water sprite, a sea monster.  Beowulf* writes of one who 'On the waves slew

the nickus by night' and speaks of 'sea dragons and nickus'.

*

Beowulf -- An heroic poem, circa 700 A.D.  Although originally

untitled, it was later named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, whose

exploits and character provide its connecting theme.  There is no evidence of

a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can

be historically verified (Encyclopædia Britannica).

The Euphrates (Rev. 9:14) associated with angels and demons, was a

mighty river when Paradise was first planted (Gen. 2:14), and may have had

its origin in the fountains of the great deep (Gen. 1:2; 7:11).  See

Revelation 9:14,15.  Of this we know next to nothing, thank God, but the

record must be in Genesis for a reason.

Dragons are associated with sea and the deep in Scripture:

'Dragons, and all deeps' (Psa. 148:7; cf. Psa. 74:13 -15).

Rahab, the dragon and the deep are associated together in Isaiah 51:9,10,

while the serpent and the bottom of the sea are joined together in Amos 9:3.

The sea itself is looked upon as a rebellious power:

'Am I a sea, or a sea -monster?' (Job. 7:12 author's translation).

The 'proud waves' of Job 38:8 -11 look back to Genesis 1:2 (see also

Prov. 8:25 -29).  The waters of the sea are the surviving remnant of the

raging abyss of Genesis 1:2.  The Deluge in the days of Noah was a temporary

return to chaos.  Jeremiah 5:22 refers to the restraining power of the

presence of the Lord, binding the sea by a perpetual decree.

Other passages which refer to the sea as a type of rebellion are Isaiah

17:12 -14; 59:19; Jonah 2:5.  The pledge of the rainbow (Gen. 9:13 -17) and

the blessed 'no mores' of Revelation 21 and 22 which open with 'no more sea'

and close with 'no more curse' all point in the same direction, and reveal

depths of meaning in the terms surveyed in this article that while lying

beyond our comprehension are within the encirclement of our faith.

While all our teaching is drawn from and rests solely on the inspired

Scriptures, the remnants of truth that have percolated into the mythologies

of ancient nations, and especially those who at the beginning were contingent

with Israel, lend a background to the doctrine of the bottomless pit.

Tehom, the Hebrew word translated 'deep' in Genesis 1:2, was soon

personified and in the Babylonian tradition where we read 'The primeval deep

was their generator', the word 'deep' is equivalent to the Hebrew tehom, and

the word for 'primeval' is rishto, an equivalent of the Hebrew reshuth, 'the

beginning'.  In later transformations tehom became identified with the

Dragon, the Serpent and with Ea, the god of the waters and of wisdom.  Just

as the name Job epitomizes the 'enmity' of the two seeds, so the Babylonians

called the serpent aibu, i.e. Job, 'the enemy'.

The reader who may feel somewhat disturbed by these references to

Babylonian beliefs can ignore them, but some who realize the interrelation of

words in parallel languages may value their supporting evidence.  Let no