Topic
Leviathan
7 passages cited, from 5 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Psalms 74:14Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave · Torrey FIGURATIVE
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
- Psalms 104:26Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave · Torrey Possibly a crocodile
There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
- Isaiah 27:1Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave · Torrey “The crooked (R. V.) serpent.”
In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
- Job 3:8Easton · Smith · ISBE
Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
- Job 41:1–34ISBE · Nave · Torrey Possibly a crocodile
Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? Will…
- Job 41:1Smith
Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
- Job 41:10Torrey ILLUSTRATIVE OF — Power and severity of God
None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 5 references
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.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 11 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 6 references
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
In the topical indexes
Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 4 references, grouped by sub-topic
Torrey's New Topical Textbook (1897) · 5 references, grouped by sub-topic
- Created by God Ps 104:26
- Nature and habits of Job 41:1-34
- God's power, exhibited in destroying Ps 74:14
- ILLUSTRATIVE OF
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896); Torrey's New Topical Textbook (1897), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.