The Bible contains a number of references which can be extremely confusing to us today. While there is much that is stated clearly in the Bible, a small percentage of the verses contain words that we don’t necessarily understand or understand in the context they are used. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the Leviathan, mentioned in the book of Job.
Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, or snare his tongue with a line which you lower? – Job 41:1
This creature, the Leviathan, is mentioned in a few other places in the Old Testament as well (Psalms 74:14; 104;26 & Isaiah 27:1), but none so well known as the reference here in Job. A number of different Bible scholars and theologians have taken a crack at defining just what this creature was, but they have all failed. There is no known creature, either living or that appears in the fossil record, which fully matches the description given in Job for the Leviathan.
I mention this to illustrate the challenge that Bible scholars and translators have in identifying just what the Bible is saying, in places. While the message of the Bible is clear, when it comes to naming specific creatures, people or places, we find that time and language sometimes make that all but impossible. Geographic features, such as the four rivers of Eden, may not even exist, as that description was of a pre-flood world. Animals like the Leviathan may have been destroyed in the flood, not leaving any fossil record which has yet been discovered.
The other part of this problem is language. No two languages are exactly the same, giving us the ability to simply substitute one word for another in all cases. While there are plenty of words that can be substituted, there are always some exceptions. One commonly known word where we have this problem is the word “love.” While we only have one word for love in English, there are five different words for it in the Greek of the New Testament. This can cause subtle changes of meaning, when we are trying to understand any verse of the New Testament, which contains the word “love.”
So, what’s the Old Testament Dragon?
When we look at the word “dragon” in the Bible we have to ask ourselves just what the original writers meant and whether that is an accurate translation. We find the word “dragon” mentioned in both Old Testament prophecy and New Testament prophecy (the book of Revelations); but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the same.
Other than the “Dragon Spring” mentioned in Nehemiah 2:13, which is translated as the “Serpent Well” in the New King James translation (NKJV) and the “Jackal Well” in the New International Version (NIV), the dragon is only mentioned in a few of the prophetic books. The fact that it is not translated consistently in the various translations of the Bible tells us that there is some doubt as to the actual meaning of the original Hebrew word.
Please don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not trying to say that our Bibles are incorrect or that we can’t believe what they say. The specific doctrinal point that I’m actually making reference to states that “The Bible is inerrant and without error in its original form.” The original form means the Greek and Hebrew it was originally written in. That’s not what we have today; we have translations of the Bible. It is possible that there could be errors in the translations we have, for such reasons as I’ve already mentioned, without saying that the Bible is wrong or contains errors. This difference between the two, while seemingly only semantics, is huge. Even if there are some errors in translation, they are minimal, like what we are talking about in this case, so they do not damage the integrity of the Bible.
As for the other locations where this word appears in the Old Testament, the original word in Hebrew is the same, “tanniyn” or “tanniym,” identified by the Strong’s concordance by the number H8577. Both Strong’s dictionary and the Brown-Driver-Briggs dictionary give this word varied meanings, including dragon, serpent, sea monster, dinosaur, serpent, venomous snake or monster.
Isaiah gives us a bit more information about this beast, in his first reference to it:
In that day the Lord with his severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile (dragon) that is in the sea. – Isaiah 27:1
I have included the word “dragon” in parenthesis here, because it does not appear as “dragon” in the New King James Version of the Bible. However, it does appear in that way in the King James Version. Nevertheless, we see a couple of important things here. First, the prophet makes reference to both Leviathan and the Dragon, telling us that God will slay both of them. The fact that the two parts of that verse are connected by the word “and” shows us that the prophet was making reference to two separate events, even though they might have been related to each other. So, we know that the dragon is not the Leviathan.
The second interesting thing we find here is that the dragon is referenced as being a sea creature; or, at least, God will slay it in the sea, which gives the impression that it is a sea creature. That wipes out our mental image of a dragon as being a large, winged reptile that breathes fire. Whatever this dragon is, it is not the mythological beast found in Chinese and European mythology; at least not as it is typically depicted.
Even then, it is possible that the dragon mentioned in the Bible, like the Leviathan, is associated with historic creatures that once roamed the face of the Earth. I’m making reference to dinosaurs; most of which inhabited the land, while a few inhabited the sea. The idea that someone in Medieval times would identify a dinosaur as a dragon and imagine that it breathed fire is quite realistic. It appears that one of the best possible explanations for the dragons found in mythology and legend were remnants of dinosaurs that were seen, albeit rarely, by people. If they existed in Medieval times, they would have existed in biblical times as well. Such creatures would be dangerous enough that they would unlikely be killed or captured, merely described.
Once again, we don’t know if this is an accurate understanding of scripture. But in reality, it doesn’t actually matter. Whatever sort of beast the prophets were describing, what is important is how God deals with them, not what they looked like.
What About the New Testament Dragon?
