Dragons and Leviathan in Jewish Tradition

בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֡וּא יִפְקֹ֣ד יְהֹוָה֩ בְּחַרְבּ֨וֹ הַקָּשָׁ֜ה וְהַגְּדוֹלָ֣ה וְהַחֲזָקָ֗ה עַ֤ל לִוְיָתָן֙ נָחָ֣שׁ בָּרִ֔חַ וְעַל֙ לִוְיָתָ֔ן נָחָ֖שׁ עֲקַלָּת֑וֹן וְהָרַ֥ג אֶת־הַתַּנִּ֖ין אֲשֶׁ֥ר בַּיָּֽם׃ {ס}

In that day GOD will punish With a great, cruel, mighty sword Leviathan the Elusive Serpent— Leviathan the Twisting Serpent; The Dragon of the sea will be slain.

רַב יְהוּדָה הִינְדְּוָא מִשְׁתַּעֵי: זִימְנָא חֲדָא הֲוָה אָזְלִינַן בִּסְפִינְתָּא, וַחֲזֵינַן הָהוּא אֶבֶן טָבָא דַּהֲוָה הָדַיר לַהּ תַּנִּינָא. נָחֵית בַּר אָמוֹרָאֵי לְאֵתוּיַהּ, אֲתָא תַּנִּינָא קָא בָּעֵי לְמִבְלַע לַהּ לִסְפִינְתָּא. אֲתָא פִּישְׁקַנְצָא פַּסְקֵיהּ לְרֵישֵׁיהּ, אִתְהֲפִיכוּ מַיָּא וַהֲווֹ דְּמָא. אֲתָא תַּנִּינָא חַבְרֵיהּ, שַׁקְלַהּ וְתַלְיַהּ לֵיהּ וַחֲיָה. הֲדַר אֲתָא קָא בָּעֵי בָּלְעָא לִסְפִינְתָּא, הֲדַר אֲתָא צִיפְּרָא פַּסְקֵיהּ לְרֵישֵׁיהּ. שַׁקְלוּהָ לְהַהִיא אֶבֶן טָבָא שַׁדְיוּהָ לִסְפִינְתָּא; הֲוָה הָנֵי צִיפְּרֵי מְלִיחִי בַּהֲדַן, אוֹתְבִינְהוּ עֲלַיְיהוּ; שַׁקְלוּהָ וּפְרַחוּ לְהוּ בַּהֲדַהּ.

Rav Yehuda from India relates: Once we were traveling in a ship and we saw a certain precious stone that was encircled by a snake. A diver descended to bring it up, and the snake came and sought to swallow the ship. A raven came and cut off its head, and the water turned into blood due to the enormousness of the snake. Another snake came, took the precious stone, and hung it on the dead snake, and it recovered. It returned and again sought to swallow the ship, and yet again a bird came and cut off its head, took that precious stone, and threw it onto the ship. We had with us these salted birds; we placed the stone on them, and they took the stone and flew away with it.

אָמַר רַב חָנָן בַּר רָבָא: ״הַשְּׁסוּעָה״ בְּרִיָּה בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָהּ הִיא, שֶׁיֵּשׁ לָהּ שְׁנֵי גַּבִּין וּשְׁנֵי שִׁדְרָאוֹת. וְכִי מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ קְנִיגִי הָיָה אוֹ בַּלִּיסְטָרִי הָיָה? מִכָּאן תְּשׁוּבָה לָאוֹמֵר אֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם.

§ In one of the passages discussing kosher and non-kosher animals, the Torah states: “Nevertheless, these you shall not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that have split hooves that are cloven [hashesua]: The camel, and the hare, and the hyrax” (Deuteronomy 14:7). Rav Ḥanan bar Rava said: “Hashesua” is not a redundant description of the split hooves but a distinct creature, which has two backs and two spines and therefore looks like an entirely cloven animal. One might ask: But was Moses our teacher a hunter, or was he an archer, who was familiar with the most exotic animals? Rather, from here there is a refutation to those who say that the Torah is not from Heaven, since Moses could not have known of the existence of such an animal save by divine revelation.

וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים בַּעֲבוּר גֹּדֶל הַנִּבְרָאִים הָאֵלֶּה שֶׁיֵּשׁ מֵהֶם אָרְכָּם פַּרְסָאוֹת רַבּוֹת, הִגִּידוּ הַיְּוָנִים בְּסִפְרֵיהֶם שֶׁיָּדְעוּ מֵהֶם אֲרֻכִּים חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת פַּרְסָה, וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ גַּם כֵּן הִפְלִיגוּ בָּהֶם (עיין ב"ב עג), בַּעֲבוּר זֶה יִחֵס בָּהֶם הַבְּרִיאָה לֵאלֹהִים כִּי הוּא שֶׁהִמְצִיאָם מֵאַיִן מִבְּרֵאשִׁית, כַּאֲשֶׁר פֵּרַשְׁתִּי לְשׁוֹן בְּרִיאָה (רמב"ן על בראשית א':א'), וְכֵן יַעֲשֶׂה בָּאָדָם לְמַעֲלָתוֹ, לְהוֹדִיעַ כִּי הוּא מוּצָא מֵאַיִן עִם דַּעְתּוֹ וְשִׂכְלוֹ. וַאֲנִי תָּמֵהַּ לָמָּה לֹא אָמַר בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה "וַיְהִי־‎כֵן". וְאוּלַי לֹא יִתָּכֵן לְהַזְכִּיר "וַיִּבְרָא" אַחֲרֵי "וַיְהִי־‎כֵן", כִּי מִבָּרִאשׁוֹנָה יְדַבֵּר. וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ אָמְרוּ (בבא בתרא עד) כִּי הַתַּנִּינִים הַגְּדוֹלִים הוּא לִוְיָתָן וּבַת זוּגוֹ, שֶׁבְּרָאָם זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה וְהָרַג הַנְּקֵבָה וּמְלָחָהּ לַצַּדִּיקִים לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא. וְאֶפְשָׁר כִּי מִפְּנֵי זֶה לֹא הָיָה רָאוּי שֶׁיֹּאמַר בָּהֶם "וַיְהִי־‎כֵן", כִּי לֹא עָמְדוּ עוֹד:

AND G-D CREATED THE GREAT SEA-MONSTERS. Because of the great size of these creatures, some consisting of many Persian miles — the Greeks in their books even relate that they knew some of them to be 500 Persian miles long, and our Rabbi likewise spoke of them in magnifying terms — on account of that, Scripture explicitly ascribes their creation to G-d for He brought them forth from nought from the beginning, as I have explained the expression b’riyah (creation). Similarly, Scripture does so in the case of man on account of his exaltedness, thus informing us that man, with his mind and reason, also came forth from nought. I wonder why it does not say “and it was so” on this day? Perhaps it would not have been possible to mention And He created after saying, “and it was so,” since it refers to the preceding. Our Rabbis have said that the great sea-monsters are the Leviathan and its mate which He created male and female. He then slew the female and preserved it in salt for the benefit of the righteous in the hereafter. It is possible that on account of this it would not have been appropriate to say concerning their creation, “and it was so,” since they did not continue to exist [in the form in which they were created].

לויתן. הוא התלי ונקרא בריח בעבור שהוא מבריח מן הקצה אל הקצה: ועל לויתן. גם הוא בים, והוא צורת נחש, כי גם צורת נחש בים, ועקלתון שם התאר: והתנין הוא הגדול אשר בים: ויש אומרים כי לויתן נחש בריח גם עקלתון הם ביבשה, והטעם על מלכי הארץ, והתנין הוא מלך מצרים, כאשר הוא כתוב בספר יחזקאל (יחזקאל כ"ט ג'), ויש אומרים מלך צור, והישר בעיני רבי משה הכהן שהוא (רמז) כמו ויכחד כל גיבורי חיל ונגיד ושר (דברי הימים ב' ל"ב כ"א):

Leviathan. The Theli ; (תלי) it has the epithet בריח stretching, because it stretches from one end to the other. [I think it is a sea monster]. Even Leviathan, that crooked serpent. This is likewise an animal that lives in the sea; it is like a serpent, for there are also serpent-like animals in the sea. עקלתון Crooked. It is an adjective. And the dragon that is in the sea. That is, The great dragon in the sea. (Ez. 29:3). Some are of opinion that the Leviathan, the stretching serpent, and the Leviathan, the crooked serpent, are both land animals, and are used figuratively for the kings of the land; while the dragon that is in the sea, is used for the king of Egypt (Comp. Ez. 29:3), or as others believe, for the king of Tyre. R. Moses Hakkohen thinks, that this verse refers to the élite of soldiers, princes, and nobles.