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Isaiah 27 · a question people ask

"leviathan, the fleeing serpent" (27:1). What is Leviathan? Is it the devil?

In the text

The verse doesn't say. It calls him "the fleeing serpent" and "the twisted serpent", and it speaks of "the dragon that is in the sea" (27:1) (tap leviathan). It says what the LORD will do "In that day": "with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan" and "kill the dragon" (27:1). The name Leviathan comes only six times in the Hebrew Bible, and the other four are "who are ready to rouse up leviathan" (Job 3:8), "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook" (Job 41:1), "You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces" (Psalm 74:14), and "leviathan, whom you formed to play there" (Psalm 104:26). None of these verses names Satan or the devil, and the WEB's New Testament never names Leviathan. The chapters on Job 41 and Psalm 74 set the verses side by side and don't say what Leviathan is, and these notes don't either. Nor do they apply him to any nation or ruler.

The verses

“In that day, the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan, the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.”
Isaiah 27:1 · World English Bible
“Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.”
Job 3:8 · World English Bible
““Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?”
Job 41:1 · World English Bible
“You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.”
Psalm 74:14 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 27

Isaiah 27: A pleasant vineyard

In chapter 5 the vineyard would grow briers and thorns and have no rain (5:6). In chapter 27 the LORD says of the vineyard, "I, the LORD, am its keeper. I will water it every moment" (27:3), and after words of battle, "Let him make peace with me" (27:5). At the end Israel is gathered "one by one" (27:12), and at "a great trumpet" those ready to perish and the outcasts come to worship (27:13).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions