Leviathan

Leviathan - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

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.

Leviathan - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

LEVI'ATHAN, n. [Heb.]

1. An aquatic animal, described in Job 41, and mentioned in other passages of Scripture. In Isaiah, it is called the crooked serpent. It is not agreed what animal is intended by the writers, whether the crocodile, the whale, or a species of serpent.

2. The whale, or a great whale.

le-vi'-a-than (liwyathan (Job 41:1-34), from [~lawah, "to fold"; compare Arabic name of the wry neck, Iynx torquilla, abu-luwa, from kindred lawa, "to bend"):

(1) The word "leviathan" also occurs in Isa 27:1, where it is characterized as "the swift serpent .... the crooked serpent"; in Ps 104:26, where a marine monster is indicated; also in Ps 74:14 and Job 3:8. The description in Job 41 has been thought by some to refer to the whale, but while the whale suits better the expressions denoting great strength, the words apply best on the whole to the crocodile. Moreover, the whale is very seldom found in the Mediterranean, while the crocodile is abundant in the Nile, and has been known to occur in at least one river of Palestine, the Zarqa, North of Jaffa. For a discussion of the behemoth and leviathan as mythical creatures, see EB, under the word "Behemoth" and "Leviathan." The points in the description which may well apply to the crocodile are the great invulnerability, the strong and close scales, the limbs and the teeth. It must be admitted that there are many expressions which a modern scientist would not use with reference to the crocodile, but the Book of Job is neither modern nor scientific, but poetical and ancient.

(2) See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 2, 5.

Alfred Ely Day

Definition

The term “Leviathan” refers to a very large, extinct animal mentioned in the earliest writings of the Old Testament, the books of Job, Psalms, and Isaiah.

• Leviathan is described as a large, snake-like creature, strong and fierce and able to make the water around it “boil.” The descriptions of it were similar to that of a dinosaur.
• Isaiah the prophet referred to Leviathan as “the gliding serpent”.
• Job wrote from firsthand knowledge of Leviathan, so the animal was most likely alive during his lifetime.

(Translation suggestions: Translate Names)

(See also: Isaiah, Job, serpent)

Bible References

• Job 3:8
• Psalms 104:25-26

Word Data

• Strong’s: H3882