Psalms 74:13-14

74:13 You destroyed ¹  the sea by your strength;

you shattered the heads of the sea monster ²  in the water.

74:14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; ³ 

you fed ⁴  him to the people who live along the coast. ⁵ 

Psalms 104:25-26

104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, ⁶ 

which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, ⁷ 

living things both small and large.

104:26 The ships travel there,

and over here swims the whale ⁸  you made to play in it.

Genesis 1:21

1:21 God created the great sea creatures ⁹  and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good.

Job 41:1-34

The Description of Leviathan

41:1 (40:25) ¹⁰  “Can you pull in ¹¹  Leviathan with a hook,

and tie down ¹²  its tongue with a rope?

41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose,

or pierce its jaw with a hook?

41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, ¹³ 

will it speak to you with tender words? ¹⁴ 

41:4 Will it make a pact ¹⁵  with you,

so you could take it ¹⁶  as your slave for life?

41:5 Can you play ¹⁷  with it, like a bird,

or tie it on a leash ¹⁸  for your girls?

41:6 Will partners ¹⁹  bargain ²⁰  for it?

Will they divide it up ²¹  among the merchants?

41:7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons

or its head with fishing spears?

41:8 If you lay your hand on it,

you will remember ²²  the fight,

and you will never do it again!

41:9 (41:1) ²³  See, his expectation is wrong, ²⁴ 

he is laid low even at the sight of it. ²⁵ 

41:10 Is it not fierce ²⁶  when it is awakened?

Who is he, then, who can stand before it? ²⁷ 

41:11 (Who has confronted ²⁸  me that I should repay? ²⁹ 

Everything under heaven belongs to me!) ³⁰ 

41:12 I will not keep silent about its limbs,

and the extent of its might,

and the grace of its arrangement. ³¹ 

41:13 Who can uncover its outer covering? ³² 

Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor? ³³ 

41:14 Who can open the doors of its mouth? ³⁴ 

Its teeth all around are fearsome.

41:15 Its back ³⁵  has rows of shields,

shut up closely ³⁶  together as with a seal;

41:16 each one is so close to the next ³⁷ 

that no air can come between them.

41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next; ³⁸ 

they cling together and cannot be separated.

41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;

its eyes are like the red glow ³⁹  of dawn.

41:19 Out of its mouth go flames, ⁴⁰ 

sparks of fire shoot forth!

41:20 Smoke streams from its nostrils

as from a boiling pot over burning ⁴¹  rushes.

41:21 Its breath sets coals ablaze

and a flame shoots from its mouth.

41:22 Strength lodges in its neck,

and despair ⁴²  runs before it.

41:23 The folds ⁴³  of its flesh are tightly joined;

they are firm on it, immovable. ⁴⁴ 

41:24 Its heart ⁴⁵  is hard as rock,

hard as a lower millstone.

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,

at its thrashing about they withdraw. ⁴⁶ 

41:26 Whoever strikes it with a sword ⁴⁷ 

will have no effect, ⁴⁸ 

nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.

41:27 It regards iron as straw

and bronze as rotten wood.

41:28 Arrows ⁴⁹  do not make it flee;

slingstones become like chaff to it.

41:29 A club is counted ⁵⁰  as a piece of straw;

it laughs at the rattling of the lance.

41:30 Its underparts ⁵¹  are the sharp points of potsherds,

it leaves its mark in the mud

like a threshing sledge. ⁵² 

41:31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron

and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment, ⁵³ 

41:32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;

one would think the deep had a head of white hair.

41:33 The likes of it is not on earth,

a creature ⁵⁴  without fear.

41:34 It looks on every haughty being;

it is king over all that are proud.” ⁵⁵ 

Isaiah 27:1

27:1 At that time ⁵⁶  the Lord will punish

with his destructive, ⁵⁷  great, and powerful sword

Leviathan the fast-moving ⁵⁸  serpent,

Leviathan the squirming serpent;

he will kill the sea monster. ⁵⁹ 

Isaiah 43:20

43:20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,

the jackals and ostriches,

because I put water in the desert

and streams in the wilderness,

to quench the thirst of my chosen people,

Isaiah 51:9-10

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ⁶⁰ 

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash ⁶¹  the Proud One? ⁶² 

Did you not ⁶³  wound the sea monster? ⁶⁴ 

51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,

the waters of the great deep?

