What is the “dragon that is in the sea” the Bible calls the Leviathan? Is it simply a mythical poetic devised by the biblical writers, or did leviathans truly haunt the deep? Are there still leviathans in our times?
Did the Old Testament writers use the term for the creatures we know now as dinosaurs or giant crocodiles? Are they some extinct serpent, or do they still exist . . . but only in the deepest, unexplored reaches of the sea?
Like the Loch Ness monster, the Leviathan fuel the imagination. Dismissing them as urban legends would be easy. But since they are mentioned in Scripture, what should Christians understand about them? Do they symbolize something important to us in our times?
What is the Meaning of 'Leviathan'?
According to Strong’s Hebrew concordance, the definition for Leviathan (H03882) is “sea monster, dragon.” It derives from the root word lavah (H03867), which means joined to oneself, twined, wreathed, or twisted in folds. This definition would lean more toward a serpent or dragon-type creature than a crocodile with its scales or plates.
The Hebrew lexicon adds this note about the possibility of the Leviathan’s fire-breathing capacity:
“It appears to be a large fire breathing animal of some sort. Just as the bomardier (sic) beetle has an explosion producing mechanism, so the great sea dragon may have an explosive producing mechanism to enable it to be a real fire breathing dragon.”
Bombardier beetles, according to the Natural History Museum, have a defense mechanism so that they “spray a concoction of boiling, irritating chemicals at predators that get too close.” It’s an exponential stretch to imagine a thumb-sized beetle’s defenses on the scale of a huge sea dragon. However, the fact there are creatures with “fire-breathing” defenses does provide an argument that there could be large reptiles capable of doing the kind of behavior attributed to the Leviathan.
The Leviathan in the Bible
Leviathans are mentioned twice in the book of Job.
First, when Job is mourning his overwhelming losses and crying out against the day he was born, he says,
“Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it. Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning, because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.” (Job 3:7-10 ESV)
Obviously, in the poetry of Job’s lament, those who “rouse of Leviathan” are ready to meet death, giving credence to the argument that he’s referring to a large and dangerous creature.
Next in Job, God is speaking when He supplies this rich description of the Leviathan:
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hands on him; remember the battle--you will not do it again! Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?” (Job 41:1-10 ESV)
God’s description is of a fierce animal or enemy so daunting it’s unthinkable that humans might catch him with a hook, tame him, or even destroy him with harpoons. Whatever it is, God’s not describing a common animal that is easily defeated. This being incites fear and trepidation in the bravest hearts.
The Psalmist celebrates God’s deliverance of Israel and references the Leviathan as what sounds like a multi-headed creature similar to the mythical hydra slain by Hercules.
“You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.” (Psalm 74:13-14 ESV)
Then, in Psalm 104:25-27, Leviathan is simply mentioned as a fact, one of the sea creatures dependent on God for food.
“Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.” (ESV)
Finally, in a portion of Isaiah widely understood to be an apocalyptic prophecy of a coming time when God will judge the whole earth, Isaiah writes this about Leviathan:
“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.” (Isaiah 27:1 ESV)
Not even the creatures of the deep will be safe from God’s wrath when He finally releases the Leviathan in the judgment of the unrighteous humans who have not turned to His Son, Jesus, for deliverance.
Other suggested references include Amos 9:3, which cites a serpent at the bottom of the sea, and Jonah’s book, which details the prophet being swallowed by a “large fish.” While some commentators speculate this might have been a Leviathan, the Midrash (ancient Jewish commentaries) contains legends that the Leviathan threatened the fish that swallowed Jonah.
These references indicate that biblical authors had some understanding of a monstrous, serpentine sea creature that dwarfed all others in comparison.
History of the Leviathan
The book of Enoch, part of the Apocrypha, mentions both Leviathan and Behemoth. Leviathan is described as a “female monster” who is parted from Behemoth before Noah’s flood and given the abysses of the ocean to dwell in.
In the Ugaritic mythology, known as the Baal Cycles, the Canaanites refer to a Lotan, a coiled creature not unlike Leviathan. In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, Tiamat was a glistening serpent-like goddess of the sea. In Norse mythology, Thor defeats a Leviathan-like creature, and of course, Hercules defeated the Hydra in Greek myth. Throughout time, sailors have had songs, stories, and legends about great sea dragons. Whatever else, Leviathan captures our imaginations and is a favorite monster populating our stories from ancient legends to modern film.
What Does the Leviathan Symbolize?
The unpredictability, randomness, and intense fear described around the appearance of Leviathan lends itself to symbolizing chaos and a wild, sinful, disordered natural world that will one day be judged along with the unrighteous. Our sin impacted creation, and Leviathan is the creature best symbolizing the damage we’ve done.
The sea often represents the great unknown against which humans are no match. A monster lurking in the deepest darkness of the seas represents some of the greatest fears of even sailors and explorers known for their courage. Thus, in Scripture, when God is cited as having defeated Leviathan or as the one who provides food on which the creature depends, it is evidence of God’s greatness and the eventual prevalence of His plans over every disorder.
What Is the Leviathan Spirit?
Some in the Christian faith even reference a “Leviathan Spirit.” These believers attribute specific personalities or designations to a range of demons. Therefore, demons with a Leviathan spirit would be those that operate by visiting fear, chaos, and monstrous evil on the humans they oppress or possess. These might be evil forces that spread disorder or confusion among believers and play on individual or community fears.
There may even be humans opposed to God who desire to try to appropriate the spirit of Leviathan or chaos to exact revenge on others or to imagine themselves as more powerful than God. Serpents in the Bible are frequently associated with Satan from the Garden of Eden to Revelation 12.
However, as we’ve seen in the Scriptures cited about the Leviathan, outside of apocalyptic images, it’s usually described as a created being. Like all created beings, it is created by God and no match for God’s strength and power. The same applies to evil spirits. Within a relationship with Jesus Christ, filled by the Holy Spirit, and wearing the armor of God described in Ephesians 6, we have nothing to fear from the Leviathan or a Leviathan spirit.
Familiarity with the scriptures about Leviathan can fortify our confidence that our Father God is in control, no matter what monstrous chaos this world may present. He will have the final word on both the Leviathan and us.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Lidiia Moor
Lori Stanley Roeleveld is a blogger, speaker, coach, and disturber of hobbits. She’s authored six encouraging, unsettling books, including Running from a Crazy Man, The Art of Hard Conversations, and Graceful Influence: Making a Lasting Impact through Lesson from Women of the Bible. She speaks her mind at www.loriroeleveld.com.