Note 7 — Chapter X

A striking instance of the way in which this astral conception of the universe, as current at any rate among the later school of Babylonian astrologers, has left its imprint on Hebrew literature may be seen in Is. xxvii., I, an esehatological prophecy of post-exilie date, where the imagery is clearly drawn from Babylonian sources. The "winding" or "crooked serpent" of the passage is the constellation Draco, which winds about the North Pole; Serpens, a little to the north of the ecliptic, is "the fugitive serpent"; while Hydra, the water-snake, dwelling in the southern heaven or heavenly ocean, is "the dragon that is in the sea." The passage was first explained in this way by Burney, "Journ. Theol. Stud.," XI. (1910), pp. 443 ff.