waters (Gen 1:1–2), but that scene lacks the violent action (“churning”) and evil (the emerging beasts) present here (Dan 7:2–3). A mythological view is also contradicted by 7:17, which states that the beasts will arise “from the earth.” In contrast, the mythological language of the Near Eastern creation texts pictures beasts arising from the sea goddess, the Babylonian Tiamat. Instead, the great sea in Daniel signifies something coextensive with the earth (7:17). Some commentators note that the
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