Bible Dictionaries
Leviathan
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A transliterated Hebrew word (livyathan), meaning "twisted," "coiled." In Job 3:8 , Revised Version, and marg. of Authorized Version, it denotes the dragon which, according to Eastern tradition, is an enemy of light; in 41:1 the crocodile is meant; in Psalm 104:26 it "denotes any large animal that moves by writhing or wriggling the body, the whale, the monsters of the deep." This word is also used figuratively for a cruel enemy, as some think "the Egyptian host, crushed by the divine power, and cast on the shores of the Red Sea" ( Psalm 74:14 ). As used in Isaiah 27:1 , "leviathan the piercing [RSV 'swift'] serpent, even leviathan that crooked [RSV marg. 'winding'] serpent," the word may probably denote the two empires, the Assyrian and the Babylonian. Copyright Statement
These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.
Bibliography Information
Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Leviathan'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/l/leviathan.html. 1897.