Most of the creatures that I talk about on this blog originated in Greek mythology. Charon, the hippocampus, and the Chimera are all from the time of the Greeks. Today, I’m going to do something different; I’m going to talk about a beast that originates in the Bible.
There is a creature called the leviathan that is usually portrayed in modern movies as a great sea serpent. I was already familiar with the name because of these movies, so when I stumbled across the creature on the internet this week I thought it would be really cool to do a blog post on him. After all, he probably ate ships all the time and lived in some deep and mysterious part of the sea. It turns out that he didn’t eat ships, but I still became interested in the creature when I realized he stemmed from Jewish mythology. In the Old Testament, the leviathan is described as being a multi-headed sea serpent (Psalm 74:14). He was enormous, and the mightiest creature that inhabited the earth. His skin was covered in scales that acted as armor; each scale was the size of a shield, and none of them could be penetrated by any type of weapon. They are described as being so tightly laid onto each other that no air could get between them. Essentially, the leviathan had the skin of a dragon without any of the weak spots. He had sharp teeth, and he could breathe fire. His breath alone was described as being able to kindle coals, and his nostrils emitted smoke. The sea even boiled around him when he traveled underwater!
There were originally two leviathan; a male and female. However, the Bible explains that this combination made God wary; He realized that allowing a creature that mighty to reproduce would probably prove ill for humans. So, He killed the female and froze the meat for the righteous in the world to eat later on. He also made clothes known as “garments of light” for Adam and Eve. At this time, he also spayed the male. God left him alive, but He wanted to play it safe when it came to the prevention of future leviathan. Someday, it is believed that the leviathan, along with two other great creatures, will be served at the banquet feast at the end of time. His skin will be used as the tent where the feast takes place, and afterward his skin will remain stretched as a canopy from the walls of Jerusalem to illuminate the world.
It is believed that the leviathan currently inhabits our earth in the depths of the ocean. We never see him, since he remains in these depths, but people believe that he is there none the less. I’m not going to say which opinion is true, but I will say this. The Bible describes the Leviathan as being 300 miles in length. What I mean to say is, I’m not going anywhere near any potential hunting grounds of the leviathan.