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Jewish mythology is a major literary element of the body of folklore found in the sacred texts and traditional narratives that help explain and symbolize Judaism. Elements of Jewish mythology have had a profound influence on Christian and Islamic mythology, as well as world 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, a creation account spaced out over six periods, the legend of Abraham, the stories of Moses and the Israelites, and many more. ==Tanakh== Jewish mythology contains similarities to the myths of other Middle Eastern cultures. The ancient Hebrews often participated in the religious practices of their neighbors, worshiping other gods alongside Yahweh.〔Armstrong, p. 93; Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 136〕 These pagan religions were forms of nature worship: their deities were personifications of natural phenomena like storms and fertility.〔Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 141〕 Because of its nature worship, Mircea Eliade argues, Near Eastern paganism expressed itself in "rich and dramatic mythologies" featuring "strong and dynamic gods" and "orgiastic divinities".〔 The Biblical prophets, including Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, had a concept of the divine that differed significantly from that of the nature religions. According to Jewish mythology, their lives were full of miracles, signs, and visions from God that kept Jewish mythology alive, growing, and distinct from the pagan mythologies of its neighbors. Instead of seeing the God of Israel as just one national god, these prophets saw him as the one God of the entire universe.〔Armstrong, p. 93〕 The prophets condemned Hebrew participation in nature worship, and they refused to completely identify the divine with natural forces.〔 In so doing, they set the stage for a new kind of mythology — a mythology featuring a single God who exists beyond the natural world.〔Armstrong, pp. 95-96; Irwin, pp. 323-34〕 Unlike Tammuz, who dies and revives along with the vegetation,〔Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 140〕 the God of the Hebrew prophets is beyond nature〔Irwin, p. 233〕 and, therefore, isn't bound by the natural rhythms: Through the prophets' influence, Jewish mythology increasingly portrayed God as aloof from nature and acting independently of natural forces.〔Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', pp. 141-42; Irwin, p. 230, 233〕 On one hand, this produced a mythology that was, in a sense, more complex. Instead of eternally repeating a seasonal cycle of acts, Yahweh stood outside nature and intervened in it, producing new, historically unprecedented events: On the other hand, this transcendent God was absolutely unique and hard for humans to relate to.〔Irwin, p. 233; Armstrong, p. 82-83, 93-94〕 Thus, the myths surrounding him were, in a sense, less complex: they did not involve the acts of multiple, anthropomorphic gods.〔 In this sense, "Jahveh is surrounded by no multiple and varied myths", and did not share in the "rich and dramatic mythologies" of his pagan counterparts.〔 The Hebrew prophets had to struggle against the nature gods' popularity, and Jewish mythology reflects this struggle.〔Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 142; Armstrong, p. 94〕 In fact, some Jewish myths may have been consciously designed to reflect the conflict between paganism and a new uncompromising monotheism. In Psalm 82, God stands up in the Divine Council and condemns the pagan deities:〔Armstrong, p. 93-93〕 although they are gods, he says, they will die like mortal men.〔Psalms 82:6-7〕 Karen Armstrong interprets the creation myth of Genesis 1 "as a poised, calm polemic against the old belligerent cosmogonies", particularly the Babylonian cosmogonic myth.〔Armstrong, p. 95〕 The Babylonian ''Enuma Elish'' describes the god Marduk earning kingship over the other gods, battling the monster Tiamat, and creating the world from her corpse. In contrast, Armstrong argues, in the Genesis account (and in the book of Isaiah that describe Yahweh's victory over the sea-monster Leviathan), 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jewish mythology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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