What exactly was Leviathan?
Job 41 describes a creature so formidable that Job could not hope to control it.
What was this creature? And what can we learn by looking more closely at how Scripture describes it?
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary gives us some fascinating background:
Leviathan. li-vi´uh-thuhn (Heb. liwyātān H4293, possibly “twisting one”). There can be no doubt that this name is basically the same as that found in Ugaritic documents for Lotan (Litan), the sea-monster killed by Baal and called “the crooked serpent” (cf. Isa. 27:1). All five occurrences of the term in the OT (Job 3:8; 41:1; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Isa. 27:1) are in poetic passages and belong to “dead mythology,” that is, old mythic concepts employed without suggestion that they are still believed. Because Leviathan is merely poetic imagery, there is no absolute consistency in the OT use of the term. For example, the use in Isa. 27:1 is part of an eschatological section (chs. 24-27) where the term refers to the future forces of lawlessness in terms of past chaos. In Job 41:1 Leviathan seems to be the crocodile. See animals (under crocodile and Leviathan), and cf. the use of Rahab (monster), another mythological figure (26:12).
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Now compare the passages from the New International Version (NIV) for yourself:
Job 3:8
May those who curse days curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
Job 41:1
Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
Psalm 74:14
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
Psalm 104:26
There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
Isaiah 27:1
In that day,
the Lord will punish with his sword—
his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.
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What do you notice as you compare these passages? What stays the same, and what changes with the context?
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Each passage gives us another place to look—and another opportunity to notice what Scripture reveals about Leviathan and about God. Consider these additional questions:
- What feels big, frightening, or beyond your control right now?
- How can you grow in trust when you don’t fully understand something?
Bible Gateway makes it easier to follow a question from one passage to another, compare what you find, and keep studying. See how it all connects.
Continue studying Leviathan →
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