Mythology

remains unchanged (cf. 8:21), ‘the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth’, and in this myth he sees man still striving after that unattainable equality with the divine which had caused the primal fall. He sees Yahweh still supreme in power and knowledge, confounding man’s petty efforts to scale heaven, and proceeds to enter upon the story of Yahweh’s grace responding to one man’s obedience and faith. Thus as with most of the mythological material taken over by Hebrew writers from Mesopotamian sources, either directly or indirectly, the myth has been reshaped in such a way as to provide, in symbolic terms, a picture of the divine activities, and the relations between God and man as interpreted by the prophets of Israel. We. have seen a somewhat similar process taking place, both in the development of Egyptian religion, and in the transmission of Sumerian mythology. The earlier Egyptian form of the myth of creation was transformed by what is called the Memphite theology; and the myths of Sumer were reshaped to express the pattern of Assyrian and Babylonian religion. But in the case of Israel’s use of Mesopotamian and Canaanite mythology this process of transformation was much more radical and had profounder religious implications, making a more extended treatment of Hebrew mythology necessary. The myths collected in the first eleven chapters of Genesis do not, however, exhaust the mythological material contained in Hebrew literature. The Myth Of The Destruction Of The Cities Of The Plain We have already seen that the wide-spread myth of the destruction of mankind had assumed different forms in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and possibly in Ugaritic mythology, if we may regard the myth of Anat’s slaughter of the enemies of Baal as belonging to that category. Underlying the story in Genesis of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot’s escape, there is clearly to be seen another form of the myth of the destruction of mankind, and one which survived into Christian eschatology. In the form in which we have it now, the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a composite narrative which has been woven into the saga of Abraham. It embodies several strands of ancient Hebrew tradition, one of which reflects a myth of the destruction of mankind which is independent of the Flood myth. In the thirteenth chapter of Genesis we have an account of how Lot separated himself and his possessions from his uncle Abraham and chose what is called the ‘circle’ of Jordan. This district is described as ‘well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah’. It is here implied that, in the tradition which the Yahwist is using, the Dead Sea and the desolate condition of the south end of the Jordan valley were the result of an act of divine judgement which destroyed the cities of the plain, or ‘circle’. According to the Yahwist’s narrative the destruction was effected by a rain of fire and sulphur from heaven. The reason for the destruction is said to be the special wickedness of the inhabitants of those cities, just as the Flood is said to have been caused by the wickedness of mankind. Lot is delivered as the result of the intercession of Abraham. He is commanded by the angelic instruments of his rescue not to look back, a feature of the story which finds an echo in folklore. His wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt, and Lot with his two daughters are the sole survivors of the catastrophe. Then follows a tradition of the origin of two of the special rivals and enemies of Israel, Moab and Ammon. Their birth is attributed to an incestuous union between Lot and his daughters, an episode which takes place while Lot is drunk, recalling the shame and drunkenness of Noah after his escape from the Flood. In 19:31 Lot’s daughters are represented as saying,

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