Leviathan ( ; ; ) is a giant sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in the Hebrew Bible, as a metaphor for a powerful enemy, notably Babylon. It is referred to in Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the Book of Enoch. Leviathan is often an embodiment of chaos, threatening to eat the damned when their lives are over. In the end, it is annihilated. Christian theologians identified Leviathan with the demon of the deadly sin envy. According to Ophite Diagrams, Leviathan encapsulates the space of the material world.
In Gnosticism, it encompasses the world like a sphere and incorporates the souls of those who are too attached to material things, so they cannot reach the realm of God's fullness beyond, from which all good emanates. In Hobbes, Leviathan becomes a metaphor for the omnipotence of the state, which maintains itself by educating children in its favour, generation after generation. This idea of eternal power that 'feeds' on its constantly self-produced citizens is based on a concept of conditioning that imprints the human's conscience in a mechanical manner. It deals in a good and evil dualism: A speculative natural law according to which man should behave towards man like a ravenous wolf, and the pedagogically transmitted laws of the state as Leviathan, whose justification for existence is seen in containing such frightening conditions.
Leviathan in the Book of Job is a reflection of the older Canaanite Lotan, a primeval monster defeated by the god Baal Hadad. Parallels to the role the primeval Sumerian sea goddess Tiamat, who was defeated by Marduk, have long been drawn in comparative mythology, as have been comparisons to dragon and world serpent narratives, such as Indra slaying Vritra or Thor slaying Jörmungandr. Some 19th century scholars pragmatically interpreted it as referring to large aquatic creatures, such as the crocodile. The word later came to be used as a term for great whale and for sea monsters in general.
Etymology and origins Gesenius (among others) argued the name was derived from the root lwh "to twine"; "to join", with an adjectival suffix , for a literal meaning of "wreathed", "twisted in folds". If it exists, the adjectival suffix (as opposed to -ון) is otherwise unattested except perhaps in Nehushtan, whose etymology is unknown; the ת would also require explanation, as Nechushtan is formed from neḥošeṯ and Leviathan from liveyah; the normal-pattern f.s. adjective would be לויון, liveyon. Other philologists, including Leskien, thought it a foreign loanword. A third school considers it a proper noun. Georg Lorenz Bauer proposed לוית+תן, for "wreath of serpent".
Both the name and the mythological figure are a direct continuation of the Ugaritic sea monster Lôtān, one of the servants of the sea god Yammu defeated by Hadad in the Baal Cycle. The Ugaritic account has gaps, making it unclear whether some phrases describe him or other monsters at Yammu's disposal such as Tunannu (the biblical Tannin). Most scholars agree on describing Lôtān as "the fugitive serpent" (bṯn brḥ) but he may or may not be "the wriggling serpent" (bṯn ʿqltn) or "the mighty one with seven heads" (šlyṭ d.šbʿt rašm). His role seems to have been prefigured by the earlier serpent Têmtum whose death at the hands of Hadad is depicted in Syrian seals of the
Sea serpents feature prominently in the mythology of the ancient Near East. They are attested by the in Sumerian iconography depicting the god Ninurta overcoming a seven-headed serpent. It was common for Near Eastern religions to include a Chaoskampf: a cosmic battle between a sea monster representing the forces of chaos and a creator god or culture hero who imposes order by force. The Babylonian creation myth describes Marduk's defeat of the serpent goddess Tiamat, whose body was used to create the heavens and the earth. Recent scholarship has explored these sea-serpent traditions within the broader serpent symbolism of the ancient Mediterranean.
Tanakh Leviathan specifically is mentioned six times in the Tanakh.
is dedicated to describing it in detail: "Behold, the hope of him is in vain; shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?"Jewish Publication Society translation (1917). Included in God's lengthy description of his indomitable creation is Leviathan's fire-breathing ability, his impenetrable scales, and his overall indomitability in . In , God is praised for having made all things, including Leviathan, and in , he is called the "tortuous serpent" who will be killed at the end of time.
The mention of the Tannins in the Genesis creation narrative. (translated as "great whales" in the King James Version), (KJV). in Job, and in the Psalm. do not describe them as harmful but as ocean creatures who are part of God's creation. The element of competition between God and the sea monster and the use of Leviathan to describe the powerful enemies of IsraelFor example, in . may reflect the influence of the Mesopotamian and Canaanite legends or the contest in Egyptian mythology between the Apep snake and the sun god Ra. Alternatively, the removal of such competition may have reflected an attempt to naturalize Leviathan in a process that demoted it from deity to demon to monster.Hermann Gunkel, Heinrich Zimmern; K. William Whitney Jr., trans., Creation And Chaos in the Primeval Era And the Eschaton: A Religio-historical Study of Genesis 1 and Revelation 12. (Grand Rapids: MI: Eerdmans, 1895, 1921, 2006). p. 37-38.Watson, R.S. (2005). Chaos Uncreated: A Reassessment of the Theme of "chaos" in the Hebrew Bible. Walter de Gruyter. ,
Judaism
Later Jewish sources describe Leviathan as a dragon who lives over the sources of the deep and who, along with the male land-monster Behemoth, will be served up to the righteous at the end of time. The Book of Enoch (60:7–9) describes Leviathan as a female monster dwelling in the watery abyss (as Tiamat), while Behemoth is a male monster living in the desert of Dunaydin ("east of Eden").
