with the tools of empiricism and rationality , but creation myths define human reality in very different terms. In the past, historians of religion and other students of myth thought of such stories as forms of primitive or early-stage science or religion and analyzed them in

7189-480: The water, where all those who lap the water with their tongues, were put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths, were put to the other side. The number of those that lapped was three hundred; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, "With the three hundred that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all

7280-481: The way of the tree of life". (Gen.3:24) The story of the Garden of Eden makes theological use of mythological themes to explain human progression from a state of innocence and bliss to the present human condition of knowledge of sin, misery, and death . The story of the Tower of Babel explains the origin of different human languages. According to the story, which is recorded in Genesis 11:1–9 , everyone on earth spoke

7371-511: The whole of reality, the Cosmos, or only a fragment of reality – an island, a species of plant, a particular kind of human behavior, an institution. Creation myths have been around since ancient history and have served important societal roles. Over 100 "distinct" ones have been discovered. All creation myths are in one sense etiological because they attempt to explain how the world formed and where humanity came from. Myths attempt to explain

7462-415: The word "chaos" means "disorder", and this formless expanse, which is also sometimes called a void or an abyss, contains the material with which the created world will be made. Chaos may be described as having the consistency of vapor or water, dimensionless, and sometimes salty or muddy. These myths associate chaos with evil and oblivion, in contrast to "order" ( cosmos ) which is the good. The act of creation

7553-692: The world in terms of a birth story. They provide the basis of a worldview that reaffirms and guides how people relate to the natural world , to any assumed spiritual world , and to each other . A creation myth acts as a cornerstone for distinguishing primary reality from relative reality, the origin and nature of being from non-being. In this sense cosmogonic myths serve as a philosophy of life – but one expressed and conveyed through symbol rather than through systematic reason. And in this sense they go beyond etiological myths (which explain specific features in religious rites, natural phenomena, or cultural life). Creation myths also help to orient human beings in

7644-401: The world parent or parents. One form describes the primeval state as an eternal union of two parents, and the creation takes place when the two are pulled apart. The two parents are commonly identified as Sky (usually male) and Earth (usually female), who were so tightly bound to each other in the primeval state that no offspring could emerge. These myths often depict creation as the result of

7735-765: The world" and the story of the Exodus from Egypt, in which Moses splits the Sea of Reeds (the Red Sea) – "though what is being brought into being in the Exodus, is not a cosmos but a people". In any case, the motif of God as the "divine warrior" fighting on Israel's behalf is clearly evident in the Song of the Sea (Ex. 15). This motif recur in poetry throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (I Samuel 2; Zechariah 9:11–16;14:3-8). Some comparative mythologists think Jewish mythology absorbed elements from pagan mythology. According to these scholars, even while resisting pagan worship ,

7826-407: The world, giving them a sense of their place in the world and the regard that they must have for humans and nature. Historian David Christian has summarised issues common to multiple creation myths: How did everything begin? This is the first question faced by any creation myth and ... answering it remains tricky. ... Each beginning seems to presuppose an earlier beginning. ... Instead of meeting

7917-534: The world-view of progress and linear history inherited from Judaism. Because of this legacy, the religious historian Mircea Eliade argues that "Judaeo-Christianity makes an innovation of the first importance" in mythology. Eliade believes that the Hebrews had a sense of linear time before their contact with Zoroastrianism, but agrees with Zaehner that Judaism elaborated its mythology of linear time with eschatological elements that originated in Zoroastrianism. According to Eliade, these elements include ethical dualism ,

8008-488: Was theophany of a new type, hitherto unknown— the intervention of Jahveh in history . It was therefore something irreversible and unrepeatable. The fall of Jerusalem does not repeat the fall of Samaria: the ruin of Jerusalem presents a new historic theophany, another 'wrath' of Jahveh. […] Jahveh stands out from the world of abstractions, of symbols and generalities; he acts in history and enters into relations with actual historical beings." Two creation stories are found in

8099-518: Was beating a Hebrew. Moses, in order to escape the Pharaoh's death penalty, fled to Midian . There, on Mount Horeb , God appeared to Moses as a burning bush revealed to Moses his name YHWH and commanded him to return to Egypt and bring his chosen people (Israel) out of bondage and into the Promised Land . During the journey, God tried to kill Moses, but Zipporah saved his life . Moses returned to carry out God's command, but God caused

8190-482: Was given the Ten Commandments from God, written on stone tablets . Later at Mount Sinai, Moses and the elders entered into a covenant, by which Israel would become the people of YHWH, obeying his laws, and YHWH would be their god. Moses delivered the laws of God to Israel, instituted the priesthood under the sons of Moses' brother Aaron , and destroyed those Israelites who fell away from his worship. After

8281-407: Was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges . The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazirite , and that he was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, however, if Samson's long hair was cut, then his Nazirite vow would be violated and he would lose his strength. The first instance of this

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