An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 138: Morning Stars and Misplaced Satyrs (Isaiah 11-15)

Isaiah 11-15
Morning Stars and Misplaced Satyrs.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT

For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Isaiah 11

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

The messianic figure that Isaiah describes will come from the tribe of Jesse, according to the prophecies here. Which is not in itself a massive stretch – there’s a one in twelve chance that any Israelite would be able to trace his ancestry to Jesse, it’s a bit like saying he’ll be a Capricorn.

But snark aside, there’s some great language in this chapter, much of which seems to have found its way into wider consciousness. Stuff about the wolf dwelling with the lamb, and I really liked the verse about the promised figure smiting the earth with the rod of his mouth, and his breath slaying the wicked – words as the most powerful of weapons. Not only will this time be a time of peace amongst animals as well as nations, but will be a great gathering of the Jewish people. And, of note, the quoted line above. The non-Jews become involved too, which I can only guess forms the basis of Paul’s mission to widen Christianity from a Jewish sect to a world-wide faith. There’s still a kind of incongruous mix of a spiritual figure and a geo-political one, which it feels like Isaiah can’t decide which he is writing about. But then, I guess, both apply after a fashion.

Isaiah 12
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”

This is a short chapter. God’s anger has been turned aside, and Isaiah speaks as a worshipper who is praising God; there’s something simple and psalm-like in the language of this chapter. I flag up the quoted text because I’m pretty sure this is used as a form of creed – I wouldn’t be surprised to find this written on a stained glass window or engraved on a rood screen, or even on one of those posters you get outside churches. If you look at it, it kind of doesn’t really mean anything in and of itself, but I can see it conveying meaning to a worshipper.

Isaiah 13

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.”

Isaiah prophesies the destruction of Babylon, by the hosts of God and by earthquake, with the sun and moon and stars going dark in some apocalyptic vision in which children are killed and women raped. Yes, charming work in the service of God I must say. This, like some other fire and brimstone stuff we’ve seen before, is supposed to be a punishment of the wicked but once again I question the morality of allowing the destruction of those who are surely innocent. A comment on the realities of war, perhaps. I can imagine a reading of this over the top of images from post-bomb Hiroshima, which I think would change the intent and feel of it quite a bit.

And, so much for children safely playing with asps and cockatrices as in the last chapter. Peace, after the wicked have been punished. Oh, and speaking of cockatrices, two more mythological creatures crop up here – the ruins will be inhabited by satyrs and dragons. I wasn’t comfortable with satyrs as a translation – that’s plainly Greek mythology. Some translations have it as “wild goats”, which I think has a better feel of desolation. Besides, satyrs like fertile woodland glades, not ruined cities, as any fule kno.

Isaiah 14

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”

My surmise of last chapter was correct, in that a “cleansing” needs to take place before peace can reign. And this is a continuation of the last chapter, telling of how the glory of Babylon was (or will be) bought low because God desired it to be so. And then the Assyrians and the Philistines (here also translated as Palestina) will look to the destruction of Babylon and, basically, know that they’re next.

But probably the most interesting section of this chapter is the stuff about “Lucifer”, the star of the morning. To most of us this is pretty much established as meaning the devil, I think much thanks to Milton. The figure in this chapter has tried to become equal to God (“I will exalt my throne above the stars of God”) but gets cast “down to hell, to the sides of the pit”. But it’s pretty clear from the context that this is a reference to the king of Babylon; perhaps Star of the Morning or Lightbringer (literal translation of Lucifer) is some kind of established honorific for the king (used, I guess, in an ironic fashion by the hostile Isaiah). So much like the serpent in Eden, here’s a figure who may be a biblical villain but not the biblical villain getting conflated in later theology with a single representative of evil.

Casting my thoughts wider, the morning star is the planet Venus, also associated with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, aka Ashtarte who is roundly condemned in previous books of the bible. Isaiah himself has already had a go at women wearing moon-shaped jewellery, so could we be looking at a manifestation of the ongoing conflict between (patriarchal) Yahweh worship and (matriarchal) Ishtar worship? Probably not – it would be “daughter of the morning” and not son. But I might run with that as some pseudo-theological underpinnings to the adventures of The Preacher!

Or, again, from a purely astronomical viewpoint, Venus rises in the morning before the sun, shine brightest in the sky but is ultimately eclipsed by the sun as it rises. Interpreted mythologically it’s a physical embodiment of the attempt to claim the throne of heaven occupied by the sun by a usurper. I wonder if there are similar myths in other cultures.

Isaiah 15

“The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;”

The destruction of Moab. This feels likes it has a different author, I think because it deals a lot more with specific people and places (“the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate”), and really doesn’t have such a heft to the language, like somebody trying and failing to capture the blood and thunder rhetoric of the destruction of Babylon. Babylon makes sense, in that is, or was, or will be, a nation that enslaves the Israelites. But Moab has always struck me as a second-fiddle enemy state, picking around the edges of Israel and Judah but never as effectively as the Philistines, never really causing any real damage; certainly not the mass enslavement and destruction of the temple by the Babylonians and Assyrians. So it feels a bit cheap and petty to include them in a grand prophecy that seems to deal with the dawn of a new age.