Clines and TDOT on Yahweh being a "man" (אִישׁ) of war in Exodus 15:3

  

4. armed man, warrior, e.g. Ex 15:3; Nm 31:23, 28, 49, 53; Dt 2:14, 16; Jos 5:4; 17:1; Jg 3:29; 20:2, 44, 46; 1 S 14:12; 16:18; 17:4, 23, 33; 31:12‖1 C 10:12; 2 S 8:4, 10‖1 C 18:4, 10; 2 S 11:16; 23:20‖1 C 11:22; 2 S 24:9; Is 5:22; Jr 6:23‖50:42; Pr 6:11=24:34; Ec 12:3; 1 C 12:9; 19:18; 26:8; Si 44:6; 11QT 57₆; 58_{7, 8, 10, 16} 1QM 2_{7, 8} 3_{1, 7} 5_17(Yadin) 6_{9, 10().11, 12, 13} 7_{1, 5, 12, 16} 8_{1, 4} 9_{3, 5} 15₄; 16₄; 17₁₃; 1QM 14₁₈ + Sup 4QM^c₂; CD 20₁₄; 1QH 7₂₂; 9₂₂; 1Q36 16₂; 4QpIsa^a 1₃ 4QpNah 3.3₁₁. (The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, ed. David J. A. Clines, 8 vols. [Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993], 1:222)

 

 

In the second group, Yahweh (at first glance in contradiction to Dt. 4:12, 15ff., etc., and to the passages just mentioned) is described as an ʾish, e.g., ʾish milchamoth, “a man of war” (Isa. 42:13; cf. keghibbor, “a warrior,” in Jer. 20:11). But this does not mean that God is thought to be identical with man; for God continues to be God, yhvh ʾish milchamah yhvh shemo, “Yahweh is a man of war; Yahweh is his name” (Ex. 15:3). Rather, this phrase is used to emphasize a particular attribute of God. According to the understanding which always appears elsewhere in Israel (cf. Ex. 14:14, 25; Dt. 3:22; 32:30a; Josh. 23:10), when Yahweh fights against any enemy of his people as an ʾish milchamah, “a man of war,” the intention is to emphasize his omnipotence. He is also described as a war lord and a war god, who is recognized as the lord of world history through his dynamic intervention into history in behalf of his people. This metaphor seems to contradict Jer. 14:9 in particular: “why shouldst thou be like a man confused (nidhham, hapax legomenon)?” but the interrogative form used here indirectly expresses belief in the omnipotence of God. (N. P. Bratsiotis, “אִישׁ,” TDOT 1 :230)