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The Leviathan


LibGeek

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I've been searching for information everywhere for the leviathan. Every site says something different.

Personally, I think it was really the Giant Squid or a common whale.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

The real Nessie? Plesiosaur? A giant crab? Mechanical animal created by Atlantians?

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I've been searching for information everywhere for the leviathan. Every site says something different.

Personally, I think it was really the Giant Squid or a common whale.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

The real Nessie? Plesiosaur? A giant crab? Mechanical animal created by Atlantians?

Which 'leviathan?' If you're referring to a sea creature, as in Psalm 104:25--"There [in the sea] go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it (New Revised Standard English Version)," most contemporary scholars consider it a cetacean or "big fish" (reference the Jonah story). That it "sports" in the sea suggests a whale or a dolphin, but I guess big fish play, too. Another psalm reference (74:13-14) seems to refer to primeval or prehistoric creatures that predated human creation. 'Behemoth' is a related critter, generally considered a hippopotamus, and when referenced in tandem with 'leviathan' the latter has then been interpreted as a crocodile (both river beasts of the Nile delta; Job 40:15-18).

These are suggestions only, but based on standard biblical scholarship. Isaiah 27:1 implies Leviathan was a sea serpent, but a metaphorical one representing chaos, as found in the regional Canaanite mythos. So one has a pick of prehistoric plesiosaur, legendary sea monster, deep-dwelling but playful giant squid or surface breaking sporting cetacean, or probably a host of others. Since the Bible isn't a marine biology textbook, there's plenty of room for interpretation.

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Most Biblical scholars assume it means a whale. The description does very much seem a medieval European dragon.

I've also heard that the Leviathan and the Behemoth (The other giant Biblical monster) were based on descriptions of the Nile Crocodile and the Hippopotamus. With the croc being the Leviathan, and the Behemoth being the hippo.

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Mechanical animal created by Atlantians?

I think there was an 1980s episode of Dr Who where that happened.

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Biblically speaking, I would assume the leviathan is a whale. I thought, though, that there were other documents with the same creature. I've been searching for these, but can't find them anywhere.

I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't come out with something yet.

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when I think of leviathan I think of gyarados a snake like dragon

gyarados_vector_by_tarindel-d5lftoy.png

Edited by R4z3rsPar4d0x
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Wiki has a nice synopsis of Job:

"The Leviathan is mentioned six times in the Tanakh, with Job 41:1–34 being dedicated to describing him in detail:[1] 1 Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? 2 Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? 3 Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? 4 Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? 5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? 6 Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? 7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 8 If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! 9 Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. 10 No-one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me? 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. 12 I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form. 13 Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? 14 Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth? 15 His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; 16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. 17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. 18 His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. 19 Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. 20 Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. 21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. 22 Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. 23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. 24 His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. 25 When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. 26 The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. 27 Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. 28 Arrows do not make him flee, sling stones are like chaff to him. 29 A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance. 30 His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing-sledge. 31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. 33 Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear. 34 He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud." He is described as a creature of the seas, not rivers. He is also described with a powerful tail, and armored in scales. Lastly, he is also described as breathing fire. This, I think, rules out hippos and crocodiles. This particular sea-serpant in this passage sounds like a dragon.

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Wiki has a nice synopsis of Job:

"The Leviathan is mentioned six times in the Tanakh, with Job 41:1–34 being dedicated to describing him in detail:[1] 1 Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? 2 Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? 3 Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? 4 Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? 5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? 6 Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? 7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 8 If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! 9 Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. 10 No-one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me? 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. 12 I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form. 13 Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? 14 Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth? 15 His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; 16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. 17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. 18 His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. 19 Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. 20 Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. 21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. 22 Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. 23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. 24 His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. 25 When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. 26 The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. 27 Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. 28 Arrows do not make him flee, sling stones are like chaff to him. 29 A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance. 30 His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing-sledge. 31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. 33 Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear. 34 He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud." He is described as a creature of the seas, not rivers. He is also described with a powerful tail, and armored in scales. Lastly, he is also described as breathing fire. This, I think, rules out hippos and crocodiles. This particular sea-serpant in this passage sounds like a dragon.

Most of this reminds me of a crocodile. But you're right in the part about breathing fire. Perhaps this is an exaggeration about its hot breath?

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maybe it a whale or the king of herrings (giant Oarfish)

Edited by bassai26
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Ive always fancied the idea that they may have suppsoed to be God allowing Job to see some now extinct dinosaurs.

but, I'm a silly, silly man

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I suspect the Leviathan of legend is related to volcanic islands - their abrupt appearance, and disappearance. Hence the smoke, fire, and killing sailors who went ashore. Legends, tales, stories and words all blur over time.

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I've been searching for information everywhere for the leviathan. Every site says something different.

Personally, I think it was really the Giant Squid or a common whale.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

The real Nessie? Plesiosaur? A giant crab? Mechanical animal created by Atlantians?

If you talk about stories,i don't know since i don't use to have interest in fiction.If you are talking about a real animal,then it is the prehistoric sperm whale Livyatan which has the largest tooth of any known animal.

( Researchers originally assigned the English name of the biblical monster (Leviathan) to this prehistoric whale as Leviathan melvillei, dedicating the discovery to Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick—the researchers behind the excavation of L. melvillei were all fans of this novel.However, the scientific name Leviathan was a junior homonym of Leviathan Koch, 1841 for a genus of mastodon. In August 2010, the authors rectified this situation by coining a new genus name for the whale, Livyatan, from the original Hebrew spelling.)

Here is an image which i made for it..

livyatan_by_sameerprehistorica-d6e4um0.jpg

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