Difference between revisions of "Leviathan"

<p> From '''''Lewy''''' "joined" (referring to its joined, plate armour like scales) and than a monster drawn out, i.e. long; or else Arabic lavah "to twist." So &nbsp;Job 41:15-17. The crocodile. The whale having a smooth skin and no scales cannot be meant. The crocodile's teeth, 30 on each side of each jaw, lock into each other. [[Lips]] are wanting, so that the teeth are seen even when the mouth is closed, illustrating &nbsp;Job 41:14, "who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about." As behemoth is the hippopotamus, so leviathan is the crocodile, both found in Egypt along the Nile. The term elsewhere is used for any large monster of the "sea" or water. &nbsp;Psalms 104:26; &nbsp;Psalms 74:13-14; "Thou breakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness." The king of Egypt is symbolized by the "dragons" and "leviathan" (compare &nbsp;Ezekiel 32:2; &nbsp;Ezekiel 29:3); he and his host at their overthrow in the Red Sea became a spoil to [[Israel]] (compare "bread for us," &nbsp;Numbers 14:9) "in the wilderness." </p> <p> The context shows that it is the benefits of God to Israel that are here recounted. In &nbsp;Job 3:8 translated "let them curse it (my day of birth) ... who are ready to raise up a leviathan," i.e. necromancers who rouse and control wild beasts at will (compare &nbsp;Psalms 58:5). In &nbsp;Isaiah 27:1, "leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked (wriggling) serpent," "the dragon in the sea," literally refers to the crocodile in the sea or Nile, or else to the great rock snakes. [[Spiritually]] every foe of Israel and the church. Antitypically and finally Satan "the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil" (&nbsp;Revelation 20:2; &nbsp;Revelation 20:10), whom finally "Jehovah with His sore, great, and strong sword shall punish." For" piercing" ( '''''Bariach''''' ) translated "darting from side to side." Foiled on one side he tries to gain on the other side (&nbsp;Job 26:13; &nbsp;2 Corinthians 11:14; &nbsp;2 Corinthians 2:11). Typhon, the destroyer, was worshipped in Egypt under the form of a crocodile. </p>

<p> [[Leviathan]] ( ''Jointed Monster'' ). This word occurs five times in the A. V., and once in the margin, &nbsp;Job 3:8, where the text has "mourning." In Hebrew the word ''Livya-Than'' is found only in &nbsp;Job 3:8; &nbsp;Job 41:1; &nbsp;Psalms 74:14; &nbsp;Psalms 104:26; &nbsp;Isaiah 27:1. In the margin of &nbsp;Job 3:8 and text of &nbsp;Job 41:1 the crocodile is no doubt the animal meant, and also in &nbsp;Psalms 74:14. In &nbsp;Psalms 104:26 the name represents some animal of the whale tribe in the Mediterranean; but it is uncertain what animal is intended in &nbsp;Isaiah 27:1. The term may denote some species of snakes which are common in south and west Africa. </p>

