Leviathan Floods

The embodiment of chaos, destined for annihilation after threatening the damned.

Leviathan is a giant sea serpent noted in theology and mythology, referenced across the Hebrew Bible as a metaphor for powerful enemies like Babylon. Found in Psalms, Job, Isaiah, and Enoch, this creature embodies chaos, threatening to consume the damned before its eventual annihilation. Christian theologians later identified it with the deadly sin of envy, while Ophite Diagrams depict it encapsulating the material world. In Gnosticism, Leviathan encircles existence like a sphere, trapping souls too attached to matter from reaching God's fullness.

Lore & Background

In the Book of Job, Leviathan reflects the older Canaanite Lotan, a primeval monster defeated by Baal Hadad. Parallels exist with Sumerian Tiamat, defeated by Marduk, and other dragon narratives like Indra slaying Vritra or Thor slaying Jörmungandr. Some 19th-century scholars pragmatically interpreted it as large aquatic creatures such as crocodiles. In Jewish midrash, God created male and female leviathans but slew the female to prevent world destruction, reserving her flesh for a future banquet of the righteous. Rashi's commentary on Genesis 1:21 confirms this tradition, noting the female was salted away.

Reader's Guide

Leviathan appears six times in the Tanakh, with Job 41:1–34 detailing his fire-breathing ability and impenetrable scales. Isaiah 27:1 calls him the 'tortuous serpent' killed at time's end. The Book of Enoch (60:7–9) describes a female dwelling in the watery abyss, while Behemoth lives east of Eden. In Akdamut, God slaughters Leviathan, described as having 'mighty fins,' serving it to all righteous in heaven. The Zohar treats this as a metaphor for enlightenment, associating Leviathan with the tzaddik and the sefira of Yesod.