Did you not make ⁶⁵  a path through the depths of the sea,

so those delivered from bondage ⁶⁶  could cross over?

[74:13]  ¹ tn The derivation and meaning of the Polel verb form פּוֹרַרְתָּ (porarta) are uncertain. The form may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “break, shatter,” though the biblical Hebrew cognate of this verb always appears in the Hiphil or Hophal stem. BDB 830 s.v. II פָּרַר suggests a homonym here, meaning “to split; to divide.” A Hitpolel form of a root פָּרַר (parar) appears in Isa 24:19 with the meaning “to shake violently.”

[74:13]  ² tn The Hebrew text has the plural form, “sea monsters” (cf. NRSV “dragons”), but it is likely that an original enclitic mem has been misunderstood as a plural ending. The imagery of the mythological sea monster is utilized here. See the note on “Leviathan” in v. 14.

[74:14]  ³ sn You crushed the heads of Leviathan. The imagery of vv. 13-14 originates in West Semitic mythology. The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon [Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַּנִין (tanin), translated “sea monster” in v. 13] vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling [Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן (’aqallaton), translated “squirming” in Isa 27:1] serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (note the use of the plural “heads” here and in v. 13). (See CTA 3.iii.38-39 in G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 50.) (2) “For all that you smote Leviathan the slippery [Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ (bariakh), translated “fast moving” in Isa 27:1] serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5.i.1-3 in G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 68.) In the myths Leviathan is a sea creature that symbolizes the destructive water of the sea and, in turn, the forces of chaos that threaten the established order. In the OT, the battle with the sea motif is applied to Yahweh’s victories over the forces of chaos at creation and in history (see Pss 74:13-14; 77:16-20; 89:9-10; Isa 51:9-10). Yahweh’s subjugation of the waters of chaos is related to his kingship (see Pss 29:3, 10; 93:3-4). Isa 27:1 applies imagery from Canaanite mythology to Yahweh’s eschatological victory over his enemies. Apocalyptic literature employs the imagery as well. The beasts of Dan 7 emerge from the sea, while Rev 13 speaks of a seven-headed beast coming from the sea. Here in Ps 74:13-14 the primary referent is unclear. The psalmist may be describing God’s creation of the world (note vv. 16-17 and see Ps 89:9-12), when he brought order out of a watery mass, or the exodus (see Isa 51:9-10), when he created Israel by destroying the Egyptians in the waters of the sea.

[74:14]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite in this narrational context.

[74:14]  ⁵ sn You fed him to the people. This pictures the fragments of Leviathan’s dead corpse washing up on shore and being devoured by those who find them. If the exodus is in view, then it may allude to the bodies of the dead Egyptians which washed up on the shore of the Red Sea (see Exod 14:30).

[104:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”

[104:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”

[104:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.

[1:21]  ⁹ tn For the first time in the narrative proper the verb “create” (בָּרָא, bara’) appears. (It is used in the summary statement of v. 1.) The author wishes to underscore that these creatures – even the great ones – are part of God’s perfect creation. The Hebrew term תַנִּינִם (tanninim) is used for snakes (Exod 7:9), crocodiles (Ezek 29:3), or other powerful animals (Jer 51:34). In Isa 27:1 the word is used to describe a mythological sea creature that symbolizes God’s enemies.

[41:1]  ¹⁰ sn Beginning with 41:1, the verse numbers through 41:9 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 41:1 ET = 40:25 HT, 41:2 ET = 40:26 HT, etc., through 41:34 ET = 41:26 HT. The Hebrew verse numbers in the remainder of the chapter differ from the verse numbers in the English Bible. Beginning with 42:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[41:1]  ¹¹ tn The verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh) means “to extract from the water; to fish.” The question here includes the use of a hook to fish the creature out of the water so that its jaws can be tied safely.

