Crocodile

Scripture references: Genesis 1:21; Exodus 7:9–12; Psalm 74:13–14; 91:13; Isaiah 27:1; 51:9; Jeremiah 51:34; Ezekiel 29:3–5; 32:2–8; Revelation 12:3–9

The Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin), The word tannin appears throughout the Hebrew Bible and is variously translated as serpent, dragon, sea-monster, or crocodile. In Genesis 1:21, YHWH creates the great תַּנִּינִים (tanninim) of the sea on the fifth day. In Exodus 7:9–12, Aaron's staff becomes a tannin, the same creature that the Egyptian magicians' staffs also become, before Aaron's swallows theirs. In the prophetic literature, tannin is often the image of the chaos-creature or the great empire that opposes YHWH. The crocodile (Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus) is the most likely real-world referent for many of the tannin passages, particularly those set in Egypt.

Pharaoh as the great tannin, Ezekiel 29:3–5, "Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, who says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.' I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales. And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall on the open field, and not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens I have given you as food." Pharaoh is the crocodile who claims ownership of the Nile. YHWH will hook him, drag him out of the water, and leave him for the scavengers in the open field, the fate of a crocodile removed from its element and left to die.

Ezekiel 32:2, "Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers." The dragon-in-the-sea image for Pharaoh combines the lion (which Pharaoh imagines himself) with the actual creature, the crocodile that thrashes in the water and muddies the rivers.

Crushed at the waters, Psalm 74:13–14, "You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters [tanninim] on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness." Psalm 74 uses the creation combat motif: at the beginning, YHWH broke the heads of the sea monsters and crushed Leviathan. Whether this is historical event, mythological imagery, or typological description of the Exodus is debated; the tanninim and Leviathan appear in parallel, distinct but related.

The crocodile and Leviathan, The relationship between the crocodile (tannin) and Leviathan is complex. Job 41's Leviathan has features that fit the Nile crocodile (impenetrable hide, sneezing sparks, breathing smoke from its nostrils, which may be water vapor in cold air, jaw that cannot be held open, belly of potsherds) as well as mythological features. The Ugaritic Lotan (a seven-headed sea serpent) is another tradition in the background. The scholarly consensus is that Leviathan in Job 41 draws on the real crocodile's terrifying characteristics and amplifies them cosmically. The tannin as crocodile and the Leviathan as cosmic version of the crocodile are related but not identical in the biblical text.

Aaron's staff, Exodus 7:9–12, When Pharaoh asks for a miracle, Aaron throws down his staff and it becomes a tannin. The Egyptian magicians also throw down their staffs and they become tanninim. Aaron's tannin swallows theirs. The contest takes place in Egypt, before Pharaoh, and involves the great reptile of the Nile culture. YHWH's representative swallows Egypt's representatives.

The crocodile is the tannin, the great reptile of the Nile, the creature whose image Ezekiel gives Pharaoh, the sea-dragon crushed at the waters in Psalm 74, and the real-world referent behind many of the dragon/chaos-creature passages in the prophetic literature. The Sanctum holds it as Canon-tier: from Aaron's staff-tannin that swallows Egypt's tanninim to Ezekiel's hooked-and-dragged Pharaoh-crocodile thrown to the wilderness scavengers.