The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition

There are many ancient West Asian stories that narrate the victory of a warrior deity over an enemy, typically a sea-god or sea dragon, and his rise to divine kingship. In The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition, Debra Scoggins Ballentine analyzes this motif, arguing that it was used within ancient political and socio-religious discourses to bolster particular divine hierarchies, kings, institutions, and groups, as well as to attack others. Situating her study of the conflict topos within contemporary theorizations of myth by Bruce Lincoln, Russell McCutcheon, and Jonathan Z. Smith, Ballentine examines narratives of divine combat and instances of this conflict motif. Her study cuts across traditional disciplinary boundaries as well as constructed time periods, focusing not only on the Hebrew Bible but also incorporating Mesopotamian, early Jewish, early Christian, and rabbinic texts, spanning a period of almost three millennia - from the eighteenth century BCE to the early middle ages CE. The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition advances our understanding of the conflict topos in ancient west Asian and early Jewish and Christian literatures and of how mythological and religious ideas are used both to validate and render normative particular ideologies and socio-political arrangements, and to delegitimize and invalidate others.

About the Author :
Debra Scoggins Ballentine is an assistant professor in the Department of Religion at Rutgers, where she teaches courses on the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern religions.

Review :
"The discussion is explorative, suggestive, but careful in its final claims. The gains of each chapter build a compelling case for the ideological use of the conflict topos both within and outside of myths. But the primary value of the work seems to be in assessing the myths themselves; demonstrating the recasting that takes place within the myths and their later forms; and, in some cases, illustrating how the conflict topos was used for ideological purposes echoed in historical circumstances."--Journal of Religion "[An] intelligent and clearly written book It will make its deservedly many readers curious about topics and perspectives that the book introduces and explores. It is a fine introduction for advanced students to the wide array of relevant texts and other works that feature the conflict myth and its motifs and an important conversation partner for scholars in the field."--Journal of Religion and Violence "This is the most comprehensive discussion to date of the Conflict/Combat Myth in the Bible in the ancient Near East. It is also the first such study that is informed by the modern discussion of myth. A very useful book." --John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament, Yale University "Debra Scoggins Ballantine has written a work of great insight, a sophisticated study that challenges us to rethink our existing understandings of the conflict myth in its various iterations. She navigates a wide spectrum of sources and builds a case with an equal measure of scholarly rigor and imagination. This is a major contribution and will find a central place in the ongoing discussion in the field." --Mark Leuchter, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism, Temple University "Ballentine's keen study is groundbreaking with its comprehensive analysis of the combat myth as ideological production. Building on the work of Bruce Lincoln and Jonathan Z. Smith on how myths encode hierarchical taxonomies, Ballentine deftly articulates the legitimizing and delegitimizing ideology of the conflict topos. Ballentine's nuanced and wide-ranging research (covering the combat myth from the Middle Bronze Age to the rabbinic period) will prove enlightening for all historians of religion." --Theodore J. Lewis, Blum-Iwry Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Johns Hopkins University "[The] work is excellent in its presentation of the conflict myth and biblical innovations of it. Wide coverage of literature, from Ugaritic works to Rabbinic works, and thorough analysis of each occur of the conflict motif mark her work as on to be remembered for future discussion. The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition provides a unique approach to conflict myth, and especially the Hebrew Bible, that may be utilized by scholars to develop a deeper and fuller understanding of biblical myth and the conflict myth." --Biblical Review