Claim CH711.1:
Leviathan, described in Job 41 and mentioned in Psalms 104:26, describes a
dinosaur like Parasaurolophus or Corythosaurus, or a plesiosaur
such as Koronosaurus.
Source:
Gish, Duane, 1977. Dinosaurs: Those Terrible Lizards. El Cajon, CA:
Master Books, pp. 30,51-55.
Gish, Duane, 1993. Dinosaurs by Design.
Master Books.
Response:
- Leviathan appears also in Ugaritic texts, where it is described as a
twisting serpent (echoing language from Isa. 27:1) with seven heads. It
personifies the waters of the primeval chaos. The rousing of Leviathan
in Job 3:8 implies an undoing of the process of creation (Day 1992).
It has also been suggested that Leviathan was a crocodile or whale, but
its multiple heads (referred to also in Ps. 74:14) make it clear that
it is a fantastic creature, such as appear in folklore from all times
and places.
- Leviathan is clearly described as a sea creature in the Bible.
Parasaurolophus and Corythosaurus were terrestrial.
- The message of Job 41 is that part of nature is indomitable, that "no
purpose of [God's] can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). That message would
lose its meaning if Leviathan was an ordinary animal that humans would
be able to kill. The larger message of Job is that God's ways cannot
always be understood. That message is best served by leaving Leviathan
mythical.
References:
- Day, John, 1992. Leviathan. In David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor
Bible Dictionary, New York: Doubleday, vol 4, pp. 295-296.
created 2003-9-25
