Leviathan
A Leviathan is in Hebrew lore a, primordial monster Demon of the seas and king of beasts. Leviathan is described in the book of Job as a huge whalelike creature who is nearly invulnerable; spears do no more than tickle him:
His back is made of rows of shields, Shut up closely as with a seal. . . . His sneezings flash forth light, And his eyes are like eyelids of the dawn. Out of the mouth go flaming torches; Sparks of fire leap forth. . . . In his neck abides strength, And terror dances before him.
Leviathan is, in Hebrew lore, a primordial sea monster and demon, a vast and ancient being associated with chaos, the depths of the ocean, and overwhelming power. His name derives from the Hebrew root meaning “twisted,” “coiled,” or “entwined,” reflecting both his serpentine nature and his symbolic association with primordial chaos. Leviathan is mentioned five times in the Hebrew Bible and appears prominently in biblical, rabbinical, demonological, and later literary traditions.
One of the most vivid descriptions of Leviathan appears in Chapter 41 of the Book of Job, where he is portrayed as an immense, nearly invulnerable sea creature. Weapons are useless against him; spears and harpoons do little more than irritate him. His body is described as being covered with tightly sealed rows of shields, his sneezes flashing with light, his eyes glowing like the dawn, and flames and sparks issuing from his mouth. Strength abides in his neck, and terror precedes him wherever he moves. This description firmly establishes Leviathan as a supernatural sea beast rather than an ordinary animal.
Psalm 104 offers a strikingly different image, suggesting that God created Leviathan to “sport with” or “play in” the sea, implying divine mastery over even the most terrifying forces of chaos. Later Jewish myths, however, emphasise Leviathan’s destructive potential, describing him as a monstrous being capable of devouring an entire whale each day.
In Hebrew tradition, Leviathan has dual aspects. He is sometimes described as male, known as Leviathon, the Slant Serpent, and female, identified with Lilith, the Tortuous Serpent. According to a legend attributed to Rashi, the eleventh-century French rabbi, God originally created both a male and a female Leviathan but slew the female shortly thereafter, fearing that if they were to reproduce, humanity would not survive their offspring.
The Talmud preserves another powerful myth in which Leviathan plays a role at the end of time. On the Day of Judgment, God will slay Leviathan, using his flesh to prepare a feast for the righteous, while his hide will be fashioned into a great tent under which the banquet will be held. In several traditions, Leviathan is paired or pitted against the great land beast Behemoth, representing a cosmic opposition between sea and land forces.
The Book of Jonah presents a related narrative. Jonah, fleeing from God’s command, attempts to escape by sea toward Tarshish. When a violent storm threatens the ship, Jonah is cast overboard and swallowed by a great sea creature, traditionally identified with Leviathan. Jonah remains imprisoned in the belly of the beast for three days before being expelled onto dry land by divine command.
Leviathan also appears in Christian demonological tradition. He was one of the possessing demons named in the Loudun Possessions of seventeenth-century France and was listed among the demons who allegedly signed the infernal pact of Urbain Grandier, a priest executed in Loudun in 1634. In this context, Leviathan is identified as the ruler of Envy, the fourth of the Seven Deadly Sins.
In English literature, Leviathan appears memorably in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, where he is described as an arch-fiend lurking in the northern seas near Scandinavia. Milton depicts him as so immense that sailors mistake his body for land, anchoring their ships upon him, only to be dragged beneath the waves when he submerges.
Leviathan is also mentioned in various magical and occult texts. He appears in the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses in connection with magical spells, and in S. L. MacGregor Mathers’ translation of The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Leviathan is named as one of the four principal infernal spirits, ranked alongside Lucifer, Satan, and Belial.
Scholars have long noted similarities between Leviathan and earlier Near Eastern chaos monsters. Many believe Leviathan to be a Hebrew adaptation of the Babylonian and Sumerian sea goddess and dragon Tiamat, reflecting shared mythological roots among ancient cultures of the region.
Across biblical, rabbinical, demonological, and literary traditions, Leviathan remains a powerful symbol of chaos, pride, envy, and the untamed forces of the deep—an embodiment of primordial terror ultimately subject to divine authority.
FURTHER READING:
- Hyatt, Victoria, and Joseph W. Charles. The Book of Demons. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
- Koltuv, Barbara Black. The Book of Lilith. Berwick, Me.: Nicolas-Hays, 1986.
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
- The Dictionary of Demons written by Michelle Belanger.
- The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – Copyright © 2009 by Visionary Living, Inc.
NOTE:
Edited and revised for the Web by Occult Media, the 22nd of April 2021. We use British English spelling.
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