Are any mythological creatures mentioned in the Bible?
Answered from the commentary of Arno Clemens Gaebelein, Morrish Bible Dictionary, William Kelly and 1 other
Yes. The Bible mentions creatures often called mythological, including Leviathan, Behemoth, the dragon, and the unicorn, though these passages commonly identify them with real animals or use them as figures rather than establish them as fabulous beings. Leviathan is generally identified as a crocodile or another great sea or land monster, and Behemoth as a hippopotamus, though one commentary suggests it may have been an extinct creature. In prophecy, Leviathan and the dragon also figure Satan’s power, while the dragon is explicitly a symbol of Satan. The “unicorn” is most probably a wild ox, and “cockatrice” may refer to an unknown deadly snake; the dictionary says the cockatrice was a fabulous creature. For “satyr,” the dictionary suggests wild goats may be meant, or that the word conveys the dread of desolate places.
Verses: Genesis 3:1, Genesis 3:14, Job 40:15, Job 40:16, Job 40:17, Job 40:18, Job 40:19, Job 40:20, Job 40:21, Job 40:22, Job 40:23, Job 40:24, Job 41:1, Job 41:2, Job 41:3, Job 41:4, Job 41:5, Job 41:6, Job 41:7, Job 41:8, Job 41:9, Job 41:10, Job 41:11, Job 41:12, Job 41:13, Job 41:14, Job 41:15, Job 41:16, Job 41:17, Job 41:18, Job 41:19, Job 41:20, Job 41:21, Job 41:22, Job 41:23, Job 41:24, Job 41:25, Job 41:26, Job 41:27, Job 41:28, Job 41:29, Job 41:30, Job 41:31, Job 41:32, Job 41:33, Job 41:34, Psalms 74:13, Psalms 74:14, Psalms 91:13, Psalms 104:25, Psalms 104:26, Isaiah 27:1, Isaiah 34:13, Isaiah 34:14, Isaiah 34:15, Ezekiel 29:3, Ezekiel 32:2, Daniel 7:3, Daniel 7:4, Daniel 7:5, Daniel 7:6, Daniel 7:7, Revelation 12:3, Revelation 12:4, Revelation 12:5, Revelation 12:6, Revelation 12:7, Revelation 12:8, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 13:1, Revelation 13:2, Revelation 13:11, Revelation 17:3, Revelation 17:4, Revelation 17:5, Revelation 17:6, Revelation 17:7, Revelation 17:8
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
This is really a Hebrew word (livyathan), and is generally believed to refer to any great sea or land monster, it is now postulated that the description is likely to be of a dinosaur.
It is thus an apt symbol of the enemy of God's people. Ps. 74:14. In Isa. 27:1 it also typifies Satan: "leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent," whom God will punish. In Ps. 104:26 the reference may be to any sea monster, for it is in connection with the 'great and wide sea,' that is, the Mediterranean. In Job 3:8 it should be translated 'leviathan,' instead of 'their mourning,' and this confirms the general meaning of some monster.
The Hebrew word is reem, translated in the LXX by ἁδρός, and μονοκέρως, from the last of which the A.V. adopted the rendering 'unicorn.' There is nothing in the scripture to intimate that the animal had but one horn, indeed Deut. 33:17 speaks of 'the horns of a unicorn' (see margin), and it must have been some animal with which the Israelites were familiar. Its great strength and untamableness are the main characteristics: it cannot be utilised, as the tame ox, for agricultural purposes. Num. 23:22; Num. 24:8; Deut. 33:17; Job 39:9-10; Ps. 29:6; Ps. 92:10; Isa. 34:7. The Lord asked to be saved from the lion's mouth, for Jehovah had heard Him from the horns of the unicorns (Ps. 22:21), to which His implacable enemies are compared. It is most probable that a species of wild ox, the Bos primigenius, is referred to; these may have been known in Palestine, as was the lion, though they are now extinct. This is confirmed by the wild ox being sculptured in an Assyrian bas-relief, with the name reem or rim over it.
tsiphoni. This is only once translated 'adder' in the text, Prov. 23:32, but is four times translated 'cockatrice,' in Isa. 11:8; Isa. 14:29; Isa. 59:5, referring to its poison, and Jer. 8:17 to the fact that it will not be charmed, but will bite. This is supposed to be the 'yellow viper' of Palestine, which lurks in dens, and whose poison is deadly. It is said to resist the arts of the serpent charmers. The cockatrice was a fabulous creature, and was perhaps adopted by the translators to designate some unknown deadly snake.
The Hebrew word is tannin, and is used for any huge creature whether of sea or land. Lam. 4:3. The word is also translated 'whales,' 'dragons,' and 'serpents.'
