the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Dragon
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or DRAGON . (1) tannîm (pl.), AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘dragons,’ but RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘jackals,’ Isaiah 13:22; Isaiah 34:13; Isaiah 35:7 , Job 30:29 , Psalms 44:19 , Jeremiah 10:22; Jeremiah 49:33 . (2) tannôth , AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘dragons,’ but RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘jackals,’ Malachi 1:3 . See Jackal. (3) tannîm (sing.), ‘dragon,’ Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2 , refers to Egypt, and probably means specially the crocodile (wh. see). (4) tannîn (pl. tannînim ), tr. [Note: translate or translation.] in RV [Note: Revised Version.] of Genesis 1:21 and Job 7:12 ‘ sea monster(s) ’ (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘whale(s)’); Aaron’s rod became a tannîn ( Exodus 7:9-12 , EV [Note: English Version.] serpent [wh. see, §11]). The same term, tannîn , is also applied metaphorically to Pharaoh ( Psalms 74:13 , Isaiah 51:9; and thus perhaps refers to the crocodile), and to Nebuchadnezzar ( Jeremiah 51:34 ). Doubtless many references here and elsewhere are tinged by current mythological tales of ‘dragons,’ such as that preserved in the Assyrian creation-epic of the contest between Marduk and Tiamat. The reference in Revelation 12:3 ff. is certainly of this nature.
E. W. G. Masterman.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Dragon'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/d/dragon.html. 1909.