The dragon talked about in the New Testament, in the book of Revelations, is probably not the same creature talked about in the Old Testament. First of all, the word translated as “dragon” is a Greek word, not a Hebrew one, so we don’t know if they meant the same thing to the writers of those books. Secondly, that is a prophecy which has not yet been fulfilled. Therefore, the beast described as a dragon is probably symbolic and could have a very different meaning.
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought. 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. – Revelations 12:7-9
In this case, the prophetic text provides us with a clear definition of who the dragon is referred to, saying that it is both the “Devil” and “Satan.” This is not to say that the dragon was two people, but rather that Satan is also referred to as the Devil. Were the name “Devil” to be lower-case, rather than capitalized, it would be talking about the devil as a being; but being capitalized shows us that it is making reference to another name for Satan.
This is not to say that Satan has the appearance of a dragon or that he is a dragon, as this is prophecy. As such, the use of the dragon is symbolic, more than anything else. The timing of this event may be brought into question, as it doesn’t seem to fit in the chronology of the story being told in the book of Revelations. Not only that, but Jesus Himself made reference to having seen Satan’s fall from heaven.
And He said to them (the 72 disciples that Jesus had sent out), “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” – Luke 10:18
This verse is widely accepted by theologians as having taken place in antiquity, sometime between the creation account of Genesis, chapter 1 and mankind’s fall, in sin, that occurred in Genesis, chapter 3. He could not have fallen to earth before the earth itself existed and we know that he was here on the earth for the fall, as he inhabited the serpent to entrap Eve.
This provides us with a valuable connection, as the Greek word which is translated as “dragon” here in Revelations, can also be translated as “serpent, just as the Hebrew word used in the Old Testament for “dragon” can be. While we cannot be sure of it, the two may very well be synonymous, or at least as synonymous as any two words in different languages can be. With that being the case, we see some clear continuity in the story, with the dragon or serpent being cast from heaven and then going after God’s greatest creation, trying to get Adam and Eve to serve him, rather than God.
This interpretation also helps to illuminate one point about what happened during the fall. As God confronted Adam and Eve about their sin, He momentarily turned His attention to Satan, cursing him.
So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” – Genesis 3:14-15
Serpents, or snakes, are most easily identified by their lack of legs, causing them to slither along the ground. Yet some species of snakes have small spurs of bone where hips would have been and some even have vestigial legs embedded in their muscles. To the evolutionary, this shows that snakes once had legs, but have evolved to no longer need them. I’m not sure how that qualifies as evolution, as a species without legs is clearly less evolved than one which has them. For those of us who believe the Bible, this is merely evidence to back up God’s curse here, showing that the serpent lost the legs they once had, as a result of that curse.
The enmity referred to here between the Devil and the woman’s Seed is clearly referring to the Lord, Jesus Christ, although there is also a very clear enmity shown in the Bible between Satan and those who serve God, both in the Old Testament and the New. Satan tried to destroy the people of Israel in the book of Esther, in order to prevent the coming of the Messiah. He also tried to destroy the Jewish religion during what are known as “the Silent Years” between Malachi and the New Testament. Yet, he did not succeed in either case.
Going back to Revelations, chapter 12, we see this enmity as it has been carried out throughout history.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of out God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. – Revelations 12:10-11
Throughout the rest of this chapter, we see the battle between the serpent and the woman depicted, starting with the comment, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you…” (Revelation 12:12). While the woman might easily be understood to mean Eve, it can also be understood to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. As it says in verse 13 that the dragon, “persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.” Yet the very next thing we see is that woman being given wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly into the wilderness.
We must remember that this is a prophecy we are reading, not history. As such, it is telling us of events that had not yet come and have probably not yet come even today. It is also speaking to us in symbolism. As such, the dragon being referred to is probably not a literal dragon, but a symbolic one.
Looking at it in that light, it’s quite possible that the woman makes reference to God’s people here on earth, rather than a specific woman. Paul gives us the key to this in his Epistle to the Ephesians, when he is talking about the marriage relationship. He clearly states that he is referring to Christ and the Church, when he speaks about the husband and wife. We also find a clear reference in the last verse of Revelations, chapter 12.
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. – Revelations 12:17
Who are the children of that woman? They are those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Granted, not everyone who calls themselves by the name of Christ or who attends a church really fits that description; but all of us should. Prophecy doesn’t get much clearer than that.
There is one more place where the dragon is referred to in the book of Revelations, that’s in chapter 20. Again, this verse clearly tells us that the dragon is Satan.
He (an angle which came down from heaven)3 laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. – Revelations 20:2-3
The millennial period, referred to here, is a period of 1,000 years that occurs after the second coming of the Lord, when Jesus Himself sits on the throne, in Jerusalem. It is a time of peace, where people are able to grow in their understanding and relationship with the Lord. At the end of that time, Satan will be released for a short while, as it says there in verse 4, so that the people can be tested, seeing which will fall away and which will continue to serve the Lord. Then the devil, this dragon, will be cast into the Lake of Fire, for eternity (Revelations 20:10).