Leviathan
In Isaiah 27:1 we are told that leviathan is the
twisted serpent who lives in the
sea. And in Job 41 of the
Old Testament, Leviathan is described in more detail. One
recorded
sighting of a creature like leviathan was made by a missionary
named Hans Egede
off the coast of Greenland in
1734.  Sightings
of sea serpents were apparently not
too uncommon only a few hundred years ago.
In Job 41
leviathan is described as a
sea monster who could breath fire, and who was Not afraid of
man, nor any of his weapons. In fact, God boasts about making
him. Below is an excerpt from this Old Testament passage.
Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Can you put a rope in
his nose?
Will he make many supplications to you?
Lay your hand on
him; remember the battle; you will not do it again!
No one
dares to
arouse him; Who then is he
that can stand before Me? Who has
given to Me that I should repay him?
I will not keep silence concerning his
limbs,* or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.
Who can strip off his outer armor?
Who can come within his double mail?
Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
His strong scales are his pride, shut up as with a tight seal
They clasp each other and cannot be separated. His
sneezes flash forth light. ... Out of his mouth go burning torches. ... His
breath kindles coals and a flame goes forth from his mouth.
sneezes flash forth light
Out
of his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth
When
he raises himself up, the mighty fear ...
The sword that reaches him cannot avail; nor the spear, the dart, or
the javelin. He regards iron as
straw, bronze as rotten wood. The
arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble ... He makes
the depths to boil like a pot
Behind him he makes a wake to shine
Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear
Job 41 NASB
Some Old Testament commentaries say that
Leviathan was a crocodile, however, a crocodile doesn't fit the description
above, nor from Isaiah 27 for the following reasons:
-
A crocodile doesn't exhale, or
breathe out a "flame," nor anything that resembles a "burning
torch" from its mouth.
-
A crocodile that was swimming in the
ocean, or sea, would not make a "wake."
-
A crocodile could not raise itself
up, out of the water, so as to make "the mighty fear."
In fact, a crocodile can't "raise itself up" out of the water
at all.
-
A crocodile's belly is vulnerable to
spears, javelins, and arrows; however, according to Job 41:26-30,
leviathan was not vulnerable at all to such things and that his
underparts were covered with "potsherds."
-
According to this passage, Leviathan
could even make "the depths to boil," or cause water to boil
as if it were in a pot: something no ordinary crocodile can
do.
-
A crocodile is not a "twisted
serpent."
-
* Although the word "limbs"
appears in verse 12 of the New American Standard Bible, this word does
not appear in the Hebrew or the King James: again suggesting
that leviathan was a serpent rather than a crocodile or a plesiosaur
with legs or limbs.
Some say that
leviathan was not even a real creature but represents a demon or the spirit
of pride; however, it that is the case then the whole description above is
false and would mean that the whole chapter of Job 41 is deceptive.
This idea is also contrary to what we are plainly told in Isaiah 27, where
we are told that leviathan was a "twisted serpent" that lived in
the sea. And in Psalm 74:13-14 we are also told that God Himself slew
leviathan and gave his body to the beasts of the field as food. This
likely took place after the flood when the earth's animal population was
being replenished.
See also:
Fire-Breathing
Dragons
Cadborosaurus
or Whale
Was
Behemoth a Dinosaur?
T-Rex
Blood Cells & Bio-Tissue
The
Forbidden History of Dinosaurs
Are
Dinosaurs Millions of Years old?
Proteins
and Soft Tissue in T-Rex Bone
Was
Leviathan a Fire Breathing Dragon?
What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?
Comments
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