<p> (Heb. '''''לוְיָתָן''''' , usually derived from '''''לַוְיָה''''' , a ''Wreath,'' with adject. ending '''''ןָ''''' but perhaps compounded of '''''לַוי''''' , wreathed, and '''''תִּן''''' , a [[Sea]] - ''Monster;'' occurs &nbsp;Job 3:8; Job 41, I [Hebrew xl, 25], &nbsp;Psalms 74:14; &nbsp;Psalms 104:26; &nbsp;Isaiah 27:1; Sept. '''''Δράκων''''' , but '''''Τὸμέγα''''' '''''Κῆτος''''' in &nbsp;Job 3:8; Vulg. ''Leviathan,'' but [[Draco]] in Psa.; Auth. Vers. "Leviathan," but '''''‘''''' "their mourning" in &nbsp;Job 3:8) probably has different significations, e.g.: </p> <p> '''(1.)''' A ''Serpent,'' especially a large one (&nbsp;Job 3:8), hence as the symbol of the hostile kingdom of [[Babylon]] (&nbsp;Isaiah 27:1). </p> <p> '''(2.)''' Specially, the [[Crocodile]] (&nbsp;Job 41:1). </p> <p> '''(3.)''' A [[Sea-Monster]] (&nbsp;Psalms 104:26); tropically, for a cruel enemy (&nbsp;Psalms 74:14; compare &nbsp;Isaiah 51:9; &nbsp;Ezekiel 29:3). </p> <p> This Heb. word, which denotes any twisted animal, is especially applicable to every great tenant of the waters, such as the great marine serpents and crocodiles, and, it may be added, the colossal serpents and great monitors of the desert. (See Behemoth); (See Dragon). </p> <p> In general it points to the crocodile, and Job 41 is unequivocally descriptive of that saurian. But in Isaiah and the Psalms foreign kings are evidently apostrophized under the name of Leviathan, though other texts more naturally apply to the whale, notwithstanding the objections that have been made to that interpretation of the term. "It is quite an error to assert, as Dr. Harris ( ''Dict. Nat. Hist. Bib.'' ) '','' [[Mason]] Good ( ''Book Of Job Translated'' ) '','' Michaelis (Supp. 1297), and Rosenm '''''Ü''''' ller (quoting Michaelis in not. ad Bsochart Wie roz. 3:738) have done, that the whale is not found in the Mediterranean. The Orca gladiator (Gray) '''''—''''' the grampus mentioned by [[Lee]] '''''—''''' the Physalus antiquorumn (Gray), or the Rorqual de la Mediterranee (Cuvier), are not uncommon in the [[Mediterranean]] (Fischer, Synops. Mamm. p. 525, and Lacepede, H. N. des Cetac. p. 115), and in ancient times the species may have been more numerous." (See [[Whale]]). </p> <p> The word crocodile does not occur in the Auth.Vers., although its Greek form '''''Κροκόδειλος''''' ' is found in the Sept. (&nbsp;Leviticus 11:29, where for the "tortoise, '''''צָב''''' , it has '''''Κροκόδειλος''''' '''''Χερσαῖος''''' , Vulg. ''Crocodilus'' ) '';'' but there is no specific word in the Hebrew of which it is the acknowledged representative." Bochart (3:769, edit. Rosenm '''''Ü''''' ller) says that the [[Talmudists]] use the word ''Livyath [['''''Â''''' N'']]  to denote the crocodile; this, however, is denied by Lewysohn ( ''Zool. Des Talm.'' p. 155, 355), who says that in the [[Talmud]] it always denotes a ''Wchale,'' and never a ''Crocodile.'' For the Talmudical fables about the leviathan, see Lewysohn ( ''Zool. Des Talm.'' ) '','' in passages referred to above, and Buxtorf, ''Lexicon Chald. Talm.'' s.v. '''''לויתן''''' (Smith). Some of these seem to be alluded to in &nbsp;2 [[Esdras]] 6:49; &nbsp;2 Esdras 6:52. The [[Egyptians]] called it ''Tsmok'' (see Biunsen's ''Aegyptens Stellung,'' 1:581), the Arabs name it ''Tamse'' (compare '''''Χάμψη''''' , Herod. 2:69); but [[Strabo]] says that the [[Egyptian]] crocodile was knolwn by the name stuchus, '''''Σοῦχος''''' '','' probably referring to the sacred species). It is not only denoted by the leviathan of &nbsp;Job 41:1, but probably also by the [[Tannin]] of &nbsp;Ezekiel 29:3; &nbsp;Ezekiel 32:2 (compare &nbsp;Isaiah 27:1; &nbsp;Isaiah 51:9); and perhaps by the ''Reedbeast'' ( '''''חִיִּת''''' '''''קָנֶה''''' "spearmen") of &nbsp;Psalms 68:30. Others confound the leviathan with the ''Orca'' of Pliny (9:5), i.e. probably the ''Physter Macrocephalus'' of Linn. (see Th. Hase, ''De Leviacthan Jobi,'' Brem. 1723); Schultens understands the fabulous [[Dragon]] ''S'' ( ''Comment. In Job.'' p. 1174 sq.; compare Oedmann, ''Satnmml.'' 3:1. sq.); not to dwell upon the supposed identification with fossil species of lizards (Koch, in Lidde's ''Zeitschrift Verygleich Erdk.'' Magdleb. 1844). In the detailed description of Job (ch. 41), probably; the Egyptian crocodile is depicted in all its magnitude, ferocity, and indolence, such as it was in early days, when as yet unconscious of the power of man, and only individually tamed for the purposes of an imposture, which had sufficient authority to intimidate the public and protect the species, under the sanctified pretext that it was a type of pure water, and an emblem of the importance of irrigation; though the people in general seem ever to have been disposed to consider it a personification of the destructive principle. At a later period the Egyptians, probably of such places as Tentyris, where crocodiles were not held in veneration, not only hunted and slew them, but it appears from a statue that a sort of Bestiarii could tame them sufficiently to perform certain exhibitions mounted on their backs. The intense musky odor of its flesh must have rendered the crocodile at all times very unpalatable food, but breast-armor was made of the horny and ridged parts of its back. [[Viewed]] as the crocodile of the Thebaid, it is not clear that the leviathan symbolized the Pharaoh, or was a type of Egypt, any more than of several Roman colonies (even where it was not indigenous, as at Nismcs, in Gaul, on the ancient coins of which the figure of one chained occurs), and of cities in Phoenicia, Egypt, and other parts of the coast of Africa. During the Roman sway in Egypt, crocodiles had not disappeared in the Lower Nile, for Seneca and others allude to a great battle fought by them and a school of dolphins in the Heracleotic branch of the Delta. During the decline of the state even the hippopotamus reappeared about Pelusium, and was shot at in the 17th century (Radzivil). In the time of the [[Crusades]] crocodiles were found in the Crocodilon river of early writers, and in the Crocodilorum lacus, still called Moiat el-Temsah, which appear to be the Kerseos river and marsh, three miles south of Casarea, though the nature of the locality is most appropri ta at Nahr-el Arsuf or el-Haddar" (For a full account of the treatment of the crocodile and its worship in Egypt, see Wilkinson's Anc. Agypt. 1:243 sq.). (See Rahab). </p> <p> Most of the popular accounts of the crocodile have been taken from the American alligator, a smaller animal, but very similar in its habits to the true crocodile. See generally Herod. 2:68 sq.; Diod. Sic. 1:35, ''A'' Elian, Hist. Anim. 5:23; 17; 1:6; 2, Ammianus Marcell. 22:15; Hasselquist, Trav. p. 344 sq., Pococke, East, 1:301 sq.; Oken, Naturgeschichte, I, 2:329 sq.; Cuvier, Anim. Kingd. 2:21; Thom, in the [[Halle]] Encyklop. 21:456 sq.; Bochart, Hieroz. 3:737 sq., Oedmann, 3:1 sq.; 6:53 sq.; Annales du Museum d'histoire nattu. vol. 9, 10; Minutoli, Trav. p. 246 Rosenm '''''Ü''''' ller, Altertshum, sk. IV, 2:244 sq. Denon, Trav. p. 291; Norden, Reise, p. 302. (See Crocodile). </p>

