Dragons: A Biblical Look (part 2 of 4)

So, in the first part of this series we laid down some basic information about dragons. In this post we are going to look at some of the specific biblical implications that Dragons (a form of dinosaur) really did exist.

First, dragon is not used in the Bible. I’m sure you all know that. It is thrown in the face of creation scientists all the time. However, the words that support dragons are. These words are as follows: Tannin (or its plural tannim) tannoth, and drakon are all words used in the original text to refer to dragons. Tannin (or tannim) occur 14 times in the original text. In English Versions of the Bible this is variously rendered "dragon," "whale," "serpent" or "sea-monster". Tannim occurs 12 times, and is rendered "dragons," "jackals," and "whale". Tannoth occurs once.

Now, in the Bible there are two creatures specifically referenced by name that fit the scientific qualifications for a dinosaur/dragon (the word dinosaur was not invented until 1841). These creatures are called the Leviathan, and the Behemoth. Both creatures are magnificent in size, strength, and individuality. Because I am exploring the biblical implications of dragons in this segment, I am not going to go into a lot of scientific info at this point, on these creatures. However, I do want to clear up the dragon vrs dinosaur debate. I believe that our “dragons” are the same things as dinosaurs. The difference, I think, is breed, and not species. What we typically think of as a dinosaur, and what we typically think of as a dragon, I feel, is a matter of characteristics. A Chihuahua and a Rottweiler are two very different breeds of dog, yet they are both dogs. Pteranodon is very different than a brontosaurus or Apatosaurus (one flies the other two walk), but we accept them both as dinosaurs. As such, I think dragons fall under this same classification.

The behemoth fits our more traditional view of dinosaurs, but the creature I want to look at is the leviathan. This magnificent beast is our biblical “dragon”. Now, some scholars say he is a large whale or crocodile, but I’m not sure how they can come up with this viewpoint. Read these verses.


1 "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook, or tie down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will he make an agreement with you, for you to take him as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird, or put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 "I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form.
13 Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle?
14 Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth?
15 His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together;
16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth.
22 Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
24 His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him.
29 A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature without fear.
34 He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud."

Isaiah 27:1: "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

Psalms 74:14: "Thou didst crush the heads of the Leviathan, thou didst give him for food to the creatures of the desert."

Psalms 104:25,26: "O Lord, how manifold thy works, in wisdom you have created them all. So is this great and wide sea... there go the ships and the Leviathan which you have created to play therein"



Now, doesn’t the leviathan, as it is described in the Bible, sounds very much like our mystical dragons, apart from dwelling in the water, that is?


I would like for us to now look at why the Leviathan is a “dragon”ish creature, and not a common crocodile or whale.



His Size

Leviathan is so massive that "sorrow dances before him" (Job 41:22). When strong men encounter one, they become so fearful the men are beside themselves with terror (Job 41:25). Leviathan is so massive he leaves a large shining wake behind him as he moves through the sea (Job 41:32), and his eyes are so large God likens them to the breaking of day (Job 41:18).

Leviathan is a very large serpent. In God's rebuke towards Job, the Lord quite sarcastically speaks of Leviathan (Job 41:1-6) with rhetorical questions. In other words, He says you can't draw out Leviathan with a hook. He will not speak softly to you. And you will not make a banquet of him. He is not a fish that can be caught! Large whales can be caught, but not this puppy. He's beyond harpooning. As the Lord says,

“Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears?”

No! If someone were to attempt to do so, the Lord says they will never forget the mistake.


His Strength

Part of Leviathan's fierceness, along with his size, is his immense strength. God says he has "mighty power" and "terrible teeth" (Job 41:12, 14), and "strength dwells in his neck" (Job 41:22). He has a "heart as hard as stone" (Job 41:24), and his outer covering literally has "shields."

Even though the KJV, NKJV, and NAS translate Job 41:15 as "scales" in reference to Leviathan's exterior, it is not the Hebrew word for scales that is used in Job 41:15 but instead the Hebrew word for "shields" as used in 2 Chronicles 9:16 and 26:14 for shields of war. Shields is a very accurate word, because no war weapon could penetrate Leviathan's protective covering.(Job 41:26)

This explains why his skin cannot be filled with harpoons nor his head with fishing spears (Job 41:7). Leviathan's outer covering is extremely strong, so strong that his "scales" (if you will) "cannot be parted" (Job 41:17). They are so tightly sealed together that "no air can come between them" (Job 41:16). God clearly has clothed this guy with some serious armor, with impenetrable shields.

