Isaiah 27 Footnotes

27:1 The name Leviathan is found elsewhere in the Bible (Jb 3:8; 41:1-32; Ps 74:14; 104:26) and appears to refer to a sea creature parallel to Rahab, which symbolized Egypt (Jb 26:12; Ps 87:4; 89:10; Is 30:7; 51:9). The Israelites and the Prophet Isaiah were well aware of ancient Near Eastern beliefs about monsters that battle one another (Baal and Mot; Marduk and Tiamat). Biblical use of these mythological creatures as literary symbols does not indicate that the inspired authors believed in them. To the contrary, Isaiah’s use of Leviathan as a metaphor for the strong nation of Assyria amounts to divesting the name of any mythological or religious significance attached to it.