leviathan Summary and Overview

a transliterated Hebrew word (livyathan), meaning "twisted," "coiled." In Job 3:8, Revised Version, and marg. of Authorized Version, it denotes the dragon which, according to Eastern tradition, is an enemy of light; in 41:1 the crocodile is meant; in Ps. 104:26 it "denotes any large animal that moves by writhing or wriggling the body, the whale, the monsters of the deep." This word is also used figuratively for a cruel enemy, as some think "the Egyptian host, crushed by the divine power, and cast on the shores of the Red Sea" (Ps. 74:14). As used in Isa. 27:1, "leviathan the piercing [R.V. 'swift'] serpent, even leviathan that crooked [R.V. marg. 'winding'] serpent," the word may probably denote the two empires, the Assyrian and the Babylonian.

(jointed monster) occurs five times in the text of the Authorized Version, and once in the margin of #Job 3:8| where the text has "mourning." In the Hebrew Bible the word livyathan, which is, with the foregoing exception, always left untranslated in the Authorized Version, is found only in the following passages: #Job 3:8; 41:1; Ps 74:14; 104:26; Isa 27:1| In the margin of #Job 3:8| and text of #Job 41:1| the crocodile is most clearly the animal denoted by the Hebrew word. #Ps 74:14| also clearly points to this same saurian. The context of #Ps 104:26| seems to show that in this passage the name represents some animal of the whale tribe, which is common in the Mediterranean; but it is somewhat uncertain what animal is denoted in #Isa 27:1| As the term leviathan is evidently used in no limited sense, it is not improbable that the "leviathan the piercing serpent," or "leviathan the crooked serpent," may denote some species of the great rock-snakes which are common in south and west Africa.

LEVI'ATHAN , the Hebrew name of an animal minutely described in Job 41, the monster of the water, as behemoth was of the land. Probably- the crocodile is here intended -- a reptile which resembles the alligator, but is larger and more formidable, with narrower snout, and feet webbed to the end of the toes. "The whole head, back, and tail are covered with quadrangular horny plates or scales, which not only protect the body -- a rifle-ball glancing off from them as from a rock -- but also serve as ballast, enabling the creature to sink rapidly, on being disturbed, by Leviathan. (Crocodilus Vulgaris. After Tristram.) merely expelling the air from its lungs." -- Tristram. It is believed that the crocodile was once abundant in the lower Nile to its mouth, but it is now rarely seen within the confines of Egypt. This reptile once abounded also in the Zerka or Crocodile River, which flows through the Plain of Sharon, and doubtless in the Tigris. The crocodile seems to be meant by the word "leviathan" in Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1. But in Ps 104:26 the word is evidently used for some sea-monster, perhaps the whale. Several large cetaceous animals are found in the Mediterranean.

From lewy "joined" (referring to its joined, plate armour like scales) and than a monster drawn out, i.e. long; or else Arabic lavah "to twist." So Job 41:15-17. The crocodile. The whale having a smooth skin and no scales cannot be meant. The crocodile's teeth, 30 on each side of each jaw, lock into each other. Lips are wanting, so that the teeth are seen even when the mouth is closed, illustrating Job 41:14, "who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about." As behemoth is the hippopotamus, so leviathan is the crocodile, both found in Egypt along the Nile. The term elsewhere is used for any large monster of the "sea" or water. Psalm 104:26; Psalm 74:13-14; "Thou breakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness." The king of Egypt is symbolized by the "dragons" and "leviathan" (compare Ezekiel 32:2; Ezekiel 29:3); he and his host at their overthrow in the Red Sea became a spoil to Israel (compare "bread for us," Numbers 14:9) "in the wilderness." The context shows that it is the benefits of God to Israel that are here recounted. In Job 3:8 translated "let them curse it (my day of birth) ... who are ready to raise up a leviathan," i.e. necromancers who rouse and control wild beasts at will (compare Psalm 58:5). In Isaiah 27:1, "leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked (wriggling) serpent," "the dragon in the sea," literally refers to the crocodile in the sea or Nile, or else to the great rock snakes. Spiritually every foe of Israel and the church. Antitypically and finally Satan "the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil" (Revelation 20:2; Revelation 20:10), whom finally "Jehovah with His sore, great, and strong sword shall punish." For" piercing" (bariach) translated "darting from side to side." Foiled on one side he tries to gain on the other side (Job 26:13; 2 Corinthians 11:14; 2 Corinthians 2:11). Typhon, the destroyer, was worshipped in Egypt under the form of a crocodile.