Along with this strong armor, is strength that is almost incomprehensible. For Leviathan, iron is like straw, and bronze is as rotten wood (Job 41:27). That describes amazing strength. He has the strength to bend iron with little effort; and he could break or crush bronze.

Also part of Leviathan's arsenal is his belly.

His undersides are like sharp potsherds; he spreads pointed marks in the mire. (Job 41:30)

From the statement about the "pointed marks" it is evident they are facing outward, away from his body. Thus, anything coming in contact with that stomach is going to get cut up and possibly even shredded.
Also noted in Job is the fact that the Leviathan is so fast when he swims, that he causes the water to turn white. We aren’t talking about a zippy little dolphin here guys; we are talking about a creature that can swim so fast he causes white capping waves.

Sounding like a dragon yet?


His Fire

While some claim the Leviathan is a crocodile, hippo, or whale, these creatures are nowhere near what is described in Job 41; and they don’t breathe fire. Leviathan is clearly called a serpent in Isaiah 27:1, a fleeing, twisted serpent, but he is no ordinary serpent. This one literally breathes fire.

His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. (Job 41:21)

The dragon is no mythical creature. There may be mythical dragons, and myths surrounding dragons, but this dragon is no myth. Dragon is a term that well describes Leviathan. He is a massive fire breathing, terrifying serpent that not only breathes fire, but smoke as well (Job 41:20). This characteristic of fire within Leviathan is so prevalent that when he sneezes, light flashes forth (Job 41:18), and, sparks shoot out. (Job 41:19)

He even makes the water around him boil as he abides in the sea (Job 41:31). Fire is very much a part of Leviathan's make up. It is no wonder different cultures have so many different myths about these fire breathing reptiles.

So, are you convinced yet? Does this sound like a mythical creature? I am not saying that the dragon has not been played up over time (as we will see in part three of this series), but I do not think you can discount the fact that a fire breathing terror did once dwell in our midst.

In the first paragraph, you capitalize "dragons" but I don't think it's capitalized anywhere else. Similarly, Leviathan and Behemoth are usually capitalized, but there are a few times where they aren't.



When I first read this, I thought you were saying that there are no words that are translated as "dragon" in the Bible. Since the paragraph proceeds to mention some words that get translated as "dragon" at least some of the time, I assume that's not what you meant. A little clarification might be helpful here.



I think you need a comma after the parentheses.



According to my grammar reference book, it's the British style to have periods and commas outside of the quotation marks, while the American style has them always inside the quotation marks. If you want the British style, go right ahead, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.



I think you could drop the second comma.



Again, I don't think the third comma is necessary.



I've heard that technically, there is no such thing as a brontosaurus. What they thought was a brontosaurus was actually the body of an apatosaurus with the head of a different dinosaur. I did a quick Google search and most of the links seemed to at least mention that brontosaurus either doesn't exist or is just another name for the apatosaurus. So you may want to choose a different dinosaur to replace either the brontosaurus or the apatosaurus.



You're missing end quotation marks here. This passage and the Psalm 104 passage are also missing periods at the end.



The "and" at the beginning of the second sentence feels a little awkward to me. It might just be stylistic differences, though. *shrug*



You have the period inside the quotation marks here while most of the time you've had them outside. Whether you decide to go with the American or British style, you'll want to be consistent.



You need a space after the period, before the parentheses.



I think you can drop the comma.



You should probably drop either the semi-colon or the word "and."



This is another situation where I'd suggest dropping the comma.



I think you could get rid of the semi-colon entirely and not replace it with anything. Either that or drop the "and."



I think you need a comma after "massive."



The comma after "and" is unnecessary.


And that's all I noticed. I hope my grammar comments weren't too annoying and that they didn't infringe on style.

Thanks so much, Leandra! I knew my punctuation was going to get slaughtered, since I (confession) did not check back over it for edits *hides * I was lazy...

The only style correction you really made was about the punctuation inside vrs outside of quotes, and that is a legitimate style issue, so I did not feel infringed upon, at all. I'll probably keep the British punctuation, since that is the way I have always seen things done. But that was an interesting piece of info I did not know, thanks for mentioning it and being so thorough!

