Leviathan

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “Leviathan” is translated in Poqomchi’ as “monster crocodile” (source: Ronald Ross), in Kalanga as “a monster of the sea called Leviathan” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), and in Hiligaynon as “the dragon Leviatan” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).

 

Scholars are divided in the details of the meaning of this word, but all are agreed that it refers to a monster that lives in water. The word seems to be related to a Hebrew root that means “to twist.” Some believe that the notion of livyathan is related to ancient Egyptian beliefs about a mythical monster crocodile that was thought to be responsible for the annual flooding of the Nile and for causing eclipses of the sun. The passages in Job 41:1 and Psalms 74:14 support this view. In Psalms 74:13 and 14 livyathan occurs in parallel with another word tannin, which refers to a monster that lives in the water. In Ezekiel 29:3 tanim is described as having powerful jaws and scales. The similarity to a crocodile has been noted by many commentators.

Others relate this monster to Babylonian myths about the chaos dragon Tiamat. The Ugaritic texts refer to a similar monster called lotan, which is the Ugaritic form of livyathan. It seems possible that this is the reference in Isaiah 27:1. The probability is that the name is used in both senses in the Bible.

There is general agreement among Jewish scholars that tannin is the more generic word for “sea monster”, while behemoth and livyathan are the names of two of those monsters. This is reflected in 2 Esdras 6:49 and 52, where leviathan is clearly a proper name for one of these monsters.

Crocodiles are the largest of all reptiles. The species found in the Nile valley is the Nile Crocodile Crocodylus niloticus. In biblical times these crocodiles also lived in the larger rivers of the land of Israel, and another species lived in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia.

Crocodiles look like enormous lizards with large teeth, and they often reach more than 5 meters (16 feet) in length. Their skin is covered in thick fleshy scales. They live in rivers and in river estuaries and come out of the water onto land to sun themselves for long periods each day. When they are in the water they can stay submerged for ten minutes or more.

They feed on fish that they catch in the water, or lie in wait, wholly or partly submerged until some animal or person comes to drink. They then leap out of the water and seize their prey and throw or drag it into the water where they drown it. They then wedge the prey under a log or between rocks or reeds and tear large pieces from the carcass by seizing the flesh in their teeth and twisting themselves over and over until the flesh comes loose. They then swallow the meat without chewing it. In areas where these crocodiles live, people are killed every year by them.

The monster crocodile of the Egyptians, however, was not a real crocodile but a mythical one of gigantic proportions, which was associated with the annual flooding of the Nile River. It was believed to be so big that whenever it entered the Nile, it caused the river to overflow its banks.

Leviathan symbolized the Egyptian nation and probably its gods; it also symbolized the two mighty nations of Assyria and Babylon. Thus it symbolized the great enemies of Israel.

In most translations the word is transliterated from the Hebrew rather than translated, but the name by itself conveys little to the average reader. In languages where crocodiles are well known, the more meaningful expression “the giant crocodile Leviathan” can be used in the Job and Psalms passages. Then, in the Isaiah passage, where the text itself identifies Leviathan as a serpent (or reptile), the name can be used by itself. In some societies, where there are beliefs about mythical monster serpents or crocodiles associated with the flooding of rivers, the local name for the mythical monster can be used, with a footnote to indicate that in Hebrew the monster’s name is livyathan and that it represented the enemies of Israel.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Job 3:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 3:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “Let witch-doctors
    those who know to make sorcery
    send to that night darkness, and arouse Leviathan.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “May those who curse days
    and who are ready to rouse Leviathan,
    may they curse that day,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “May-it-be that night be-cursed by the ones-who-curse who know to-wake-up the dragon Leviatan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I want those people who curse/put evil spells on days—those who know how to arouse/awaken the great sea monster—to curse that day.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 3:8

Let those curse it who curse the day: In this verse line b merely extends the meaning of line a by defining who is meant by those who curse the day. The word curse occurs twice in Revised Standard Version, representing two different Hebrew words. The first one is found infrequently in the Old Testament, except in the story of Balaam (Num 22), where it occurs nine times. Both words are different from the word for curse used in 3.1. Who curse the day may be understood to mean persons who are able to invoke a spell or put a curse on the day and thereby produce an eclipse of the sun; Good News Translation has “Tell the sorcerers to curse that day.” In contrast, the object of the curse in Revised Standard Version is it, referring to the night of verses 6-7, and this is followed by nearly all other translations. Those who curse the day are understood to be associated with Leviathan in line 8b. Consequently some interpreters read the Hebrew yom, “day,” as yam, “sea,” and get “those who curse the sea,” and thereby cause the sea monster in line 8b to create chaos. Taking it to refer to the night, which Job has been cursing since verse 6, we may translate “Let the sorcerer curse the night of my conception.” In some areas cursing, or putting a spell on someone, is a rather elaborate procedure, involving the making of “medicine” and chanting rituals. The translator should use general terms for “sorcerer” and “curse” so that the focus of the poem is not drained away in specific secondary details. For this reason it may be better here to say “Let the ones curse that night who practice cursing things” or “… who know how to do such things.”

Who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan: skilled refers to those who are able, know how, are experienced. The word is used in 15.24 with the sense of prepared, or ready. Rouse up translates a word that is used in Isaiah 14.9, where it refers to awakening the ghosts of the dead. In our context Job calls on the ones knowing how to awaken, stir up, arouse this monster, to lend their skill in cursing the day of his birth. Leviathan is a name which means “coiled,” as in the shape of a coiled snake. In Psalm 104.26 the psalmist says that God formed Leviathan as a plaything for himself. In Isaiah 27.1 Leviathan is the sea monster that battles with Baal. It represents the forces of chaos overcome by God in Psalm 74.13-14; 89.10-11. In chapter 41 Leviathan seems to be described as a crocodile. However, in 3.8 the sense seems to be that of a mythological animal that lives in the sea, and which can be stirred up to cause destruction. In some languages Leviathan may be translated as “great sea snake” or “big animal that lives in the sea.” If possible the translator should qualify the animal as a “monster” or “dragon” so that it is not equated with a natural animal. In some languages such an animal is called “an animal people tell tales about” or “an animal people imagine.” It may be necessary to place this qualification in a footnote. In areas where the sea is unknown, we must sometimes say something like “big river snake,” unless, of course, such a phrase would be identified with the largest local river snake. Good News Translation “control Leviathan” may have to be recast to say, for example, “they who know how to make the great sea snake do what they want” or “… obey them.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .