(Hebrew:
לִוְיָתָן, "Twisted; coiled, cetacean, whale, sea monster, dragon, large aquatic animal") was a Biblical sea monster or serpent of a larger kind (Job 3:8) the root of which is the word Pilel (Isaiah 27:1) where it is the symbol of the hostile kingdom of Babylon
. It also refers to any very large aquatic creature (Psalm 104:26), used for a fierce enemy (Psalm 74:14. Compare (Hebrew:
תנין tanniyn "dragon, serpent, sea monster") Isaiah 51:9; Ezek 29:3; Ezek 32:2-3). The word leviathan has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In the novel Moby-Dick it (Job) refers to great whales, and in Modern Hebrew, it means simply "whale".
The word "Leviathan" appears five places in the Bible, and the Book of Job 41 is dedicated in describing Leviathan in detail.:
- Book of Job 3:8 "8 Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan."; ESV
- Book of Job 41:1-34: "1 "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?" 34 He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride." ESV (quoted verses 1 and 34 only)
- Psalms 74:14: "14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness." ESV
- Psalms 104:24-25: "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts." KJV;
- Isaiah 27:1: " 1 In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea." ESV
The king over the children of pride is a reference to Satan (the Accuser). Just as he is referred to in the New Testament as a
red dragon in Revelation 12 having seven heads, so in Psalm 74:14: "Thou didst crush the heads of the Leviathan"
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The Woman and the Dragon
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.
5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Satan Thrown Down to Earth
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world— he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.
16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
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