What is the Leviathan in the Bible
(1) The word leviathan also occurs in Isaiah 27:1, where it is characterized as the swift serpent .... the crooked serpent; in Psalms 104:26, where a marine monster is indicated; also in Psalms 74:14 and Job 3:8. Job 41 describes the Leviathan as a fire-breathing sea monster or dragon. Smoke pours from his nostrils and his breath is so hot that it sets coals ablaze with the flames [that] dart from his mouth.. According to Job, the Leviathan is so massive that it causes the waves of the sea. The Leviathan is a mythical sea monster or dragon that is mentioned in Job 41. Job 41 describes the Leviathan as a fire-breathing sea monster or dragon. Some commentators believe leviathan is a crocodile because of the references to its scales (Job 41:15) and its use as a food source (Psalm 74:14). Some commentators believe that leviathan is a large sea reptile (not a whale), possibly even a species of dinosaur. Leviathan is no myth, but rather a creature of the sea, whether a fish, a sea dragon, a mammal such as a whale, or a reptile such as a crocodile. It is also possible that the leviathan, whatever it was, is now extinct. Psalms 74:14 - Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Psalms 104:26 - There go the ships: [there is] that leviathan, [whom] thou hast made to play therein. Psalm 104:26 says, There go the ships: there is leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein (KJV). Clearly the habitat of leviathan in this context is the sea. The ships sail in deep water so this can not be a crocodile. This may refer to the whales, or more likely dolphins who like to play following ships. There go the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou has made to play therein (Psalms 104:26). In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea (Isaiah 27:1). Thou brakest the heads of the leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness (Psalms 74:13). Here leviathan is associated with water and the ocean and is pictured with multiple heads. The leviathan is also mentioned in the Book of Isaiah where he writes “ In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea ” (Isaiah 27:1).
A fire-breathing sea monster or dragon.