---
title: לִוְיָתָן — serpent · The Tanakh dictionary
description: לִוְיָתָן (3882), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 6 times: serpent. BDB 1906: n.m. serpent, dragon, leviathan rare. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# לִוְיָתָן

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«לִוְיָתָן» in the Tanakh dictionary: **serpent** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 6 times · **Key:** 3882 · **BDB:** לִוְיָתָן

### Glosses

Leviathan (5); of.Leviathan (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

serpent [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1500/3882/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. serpent, dragon, leviathan rare [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1500/3882/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Jb 40:25 serpent, dragon, leviathan, poet. and rare (on format. from לוה c. fem. ת + ָן v. Thes and cf. Ges§ 85, 54 Köii, p. 99 BaNB § 207 c; LagBN 205 (thinks foreign loan-word);—sea-monster = crocodile Jb 40:25; whale ψ 104:26 (v. Che); dragon producing eclipses (mythol.) Jb 3:8; fig. of Egypt as all-engulfing ψ 74:14 (‖ תַּנִּינִים v 13); cf. Is 27:1(×2) (‖ נָחָשׁ בָּרִחַ, נָחָשׁ עֲקַלָּתוֹן), v. Che Di and especially (on ל׳ in gen.) BartonTiamat, JAOS xv (1891), 22 ff. GunkelSchöpf. u. Chaos 46.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 5 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (1 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (1 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «לִוְיָתָן» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1500/3882/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Job 3:8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.3.8/)

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יִקְּבֻ֥הוּ אֹרְרֵי־י֑וֹם הָ֝עֲתִידִ֗ים עֹרֵ֥ר לִוְיָתָֽן׃

*Word for word:* let them.curse.it \[those.who\].curse (of).a.day the.\[ones\] ready to.rouse Leviathan

*JPS 1917:* Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

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[Job 40:25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.40.25/)

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תִּמְשֹׁ֣ךְ לִוְיָתָ֣ן בְּחַכָּ֑ה וּ֝בְחֶ֗בֶל תַּשְׁקִ֥יעַ לְשֹׁנֽוֹ׃

*Word for word:* will.you.draw.out? Leviathan with a.fish.hook and with a.cord will.you.make.sink? tongue its

*JPS 1917:* Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fish-hook? or press down his tongue with a cord?

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