The word tannin, Gen. 1:21; Job 7:12; Ezek. 32:2; and κῆτος Matt. 12:40; refer to any sea monsters, without defining any particular one. In the case of Jonah the Hebrew word is dag, or dagah, a fish; it may not have been a whale: sharks have been known to swallow men entire, and whatever fish it was that swallowed him, it was a miracle that preserved him alive, and caused him to be safely landed on shore again. It is only by denying the miracle that any difficulty arises. The Hebrew word tannin is also translated in the A.V. 'dragon,' 'sea monster,' and 'serpent.'
For God does mean to bless this long-groaning creation, and He inspired the mouth of His holy prophets to speak of it since time began. They therefore do greatly err who deny the immense and universal blessing in store for Israel, the nations, the earth, yea, even the lower creation. They do not know how God intends to crown men here below with loving-kindness and tender mercies, when He shall open His hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Judgment, undoubtedly, must fall previously; and Jehovah shall punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when Jehovah of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously. For the great distinctive feature is to be, along with the exclusion of Satan and his power, the mighty and beneficent presence and reign of Jehovah-Jesus, Who with righteousness shall judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, after He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall slay the wicked. 'And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the peoples: to it shall the Gentiles seek and His rest shall be glorious' (Isa. 11:5-10).
It was a needed safe-guard against idolatry too. For so inveterate a snare for man is it to turn aside to strange gods, that even here Jehovah deigns to notice the danger for His erring people. "And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goats (or, satyrs), after whom they go a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever to them throughout their generations." So now that we as Christians rest on the one perfecting offering of Christ, it is our place and joy, whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, to do all to God's glory, to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through Him. It is not only in offering up a sacrifice of praise to God, but as not forgetting to do good and communicate (i.e., to share our goods with others); for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
The word is sair, which signifies 'hairy one,' and hence a 'he goat.' It is translated 'goat' and 'kid' many times. In Lev. 17:7 and 2 Chr. 11:15 it is translated 'devils,' but would have been better 'demons,' referring to the gods which the heathen unconsciously worshipped: cf. 1 Cor. 10:20. The word is translated 'satyr' in Isa. 13:21; Isa. 34:14, both passages referring to places brought to utter desolation, so that they are inhabited by wild beasts, owls, and perhaps 'wild goats' are intended; or that the desolation would be such that men would shun them as if haunted by unearthly beings. Such a dread is often expressed by dwellers in the East.
tannin, δράκων. It may signify any great serpent or sea monster, symbolical of a huge destructive creature. Nations doomed to destruction and desolation, including Jerusalem, are said to become habitations of dragons. Isa. 34:13; Isa. 35:7; Jer. 9:11; Jer. 10:22; Jer. 51:37. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is called the great dragon. Ezek. 29:3. As one of God's creatures the dragon is called upon to praise Jehovah. Ps. 148:7. In the N.T. the dragon is a type of Satan and those energised by him. In Rev. 12:3 the "great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns," is symbolical of Satan's power in the form of the Roman empire: it endeavoured, in the person of Herod, to destroy Christ when born. In Rev. 13:2, 4 it is Satan who gives the resuscitated Roman empire in a future day its throne and great authority. In Rev. 13:11 the Antichrist, who has two horns like a lamb, speaks as a dragon. In Rev. 16:13 it is Satan, and in Rev. 20:2 he is described as "that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan."
Leviathan, the untamable beast of power (41:1-11) Its description (41:12-24) His remarkable strength (41:25-34)
Verses 1-11. The leviathan has generally been identified with the crocodile. Like the behemoth, the leviathan is a strong and untamable beast. Jehovah asks, Canst thou draw up leviathan with a hook? Canst thou pierce his jaw with a reed? Will he make a covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him for a servant forever? Then He declares that he is fierce, and even at the sight of him one is cast down. And if a creature is so mighty and strong what must the One be who called this creature into existence? Verses 10 and 11 should be rendered as follows: "Who then is able to stand before Me (the Creator)? who did give to me first that I should repay him? since all beneath the heavens is mine."
Verses
- Genesis 3:1And the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Jehovah Elohim had made. And it said to the woman, Is it even so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
- Genesis 3:14And Jehovah Elohim said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this, be thou cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. On thy belly shalt thou go, and eat dust all the days of thy life.
- Job 40:15–2415See now the behemoth, which I made with thee he eateth grass as an ox. 16Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly. 17He bendeth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are woven together. 18His bones are tubes of bronze, his members are like bars of iron. 19He is the chief of God's ways he that made him gave him his sword. 20For the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21He lieth under lotus-bushes, in the covert of the reed and fen 22Lotus-bushes cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook surround him. 23Lo, the river overfloweth — he startleth not he is confident though a Jordan break forth against his mouth. 24Shall he be taken in front? will they pierce through [his] nose in the trap?