Leviathan

Leviathan is the coiling many-headed sea-dragon of primeval chaos, the Israelite counterpart of the Ugaritic serpent Lotan slain by Baal and Anat. In the hymnic tradition Yahweh crushes the heads of Leviathan at creation and gives him as food to the desert creatures; in the divine speeches of Job he is an untameable monster whose breath kindles coals, whose scales turn the sword and whom no mortal can subdue. Isaiah projects the combat into the future, when on that day Yahweh with his hard and great sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and slay the dragon that is in the sea. He is frequently identified with Rahab and with the chaos-sea itself.

Domains

• chaos
• sea

Powers

• embodies the many-headed chaos of the deep
• breathes fire and smoke, invulnerable to weapons

Epithets

• נָחָשׁ בָּרִחַ ... נָחָשׁ עֲקַלָּתוֹן — the fleeing serpent ... the twisting serpentHebrew Bible, Isaiah 27:1 (primary)

Relations

• enemy: YahwehYahweh crushes his heads at creation and will slay him with the sword on the final day.Hebrew Bible, Psalm 74:14; Isaiah 27:1 (primary)
• ally: RahabBoth are personifications of the turbulent chaos-sea and are sometimes identified.John Day, God's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea (1985) (secondary)

Sources

• Leviathan is a multi-headed sea-dragon of chaos defeated by Yahweh, corresponding to the Ugaritic serpent Lotan.: Hebrew Bible, Psalm 74:14; Isaiah 27:1; Job 3:8; 41; Psalm 104:26 (primary); John Day, God's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea (1985) (secondary)