Leviathan

Lore & Background

In Gnosticism, Leviathan encompasses the world like a sphere, trapping souls too attached to material things. Thomas Hobbes later adopted the figure as a metaphor for the omnipotent state, which conditions citizens generation after generation to maintain order against a natural law where man is a wolf to man. The creature reflects older Canaanite traditions as Lotan, a seven-headed serpent defeated by Baal Hadad, paralleling Tiamat's defeat by Marduk or Thor slaying Jörmungandr. While 19th-century scholars pragmatically interpreted it as a crocodile, the term eventually came to denote great whales and sea monsters generally.

In Their Own Story

The Tanakh mentions Leviathan six times, with Job 41:1–34 dedicated to its description as an indomitable beast breathing fire with impenetrable scales. Psalm 104 praises God for creating it alongside all things, while Isaiah 27:1 names the 'tortuous serpent' destined for death at the end of time. Jewish midrash recounts that God created a male and female Leviathan but slew the female to prevent world-destroying multiplication, reserving her flesh for a future banquet for the righteous. Talmudic accounts describe its skin covering Jerusalem's walls to illuminate the world, and legends claim it eats one whale daily while fearing only a small worm called 'kilbit.'

Reader's Guide

To understand Leviathan, recognize its evolution from a primeval monster in Ugaritic texts—described as 'the fugitive serpent' or potentially having seven heads—to a symbol of the state and chaos. In Jewish eschatology, it serves as both a physical threat and a future feast; Rashi notes the female was salted away for the righteous, while the Zohar interprets this eating as a metaphor for enlightenment. Its size is legendary: one account describes a fish three hundred miles long entering its jaws. Despite possessing supernatural strength and eyes that shine like morning light (Job 41:18), it remains vulnerable to conditioning or specific divine intervention leading to its annihilation.

Did You Know?

• Leviathan is described in Job as breathing fire and having impenetrable scales.
• In the Talmud, the remaining skin of Leviathan will be spread onto the walls of Jerusalem to illuminate the world.
• According to legend, Leviathan eats one whale each day but fears a small worm called 'kilbit'.
• Thomas Hobbes used Leviathan as a metaphor for the state that maintains itself by educating children generation after generation.
• The name may derive from the Hebrew root meaning 'to twine' or 'twisted in folds'.