LEVIATHAN

- 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 . Powerful and cruel kings Isa 27:1 . Power and severity of God Job 41:10

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Ps 74:14 104:26, an aquatic monster described in the book of Job, Job 41:1-34. Probably the animal denoted is the crocodile, the terror of the Nile; as BEHEMOTH, in Job 40:1-24, is the hippopotamus of the same river. The crocodile is a native of the Nile, and other Asiatis and African rivers; in some instances even thirty feet in length; of enormous voracity and strength, as well as fleetness in swimming; attacks mankind and the largest animals, with most daring impetuosity; when taken by means of a powerful net, will often overturn the boats that surround it; has proportionally the largest mouth of all monsters whatever; moves both its jaws alike, the upper of which has not less than thirty-six, and the lower thirty sharp, but strong and massy teeth; and is furnished with a coat of mail so scaly and callous as to resist the force of a musket-ball in every part, except under the belly. The general character of the LEVIATHAN in fact seems so well to apply to this animal, in modern as well as in ancient times the terror of all the coasts and countries about the Nile, that it is unnecessary to seek further. In several passages in the Bible, the king of Egypt appears to be addressed as leviathan, Isa 27:1 Eze 29:3. The following extract of a letter from an American gentleman in Manila gives a graphic view of the strength and size of the crocodile: "My last operation in the sporting line, was no less than killing a crocodile, which for a year or two before had infested a village on the borders of the lake, taking off horses and cows, and sometimes a man. Having understood that he had killed a horse a day or two before, and had taken him into a small river, I proceeded to the spot, accompanied by my host, closed the mouth of the river with strong nets, and attacked the huge brute with guns and spears. After something of a desperate battle, we succeeded in driving him against the nets, where, being considerably exhausted by the wounds he had received from balls and lances, he got entangled, was dragged on shore, and the coup de grace given to him. He measured twenty feet in length, and from eleven to thirteen feet in circumference, the smallest part being eleven and the largest thirteen. The head alone weighed two hundred and seventy-five pounds. He had nearly the whole of the horse in him, and the legs, with the hoofs, were taken out entire."

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Leviathan. Leviathan
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.

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LEVIATHAN. → Possibly a crocodile Job 41; Ps 104:26 → The crooked (R. V.) serpent. Isa 27:1 → FIGURATIVE Ps 74:14

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Job 41:1; Ps 104:26; Isa 27:1

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leviathan. Leviathan, n. the largest of all sea-monsters

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Le‐vi″a‐than (lē̍‐vī″ȧ‐than), n. [[Heb. livyāthān.]] 1. 1. An aquatic animal, described in the book of Job, ch. xli., and mentioned in other passages of Scripture.
☞ It is not certainly known what animal is intended, whether the crocodile, the whale, or some sort of serpent. 2. 2. The whale, or a great whale. Milton.