I will need to make some corrections before Thursday.

Here is the new draft:


So, in the first part of this series we laid down some basic information about dragons. In this post we are going to look at some of the specific biblical implications that dragons (a form of dinosaur) really did exist.

First, the word dragon is not actually spelled out in the Bible. I’m sure you all know that. It is thrown in the face of creation scientists all the time. However, the words that support dragons are. These words are as follows: Tannin (or its plural tannim), tannoth, and drakon are all words used in the original text to refer to dragons. Tannin (or tannim) occur 14 times in the original text. In English Versions of the Bible this is variously rendered "dragon," "whale," "serpent" or "sea-monster". Tannim occurs 12 times, and is rendered "dragons," "jackals," and "whale". Tannoth occurs once.

Now, in the Bible there are two creatures specifically referenced by name that fit the scientific qualifications for a dinosaur/dragon (the word dinosaur was not invented until 1841). These creatures are called the Leviathan, and the Behemoth. Both creatures are magnificent in size, strength, and individuality. Because I am exploring the biblical implications of dragons in this segment, I am not going to go into a lot of scientific info at this point on these creatures. However, I do want to clear up the dragon vrs dinosaur debate. I believe that our “dragons” are the same things as dinosaurs. The difference, I think, is breed and not species. What we typically think of as a dinosaur, and what we typically think of as a dragon, I feel, is a matter of characteristics. A Chihuahua and a Rottweiler are two very different breeds of dog, yet they are both dogs. Pteranodon is very different than an Apatosaurus (one flies the other walks), but we accept them both as dinosaurs. As such, I think dragons fall under this same classification.
The behemoth fits our more traditional view of dinosaurs, but the creature I want to look at is the leviathan. This magnificent beast is our biblical “dragon”. Now, some scholars say he is a large whale or crocodile, but I’m not sure how they can come up with this viewpoint. Read these verses.


1 "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook, or tie down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will he make an agreement with you, for you to take him as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird, or put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 "I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form.
13 Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle?
14 Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth?
15 His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together;
16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth.
22 Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
24 His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him.
29 A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature without fear.
34 He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud."

Isaiah 27:1: "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.”

Psalms 74:14: "Thou didst crush the heads of the Leviathan, thou didst give him for food to the creatures of the desert."

Psalms 104:25,26: "O Lord, how manifold thy works, in wisdom you have created them all. So is this great and wide sea... there go the ships and the Leviathan which you have created to play therein"



Now, doesn’t the leviathan, as it is described in the Bible, sounds very much like our mystical dragons, apart from dwelling in the water, that is?


I would like for us to now look at why the Leviathan is a “dragon”ish creature, and not a common crocodile or whale.



His Size

Leviathan is so massive that "sorrow dances before him" (Job 41:22). When strong men encounter one, they become so fearful the men are beside themselves with terror (Job 41:25). Leviathan is so massive he leaves a large shining wake behind him as he moves through the sea (Job 41:32), and his eyes are so large God likens them to the breaking of day (Job 41:18).

Leviathan is a very large serpent. In God's rebuke towards Job, the Lord quite sarcastically speaks of Leviathan (Job 41:1-6) with rhetorical questions. In other words, He says you can't draw out Leviathan with a hook. He will not speak softly to you. You will not make a banquet of him. He is not a fish that can be caught! Large whales can be caught, but not this puppy. He's beyond harpooning. As the Lord says,

“Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears?”

No! If someone were to attempt to do so, the Lord says they will never forget the mistake.


His Strength

Part of Leviathan's fierceness, along with his size, is his immense strength. God says he has "mighty power" and "terrible teeth" (Job 41:12, 14), and "strength dwells in his neck" (Job 41:22). He has a "heart as hard as stone" (Job 41:24), and his outer covering literally has "shields".

Even though the KJV, NKJV, and NAS translate Job 41:15 as "scales" in reference to Leviathan's exterior, it is not the Hebrew word for scales that is used in Job 41:15 but instead the Hebrew word for "shields" as used in 2 Chronicles 9:16 and 26:14 for shields of war. Shields is a very accurate word, because no war weapon could penetrate Leviathan's protective covering. (Job 41:26)

This explains why his skin cannot be filled with harpoons nor his head with fishing spears (Job 41:7). Leviathan's outer covering is extremely strong, so strong that his "scales" (if you will) "cannot be parted" (Job 41:17). They are so tightly sealed together that "no air can come between them" (Job 41:16). God clearly has clothed this guy with some serious armor, with impenetrable shields.

Along with this strong armor is an incomprehensible strength. For Leviathan, iron is like straw, and bronze is as rotten wood (Job 41:27). That describes amazing strength. He has the strength to bend iron with little effort; he could break or crush bronze.

Also part of Leviathan's arsenal is his belly.

His undersides are like sharp potsherds; he spreads pointed marks in the mire. (Job 41:30)

From the statement about the "pointed marks" it is evident they are facing outward, away from his body. Thus, anything coming in contact with that stomach is going to get cut up and possibly even shredded.
Also noted in Job is the fact that the Leviathan is so fast when he swims, that he causes the water to turn white. We aren’t talking about a zippy little dolphin here guys; we are talking about a creature that can swim so fast he causes white capping waves.

Sounding like a dragon yet?


His Fire

While some claim the Leviathan is a crocodile, hippo, or whale, these creatures are nowhere near what is described in Job 41; they don’t breathe fire. Leviathan is clearly called a serpent in Isaiah 27:1, a fleeing, twisted serpent, but he is no ordinary serpent. This one literally breathes fire.

His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. (Job 41:21)

The dragon is no mythical creature. There may be mythical dragons, and myths surrounding dragons, but this dragon is no myth. Dragon is a term that well describes Leviathan. He is a massive, fire breathing, terrifying serpent that not only breathes fire, but smoke as well (Job 41:20). This characteristic of fire within Leviathan is so prevalent that when he sneezes, light flashes forth (Job 41:18), and sparks shoot out. (Job 41:19)

He even makes the water around him boil as he abides in the sea (Job 41:31). Fire is very much a part of Leviathan's make up. It is no wonder different cultures have so many different myths about these fire breathing reptiles.

So, are you convinced yet? Does this sound like a mythical creature? I am not saying that the dragon has not been played up over time (as we will see in part three of this series), but I do not think you can discount the fact that a fire breathing terror did once dwell in our midst.

The only thing worth commenting on is the fact that I removed the Bront reference. You are very correct. The Bront is not a real Dinosaur. It was yet another scientific fabrication, although you will still find that he is acclaimed in almost any child's text book as being a real creature of the past. I put him in there anyways, because he is a commonly known species of Dinosaur. I wasn't sure anyone would know he wasn't real. Since you did, and it immediately caused question, I decided to remove him. I'm impressed though, Leandra.

Although, I guess I could have just said Petri and Littlefoot But I reference them later, so I decided not to do it here

Hey Airi,

I loved this post (even just the draft )!! Very extremely amazingly though-provoking. I know I for one have always marked huge exclamation points in my Bible next to those "fire-breathing serpents" passages!

Just one comment:



That last sentence was rather confusing to me. Why would the absence of the word "dragon" be a weak point in creationism? I thought the consensus among the scientific world was that dragons didn't exist, so the Bible not mentioning them would be a point in favor, right? Also, the word "dragon" is spelled out in the Bible! See Revelation, for example. So that part was rather confusing.

Sorry if those were silly issues, or if I was just being typically clueless. But really, I thought you had a lot of great insights and fabulous facts. I look forward to reading the final version!

~ Dawn

*smiles * Those weren't silly, Dawn, they were legitimate questions.

First question: Actually, scientists feel very strongly now that dragons did exist, so the Bible's "silence" on the subject is brought up. However, creation science is working to combat this false assumption.

Question 2: Ah, apparently I was not clear and need to alter that statement. Dragons are never mentioned unless metaphorically. So people do not believe that the Bible speaks of them in a realistic fashion. I used the dragon reference in my first article in the dragon series, so I know it is in there. I need to rephrase that.

Andrew, I'm on my phone, so I need you to correct my misspellings.

*is happy to get to read these articles even before they're "in print"*

*thinks Leandra did an excellent job of editing the article*


That should be interesting.


I went ahead and corrected them.

Thanks so much, Jonathan!

This thread is now being archived.