Who is Leviathan? (Job ch41)

Leviathan is two things at the same time. He is a living creature, and he is a symbol.

On the first question, I regard the RSV suggestion "crocodile" as an absurd anti-climax. The previous creature mentioned was Behemoth, described (ch40 v19) as "the first of the works of God". This is evidently the climax of the list of animals beginning in ch39. So the last creature mentioned ought to offer an intensified climax.

The end of the chapter makes it clear that he lives in the sea; "He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be hoary" (ch41 vv31-32, RSV). Surely this has to be the whale. Only the whale is greater than the greatest of the land-animals. The description of the terror he causes looks like a graphic account of a whale-hunt.

If we insist on being naively literal about the physical description, then "out of his mouth go flaming torches" (19) actually rules out the crocodile. If we don't, then the limited effect of primitive harpoons on whale skin would be enough to account for the description of armour (vv13-17).

But Leviathan is also a symbol. Consider the logic of this list. The first climax was "the first of the works of God", evidently in order of greatness rather than in order of time. The placing of Leviathan implies that he is even greater. But if Leviathan is greater than the greatest of the works of God, then he cannot himself be one of the works of God. Indeed, he is the only living creature on the list for whom God makes no provision and offers no support.

In Isaiah ch27 v1, Leviathan is destined to be punished by God. he is the twisting serpent, the dragon who lives in the sea. Job ch3 v8 alludes to him as the mythical creature capable of swallowing the sun and causing eclipses (compare Revelation ch12 v4), who can be raised by the magical arts of those witches who want to "curse the day". The "serpent" imagery does not necessarily clash with the "whale" hypothesis. Imagination based on verbal description of behaviour was apparently capable of turning an African rhinoceros into a mediaeval European unicorn, and I suggest that it could easily turn a thrashing whale into a sea-serpent.

His home in the sea also has symbolic relevance. The process outlined in Genesis ch1 vv1-10 identifies the sea as a surviving remnant of the original Abyss. It is the part of God's creation which he has not actually put in order, apart from placing limits. When Jonah is swallowed by a "great fish", he feels that he has been "cast into the deep".The sea is the source of evil things in Daniel ch7 v2 and on a number of occasions in Revelatino, which is presumably why it is abolished in Revelation ch21 v1. So Leviathan as a sea-creature appears to represent the source of all evil.

That would explain his place as the climax of the book of Job. God is ending his final speech to Job by acknowledging that the source of all evil exists and tacitly refusing to explain why, or to reveal what he is going to do about it. The great refusal is precisely what the book of Job is all about.

a reply to: DISRAELI2

Always love your posts.

"He makes the sea like a pot of ointment"

To me, I have often thought of some sort of giant squid. Makes me think of the octopus ink. Take into account the tentacles of said squid as the evil that reaches everywhere.

The second reason I would not think whale, is because of the use of a whale with Jonah.

So, question:

Is the reason this earth is destroyed by fire the way to purify the seas? The impurities burn off as it turns to steam?

a reply to: DISRAELI2

It’s interesting, at least to me, that Yahweh and Leviathan share the same description with fire..

out of his mouth go flaming torches"

Yahweh is said to:

pours forth smoke from his nostrils and fire from his mouth

Odd that they both are described with the same ability.

a reply to: DISRAELI2

First off, I am not a professional. I am not a linguist or a historian, and I can only speak English. However, I LOVE reading and translating things as best as I can. I've found that Blue Letter Bible is a great tool for this, at least in terms of the material it covers.

I don't know that a whale quite fits the description either, if it is to be a literal beast of the sea at all. However, there are some things that are easy to correlate with a whale:

1. 41:25 - Wales are known for breaching.
2. 41:31 - I read the second half akin to 'Leviathan stirs the waters of the sea as easily as we would a pot of ointment', more so if ointment pots are small enough to hold with a single hand, but I wasn't there and am not a pottery historian.

However, there is a lot more in the descriptions which don't match up with a whale, and I'll skip over the obvious ones involving smoke or fire, as they has a lot of meanings depending on their context and the specific Hebrew words used to convey the idea of fire or smoke.
1. 41:13 - Either figuratively or literally, this creature has a "levusho" (Hebrew), or "garment/clothing". This could actually refer to a generalization of "appearance", but the Hebrew doesn't leave much wiggle room. However, in antithesis to my own response on this matter, I could imagine this being related to some kind of whale if it refers to a whale with a facial color different than the rest of its body, meaning that its skin would appear painted, as if a painted on facial garment.
2. 41:15-17 - The creature has scales. However, these scales are not normal, as they would appear flush, and so tightly compacted that air cannot pass through. Whale skin up close, not including foreign attachments, would mostly appear smooth, but there are notable sections of patterned flesh on some species, but these are like long vertical cracks which run along the length of the body, and they are more than wide enough to allow air to pass through. These scales are so unique that they are described as its "pride".
3. 41:28-29 - Arrows are ineffective in scaring it, and stones break against its flesh. Other weapons don't work and it laughs at spear threats.
4. 41:33 - It does not have the ability to fear.
5. 41:34 - It can look at all high things. This is kind of odd, as the word used here for "high" is "gavoh", which when used in other sections of the bible is read as "exalted" or "higher in authority". So instead of reading as "it can see all things high in the sky", it more readily translates as "it can see all high-ranking things". Also strange is the fact that this verse says it "is a king over children of pride". This is odd because this same phrase for "of pride", "sahas", is used in 28:8 to describe a group of lions rather than a concept of behavior or sin. That specific phrase in its Hebrew format is only used twice in the Bible, both in Job.

All in all, I cannot register this description as a whale, but strangely enough, neither does the idea of a literal "serpentine" creature fit for me. In truth, this honestly sounds like something else, something different, and if we are to go off the idea that this creature is in fact different from all others, imbued with such power and reverence, something Gnostic. (I assume this is what you are referencing by the "Abyss"). As this creature abides the waters, and as many have connected it with chaos, yourself making the connection to evil, it reminds me of other Gnostic texts and makes me wonder whether or not this creature is something of the Demiurge. Following this chain across similarities, sometimes outright "synchronizations", from other religions, you can find things which further support this idea, as MANY deal specifically with water. Just as one small example, but there are plenty of others, you can look at Liwa from Muslim teachings found in the Quran, but again, to play advocate against myself, this name could also be a reference to militaristic bodies. Still, the number of references to similar aquatic beasts of power across religions is fascinating, but then again humans have always been fascinated by the mysteries and dangers of the waters.

In the end, I honestly have absolutely no definite clue, but I enjoy analyzing and speculating. Thinking of it as a symbol is interesting, however, and it meshes with SO MUCH of the Bible's text, metaphoric translation puzzles.

Maybe a sea creature that is now extinct? Smoke from the nostrils could be the blow of some sort of sea mammal sort of like a whale. Maybe a whale that had some sort of squid like gland that turned the water redish or something, or that excreted a chemical that could cause the skin to burn on humans. Like a digestive enzyme or chemical that was used for protection.

There could have been big sea creatures out there like the sea dragon listed in some ancient writings which would be sort of like a super long and thick eel of some sort. They have found some evidence of a creature now extinct that could have been the sea dragon, but it was supposedly extinct many thousands of years ago. Although science is finding animals and fish in the ocean and remote areas of the world they had said were extinct long ago.....just because they have no evidence these things are alive yet does not mean they don't exist somewhere they have not looked for them yet.

a reply to: theatreboy
The text of Jonah says "big fish". Only tradition makes it a whale. But for Jonah, entering the fish is the same thing as entering the abyss, so at least the spiritual symbolism aligns it with Leviathan. If Jonah's fish was a whale, then Job's fish should be a whale.

a reply to: thelorehound
I don't regard "the Abyss" as any kind of creature. In the visions of Revelation, the sea or the abysss is implicitly the place where evil originates. The creation account of Genesis ch1 shows why they are alternate names for the same thing (the sea is what happens when the original waters of the abyss are limited to one place). This is also a clue as to why the sea/abyss represents the source of evil. It is the part of his creation which God did not put in order. He simply pushed it out of the way. So the creature living in the source of evil represents "Evil" in the abstract. There is no need to solidify these things into Gnostic entities.

a reply to: rickymouse
I think it more likely that the writer had a mental picture based on second-hand verbal descriptions. The Europeans of the Middle Ages heard about the rhinoceros as an animal capable of racing at speed across the plain, and they naturally visualised him as a horse. I am supposing that Israelite imagination created the scales out of the report that harpoons had little effect on whale skin.

a reply to: TheLieWeLive
In both cases, the imagery is part of the portrayal of "demonstrating power", which makes them rivals in the same field.

I suspect that the "fire" goes back to the snorting of bulls, which are important images of power in the Old Testament. They are surely the reason why "horns" keep appearing as a symbol of power.

In my opinion, Behemoth and Leviathan are the same creature... male and female.
The description clearly depicts a speaking, fire-breathing dragon. No description as to a flying dragon but a dragon nonetheless.

Bulls as in the age of Taurus? Or horns as in the view from Earth of a planetary polar configuration at the end of the purple dawn of creation?

a reply to: DISRAELI2

a reply to: Dalamax
Bulls mostly as in the famous herds being fattened on the pastures of the hills of Bashan, as mentioned in one of the Psalms.

a reply to: mytquin
Behemoth lives in the mountains. Ch40 v20.

a reply to: DISRAELI2 The bible talks about whales a ton. They were completely aware of a whale vs this giant monster

a reply to: mytquin

"male and female"

Think Its divine energy, the priest of Levi (aka Moses) speak from divine energy of fire (male/sun). Whilst the Behemoth is calm, and full of empathy (female/moon). The two battle. When they kill each another the result is awakening (feast). They equate to the Pingala and Ida nadi channels in Hinduism.