Rahab is believed by many to be here an epithet of Tiâmat. It means “the one who acts boisterously” or “proudly.” Those who thus think believe the lines in Job to refer to the overcoming of Tiâmat’s helpers in Tablet IV, lines 105-118, of the Babylonian creation epic, which read as follows:
After Tiâmat the leader he had slain,
Her army he broke, her host was scattered,
And the gods, her helpers, who marched at her side,
Trembled, feared, they turned their backs;
They sought an exit, to save their lives;
With a cordon they were encompassed, escape was not possible.
He caught them, their weapons he broke,
Into the net they fell, in the snare they remained.
All the quarters of the world they filled with their lamentation.
His wrath they endured, they were held in bondage.
And the eleven creatures, whom she had filled with terribleness,
The troop of demons who marched as her helpers,
He threw into fetters, their power he broke;
Along with their opposition he trampled them under his feet.
This would seem to suit the reference in Job, and to give point to Job’s words. As our Saviour used stories in his parables, so this poet may have used this well-known story to illustrate his point.
Again Job 26:12, 13 reads:
He stirreth up the sea with his power,
And by his understanding he smiteth through Rahab.
By his Spirit the heavens are garnished;
His hand hath pierced the swift serpent.
Four of the ancient versions of the Old Testament, with a very slight change in the Hebrew letters, read Job 26:13:
The bars of heaven fear him;
His hand hath pierced the swift serpent.
Into comparison with v. 12 and the last line of 13, scholars have brought Tablet IV, line 93, ff., which runs:
Then took their stand, Tiâmat and the leader of the gods, Marduk;
For the fight they approached, for the battle drew near.
The lord spread out his net and enclosed her,
The evil wind from behind he thrust into her face.
As Tiâmat opened her mouth to its full extent,
The evil wind he drove in, so that her lips could not close.
With the mighty winds he filled her belly.
Her courage was taken away, and she opened her mouth.
He let fall the spear, he burst open her belly,
He cut through her inward parts, he pierced her heart,
He bound her and her life destroyed;
Her body he cast down and stood upon it.
Into comparison with the first line of v. 13, as the versions give it, scholars have brought line 135, and ff., of the same tablet: