Leviathan 鳄鱼

A question came up from today’s Bible reading in Job 41: Is Leviathan a real animal?

今天通读圣经在约伯记 41 有这个提问：鳄鱼是真的动物吗？

Short answer 简答

The Leviathan is some sort of sea monster that is in the mythologies of the people of the Ancient Near East. It represents the forces of chaos, and is one of the gods that fight against a more superior god. The Israelites know of these myths, of course, but the Bible states things very differently: Yahweh (usually written in small-caps as LORD in English Bibles) is the sole creator, everything else, including Leviathan, are created things.

鳄鱼是海里的怪兽，在古代近东的民族的神话。它代表混乱的力量，是在多申论的概念中其中一个神。以色列人也当然知道这些神话，可是圣经给我们有很不同的概念：耶和华是唯一的创造者，其他所有的，包括鳄鱼，都是被造物。

Longer answer 更详细信息

LEVIATHAN (לִוְיָתָן, liwyathan). One of the Hebrew names for the sea monster of ancient Near Eastern mythology that represented the forces of chaos held in check by the power of the creator deity. Sometimes rendered “sea monster” or “dragon” in modern English biblical translations.
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Leviathan is mentioned by name six times in the Hebrew Bible (Job 3:8; 41:1; Pss 74:14; 104:26; Isa 27:1). Most of these passages assert or allude to Yahweh’s power and control over the sea monster.
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The only detailed physical description of Leviathan in the Bible is found in Job 41, which describes a powerful and fearsome creature that cannot be tamed or subdued by human power. [It] has fearsome teeth (Job 41:14) and impenetrable scales (Job 41:15–17); it breathes out fire and smoke (Job 41:18–21) and breaks through iron and bronze as though it were straw or rotting wood (Job 41:27). Warriors will retreat from Leviathan when all their weapons have proved useless against it (Job 41:25–29).
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The mythical background is evident in Isa 27:1 and Psa 74:14. In Isaiah 27, Leviathan represents Israel’s enemies and embodies the metaphysical cosmic forces of evil and chaos.
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The physical description of Leviathan in Job 41 clearly depicts a creature that cannot be tamed or subdued by human power. In this case, the writer of Job clearly appropriated imagery to make the rhetorical point that only Yahweh is powerful enough to keep the forces of chaos in check. Whether the description in Job 38–41 moves from physical creation to mythological imagery, the message is the same: Yahweh, not Job, is the sovereign creator who has absolute power over creation.

Douglas Mangum and Matthew James Hamilton, “Leviathan,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

鳄鱼（לִוְיָתָן ，liwyathan）。在希伯来语中指代古代近东神话中的海怪，代表着混乱的力量，受造物主神的控制。有时译为 “大鱼” 或 “龙”。

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鳄鱼这个名字在希伯来语圣经中被提到了六次 （约3:3; 41:1; 诗74:14; 104:26； 赛27：1）。这些章节大多断言或暗示了雅威（耶和华）对海怪的掌控。
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在约伯记41章 中，整本圣经唯一一次详细描述鳄鱼，形容它为一个大而可怕的生物，无法被人驯服或制服。根据这段经文，鳄鱼有令人恐惧的牙齿（伯41:14）和难以穿透的鳞片（伯41:15-17）；会吐出火和烟（伯41:18–21），穿透铁和青铜好似稻草或腐烂的木头一样（伯41:27）。当所有的武器都无法对付鳄鱼时，勇士们都退缩了（伯41:25–29）。
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以赛亚书27:1和诗篇74:14中的神话背景非常明显。在以赛亚书27章中，鳄鱼代表以色列的众敌人，表现出邪恶混乱的超自然的宇宙力量。
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约伯记41章中有关鳄鱼的描述清楚展现出一个无法被人驯服或折服的生物。约伯记的作者显然藉着这些描述提出其论点，即只有雅威强大到可以掌控混乱的力量。无论约伯记 38-41 中的描述是否是从物质创造转移到神话意象，其中的信息都是一样的：那至高的造物主，拥有绝对权力的那位，是雅威，而不是约伯。

Douglas Mangum and Matthew James Hamilton, “鳄鱼,” ed. John D. Barry, 莱克姆圣经辞典 (Bellingham, WA: 莱克姆出版社, 2020).