[41:1]  ¹² tn The verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’) means “to cause to sink,” if it is connected with the word in Amos 8:8 and 9:5. But it may have the sense of “to tie; to bind.” If the rope were put around the tongue and jaw, binding tightly would be the sense.

[41:3]  ¹³ tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.

[41:3]  ¹⁴ tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.

[41:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”

[41:4]  ¹⁶ tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”

[41:5]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew verb is שָׂחַק (sakhaq, “to sport; to trifle; to play,” Ps 104:26).

[41:5]  ¹⁸ tn The idea may include putting Leviathan on a leash. D. W. Thomas suggested on the basis of an Arabic cognate that it could be rendered “tie him with a string like a young sparrow” (VT 14 [1964]: 114ff.).

[41:6]  ¹⁹ tn The word חָבַּר (khabbar) is a hapax legomenon, but the meaning is “to associate” since it is etymologically related to the verb “to join together.” The idea is that fishermen usually work in companies or groups, and then divide up the catch when they come ashore – which involves bargaining.

[41:6]  ²⁰ tn The word כָּרַה (karah) means “to sell.” With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it has the sense “to bargain over something.”

[41:6]  ²¹ tn The verb means “to cut up; to divide up” in the sense of selling the dead body (see Exod 21:35). This will be between them and the merchants (כְּנַעֲנִים, kÿna’anim).

[41:8]  ²² tn The verse uses two imperatives which can be interpreted in sequence: do this, and then this will happen.

[41:9]  ²³ sn Job 41:9 in the English Bible is 41:1 in the Hebrew text (BHS). From here to the end of the chapter the Hebrew verse numbers differ from those in the English Bible, with 41:10 ET = 41:2 HT, 41:11 ET = 41:3 HT, etc. See also the note on 41:1.

[41:9]  ²⁴ tn The line is difficult. “His hope [= expectation]” must refer to any assailant who hopes or expects to capture the creature. Because there is no antecedent, Dhorme and others transpose it with the next verse. The point is that the man who thought he was sufficient to confront Leviathan soon finds his hope – his expectation – false (a derivative from the verb כָּזַב [kazab, “lie”] is used for a mirage).

[41:9]  ²⁵ tn There is an interrogative particle in this line, which most commentators ignore. But others freely emend the MT. Gunkel, following the mythological approach, has “his appearance casts down even a god.” Cheyne likewise has: “even divine beings the fear of him brings low” (JQR 9 [1896/97]: 579). Pope has, “Were not the gods cast down at the sight of him?” There is no need to bring in this mythological element.

[41:10]  ²⁶ sn The description is of the animal, not the hunter (or fisherman). Leviathan is so fierce that no one can take him on alone.

[41:10]  ²⁷ tc MT has “before me” and can best be rendered as “Who then is he that can stand before me?” (ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT, NJPS). The following verse (11) favors the MT since both express the lesson to be learned from Leviathan: If a man cannot stand up to Leviathan, how can he stand up to its creator? The translation above has chosen to read the text as “before him” (cf. NRSV, NJB).

[41:11]  ²⁸ tn The verb קָדַם (qadam) means “to come to meet; to come before; to confront” to the face.

[41:11]  ²⁹ sn The verse seems an intrusion (and so E. Dhorme, H. H. Rowley, and many others change the pronouns to make it refer to the animal). But what the text is saying is that it is more dangerous to confront God than to confront this animal.

[41:11]  ³⁰ tn This line also focuses on the sovereign God rather than Leviathan. H. H. Rowley, however, wants to change לִי־חוּא (li-hu’, “it [belongs] to me”) into לֹא הוּא (lo’ hu’, “there is no one”). So it would say that there is no one under the whole heaven who could challenge Leviathan and live, rather than saying it is more dangerous to challenge God to make him repay.

[41:12]  ³¹ tn Dhorme changes the noun into a verb, “I will tell,” and the last two words into אֵין עֶרֶךְ (’en ’erekh, “there is no comparison”). The result is “I will tell of his incomparable might.”

[41:13]  ³² tn Heb “the face of his garment,” referring to the outer garment or covering. Some take it to be the front as opposed to the back.

[41:13]  ³³ tc The word רֶסֶן (resen) has often been rendered “bridle” (cf. ESV), but that leaves a number of unanswered questions. The LXX reads סִרְיוֹן (siryon), with the transposition of letters, but that means “coat of armor.” If the metathesis stands, there is also support from the cognate Akkadian.

[41:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his face.”

[41:15]  ³⁵ tc The MT has גַּאֲוָה (ga’avah, “his pride”), but the LXX, Aquila, and the Vulgate all read גַּוּוֹ (gavvo, “his back”). Almost all the modern English versions follow the variant reading, speaking about “his [or its] back.”

[41:15]  ³⁶ tn Instead of צָר (tsar, “closely”) the LXX has צֹר (tsor, “stone”) to say that the seal was rock hard.

[41:16]  ³⁷ tn The expression “each one…to the next” is literally “one with one.”

[41:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “a man with his brother.”

[41:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the eyelids,” but it represents the early beams of the dawn as the cover of night lifts.

[41:19]  ⁴⁰ sn For the animal, the image is that of pent-up breath with water in a hot steam jet coming from its mouth, like a stream of fire in the rays of the sun. The language is hyperbolic, probably to reflect the pagan ideas of the dragon of the deep in a polemical way – they feared it as a fire breathing monster, but in reality it might have been a steamy crocodile.

[41:20]  ⁴¹ tn The word “burning” is supplied. The Syriac and Vulgate have “a seething and boiling pot” (reading אֹגֵם [’ogem] for אַגְמֹן [’agmon]). This view is widely accepted.

[41:22]  ⁴² tn This word, דְּאָבָה (dÿ’avah) is a hapax legomenon. But the verbal root means “to languish; to pine.” A related noun talks of dejection and despair in Deut 28:65. So here “despair” as a translation is preferable to “terror.”

[41:23]  ⁴³ tn Heb “fallings.”

[41:23]  ⁴⁴ tn The last clause says “it cannot be moved.” But this part will function adverbially in the sentence.

[41:24]  ⁴⁵ tn The description of his heart being “hard” means that he is cruel and fearless. The word for “hard” is the word encountered before for molten or cast metal.

[41:25]  ⁴⁶ tc This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: “when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.” The mythological approach would render אֵלִים (’elim) as “gods.” But the last two words, which could be rendered “at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,” receive much attention. E. Dhorme (Job, 639) suggests “majesty” for “raising up” and “billows” (גַּלִּים, gallim) for אֵלִים (’elim), and gets a better parallelism: “the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back.” But H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 263) does not think this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts “in their dire consternation they are beside themselves.”

[41:26]  ⁴⁷ tn This is the clearest reading, following A. B. Davidson, Job, 285. The versions took different readings of the construction.

[41:26]  ⁴⁸ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “stand”) with בְּלִי (bÿli, “not”) has the sense of “does not hold firm,” or “gives way.”

[41:28]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the son of the bow.”

[41:29]  ⁵⁰ tn The verb is plural, but since there is no expressed subject it is translated as a passive here.

[41:30]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “under him.”

[41:30]  ⁵² tn Here only the word “sharp” is present, but in passages like Isa 41:15 it is joined with “threshing sledge.” Here and in Amos 1:3 and Isa 28:27 the word stands alone, but represents the “sledge.”

[41:31]  ⁵³ sn The idea is either that the sea is stirred up like the foam from beating the ingredients together, or it is the musk-smell that is the point of comparison.

[41:33]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “one who was made.”

[41:34]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “the sons of pride.” Dhorme repoints the last word to get “all the wild beasts,” but this misses the point of the verse. This animal looks over every proud creature – but he is king of them all in that department.

[27:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[27:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”

[27:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”

[27:1]  ⁵⁹ tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)

[51:9]  ⁶⁰ tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.

[51:9]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”

[51:9]  ⁶² tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).

[51:9]  ⁶³ tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”

[51:9]  ⁶⁴ tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.

[51:10]  ⁶⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made…?”

[51:10]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “the redeemed” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “the ransomed.”