Leviathan

Leviathan: The Ancient Sea Serpent

The Leviathan (pronounced /lɪˈvaɪ.əθən/ liv-EYE-ə-thən) is a primordial sea serpent demon prominent in theology and mythology. Its name derives from the Hebrew לִוְיָתָן (Līvyāṯān) and Greek Λεβιάθαν.

This mythical creature appears in multiple books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, Job, Isaiah, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. The Leviathan often represents chaos and destruction, threatening to consume the damned in the afterlife before being ultimately destroyed.

In Christian theology, the Leviathan became associated with the deadly sin of envy. According to Ophite diagrams, it encircles the material world, while in Gnostic tradition, it encompasses the world like a sphere, trapping souls too attached to material things and preventing them from reaching divine fullness.

Thomas Hobbes borrowed the image of Leviathan for his political philosophy, transforming it into a metaphor for the all-powerful state. Drawing on Job 41:24, Hobbes portrayed the state as an eternal power that maintains control by educating generations of citizens in its favor. This concept relies on a good-evil dualism: the frightening "natural law" where humans prey upon each other, contrasted with state laws designed to contain such conditions.

The biblical Leviathan evolved from the older Canaanite Lotan, a primeval monster defeated by the god Baal Hadad. Scholars have drawn parallels to other mythological narratives of gods battling serpents or dragons, including Mesopotamian Marduk defeating Tiamat, Indra slaying Vrtra, and Thor battling Jörmungandr.

In Isaiah 27:1, Leviathan serves as a metaphor for powerful enemies, particularly Babylon. Some 19th-century scholars interpreted the creature more literally as representing large aquatic animals like crocodiles. Over time, the word "leviathan" entered common usage as a term for great whales and sea monsters generally.