<p> ''''' lḗ ''''' - ''''' vi´a ''''' - ''''' than ''''' ( לויתן , <i> ''''' liwyāthān ''''' </i> (&nbsp; Job 41:1-34 ), from לוה , <i> ''''' lāwāh ''''' </i> , "to fold"; compare Arabic name of the wry neck, <i> ''''' Iynx ''''' </i> <i> ''''' torq̱uilla ''''' </i> , <i> ''''' abū ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' luwā ''''' </i> , from kindred , <i> ''''' lawā ''''' </i> , "to bend"): </p> <p> (1) The word "leviathan" also occurs in &nbsp;Isaiah 27:1 , where it is characterized as "the swift serpent ... the crooked serpent"; in &nbsp;Psalm 104:26 , where a marine monster is indicated; also in &nbsp;Psalm 74:14 and &nbsp; Job 3:8 . The description in Job 41 has been thought by some to refer to the whale, but while the whale suits better the expressions denoting great strength, the words apply best on the whole to the crocodile. Moreover, the whale is very seldom found in the Mediterranean, while the crocodile is abundant in the Nile, and has been known to occur in at least one river of Palestine, the <i> ''''' Zarḳa ''''' </i> , North of Jaffa. For a discussion of the behemoth and leviathan as mythical creatures, see <i> EB </i> , under the word "Behemoth" and "Leviathan." The points in the description which may well apply to the crocodile are the great invulnerability, the strong and close scales, the limbs and the teeth. It must be admitted that there are many expressions which a modern scientist would not use with reference to the crocodile, but the Book of Job is neither modern nor scientific, but poetical and ancient. </p> <p> (2) See [[Astronomy]] , II, 2,5. </p>

<p> Levi´athan ( [mourning—A.V.]; 41:1;;; ) [[[Behemoth, Crocodile, Dragon]]]  [[Gesenius]] very justly remarks that this word, which denotes any twisted animal, is especially applicable to every great tenant of the waters, such as the great marine serpents and crocodiles, and, it may be added, the colossal serpents and great monitors of the desert. In general it points to the crocodile, and Job 41 is unequivocally descriptive of that Saurian. Probably the Egyptian crocodile is therein depicted in all its magnitude, ferocity, and indolence, such as it was in early days, when as yet unconscious of the power of man, and only individually tamed for the purposes of an imposture, which had sufficient authority to intimidate the public and protect the species, under the sanctified pretext that it was a type of pure water, and an emblem of the importance of irrigation; though the people in general seem ever to have been disposed to consider it a personification of the destructive principle. At a later period the Egyptians, probably of such places as Tentyris, where crocodiles were not held in veneration, not only hunted and slew them, but it appears from a statue that a sort of Bestiarii could tame them sufficiently to perform certain exhibitions mounted on their backs. The intense musky odor of its flesh must have rendered the crocodile, at all times, very unpalatable food, but breast-armor was made of the horny and ridged parts of its back. We have ourselves witnessed a periodical abstinence in the great Saurians, and have known negro women, while bathing, play with young alligators; which, they asserted, they could do without danger, unless they hurt them and thereby attracted the vengeance of the mother; but the impunity most likely resulted from the period of inactivity coinciding with the then state of the young animals, or from the negro women being many in the water at the same time. The occurrence took place at Old Harbor, Jamaica. </p>