In the Jewish midrash (explanations of the Tanakh), it is stated that God originally produced a male and a female leviathan, but lest in multiplying the species should destroy the world, he slew the female, reserving her flesh for the banquet that will be given to the righteous on the advent of the Messiah.Babylonian Talmud, tractate Baba Bathra 74b. A similar description appears in Book of Enoch (60:24), which describes how the Behemoth and Leviathan will be prepared as part of an eschatological meal.
Rashi's commentary on repeats the tradition:
the ... sea monsters: The great fish in the sea, and in the words of the Aggadah (B.B. 74b), this refers to the Leviathan and its mate, for He created them male and female, and He slew the female and salted her away for the righteous in the future, for if they would propagate, the world could not exist because of them. הַתַּנִינִם is written.Gen. Rabbah 7:4, Midrash Chaseroth V'Yetheroth, Batei Midrashoth, vol 2, p. 225
In the Talmud Baba Bathra 75 it is told that Leviathan will be slain and its flesh served as a feast to the righteous in [the] "time to come" and its skin used to cover the tent where the banquet will take place. Those who do not deserve to consume its flesh beneath the tent may receive various vestments of Leviathan varying from coverings (for the somewhat deserving) to amulets (for the least deserving). The remaining skin of Leviathan will be spread onto the walls of Jerusalem, thereby illuminating the world with its brightness. The festival of Sukkot (Festival of Booths) therefore concludes with a prayer recited upon leaving the sukkah (booth): "May it be your will, Lord our God and God of our forefathers, that just as I have fulfilled and dwelt in this sukkah, so may I merit in the coming year to dwell in the sukkah of the skin of Leviathan. Next year in Jerusalem."
The enormous size of Leviathan is described by Johanan bar Nappaha, from whom proceeded nearly all the aggadot concerning this monster: "Once we went in a ship and saw a fish which put his head out of the water. He had horns upon which was written: 'I am one of the meanest creatures that inhabit the sea. I am three hundred miles in length, and enter this day into the jaws of the Leviathan'".Babylonian Talmud, Baba Bathra 74a.
When Leviathan is hungry, reports Rabbi Dimi in the name of Rabbi Johanan, he sends forth from his mouth a heat so great as to make all the waters of the deep boil, and if he would put his head into Paradise no living creature could endure the odor of him.Babylonian Talmud, Baba Bathra 75a. His abode is the Mediterranean Sea.Babylonian Talmud, Bekorot 55b; Baba Bathra 75a.
In a legend recorded in the midrash called Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer it is stated that the fish which swallowed Jonah narrowly avoided being eaten by Leviathan, which eats one whale each day.
The body of Leviathan, especially his eyes, possesses great illuminating power. This was the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, who, in the course of a voyage in company with Rabbi Joshua, explained to the latter, when frightened by the sudden appearance of a brilliant light, that it probably proceeded from the eyes of Leviathan. He referred his companion to the words of Job 41:18: "By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning".Bava Batra l.c.
However, in spite of his supernatural strength, Leviathan is afraid of a small worm called "kilbit", which clings to the gills of large fish and kills them.Shabbat 77b
In the eleventh-century piyyut (religious poem), Akdamut, recited on Shavuot (Pentecost), it is envisioned that, ultimately, God will slaughter Leviathan, which is described as having "mighty fins" (and, therefore, a kosher fish, not an inedible snake or crocodile), and it will be served as a sumptuous banquet for all the righteous in heaven.
In the Zohar, Leviathan is a metaphor for enlightenment. The Zohar remarks that the legend of the righteous eating the flesh of Leviathan at the end of the days is not literal, and merely a metaphor for enlightenment.Zohar 1:140b. See also Zohar 3:279a The Zohar also specifies in detail that the Leviathan has a mate.Zohar 1:4b The Zohar also associates the metaphor of the leviathan with the "tzaddik" or righteous in Zohar 2:11b and 3:58a. The Zohar associates it with the "briach" the pole in the middle of the boards of the tabernacle in Zohar 2:20a. Both, are associated with the Sefira of Yesod.Matuk Midvash on Zohar 2:11b
According to Abraham Isaac Kook, Leviathan – a singular creature with no mate, "its tail is placed in its mouth" (Zohar) "twisting around and encompassing the entire world" (Rashi on Baba Batra 74b) – projects a vivid metaphor for the universe's underlying unity. This unity will only be revealed in the future, when the righteous will feast on Leviathan.
Christianity
Leviathan can also be used as an image of the devil, endangering both God's creatures — by attempting to eat them — and God's creation — by threatening it with upheaval in the waters of chaos. A "dragon" (drakon), being the usual translation for the leviathan in the Septuagint, appears in the Book of Revelation. Although the Old Testament nowhere identifies the leviathan with the devil, the seven-headed dragon in the Book of Revelation explicitly is. By this the battle between God and the primordial chaos monsters shifts to a battle between God and the devil. Only once, in the Book of Job, the leviathan is translated as "sea-monster" (, ketos).