Dragon, a word frequently found in the translations of the Bible as substitute, so it seems, for other names of animals that the translators were unable to identify. It stands indeed for several Hebrew names:
- תַנִּ֑ thán - Strongs: H8565 (Job 30:29; Isaiah 34:13; 35:7; 43:20; Jeremiah 9:11; 10:22; 14:6; 49:33; 51:37; Micah 1:8; Malachi 1:3), unquestionably meaning a denizen of desolate places, and generally identified with the jackal;
- תנין tánnîn - Strongs: H8577, in a few passages with the sense of serpent [Deuteronomy 32:33; Psalm 91:13; Dan., xiv, 22-27], in others most likely signifying the crocodile [Ps. 74:13; Isaiah 51:9; Ezekiel 29:3], or even a sea-monster (Ezekiel 32:2), such as a whale, porpoise, or dugong, as rightly translated in Lam. 4:3, and as probably intended in Ps. 148:7;
- לִוְיָתָן líweyãthãn (leviathan) - Strongs: H3882, meaning both the crocodile [Ps. 74:14] and sea-monster [Ps. 104:26];
- צִיִּים֙ tsîyîm - Strongs: H6728 (Psalm 74:14; Jeremiah 50:39), which possibly means the hyena.
Other places, such as Esther 10:7; 11:6; Ecclus., xxv, 23, can be neither traced back to a Hebrew original, nor identified with sufficient probability. The author of the Apocalypse repeatedly makes mention of the dragon, by which he means "the old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world" (Revelation 12:9, etc.). Of the fabulous dragon fancied by the ancients, represented as a monstrous winged serpent with a crested head and enormous claws, and regarded as very powerful and ferocious, no mention is found in the Bible. The word dragon, consequently, should really be removed from Bibles, except perhaps from Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6, where the draco fimbriatus is possibly spoken of. See § Basilisk, 4.
Verses:
- Deuteronomy 32:33
- Job 30:29
- Job 41:1
- Psalms 44:19
- Psalms 74:13
- Psalms 74:14
- Psalms 91:13
- Psalms 104:26
- Psalms 148:7
- Isaiah 13:22
- Isaiah 27:1
- Isaiah 34:13
- Isaiah 35:7
- Isaiah 43:20
- Isaiah 51:9
- Jeremiah 9:11
- Jeremiah 10:22
- Jeremiah 14:6
- Jeremiah 49:33
- Jeremiah 50:39
- Jeremiah 51:34
- Jeremiah 51:37
- Lamentations 4:3
- Ezekiel 29:3
- Ezekiel 32:2
- Micah 1:8
- Malachi 1:3
- Revelation 12:3
- Revelation 12:4
- Revelation 12:7
- Revelation 12:9
- Revelation 12:13
- Revelation 12:16
- Revelation 12:17
- Revelation 13:2
- Revelation 13:4
- Revelation 13:11
- Revelation 16:13
- Revelation 20:2