The Leviathan and the Bible
Biblical depictions of the leviathan generally fall into one of two strains: terrifying monster linked to the Devil, or magnificent creation of God, evidence of his greatness and power. The first mention of the whale occurs in Genesis, when on the fourth day God creates the creatures of the sea.
- And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life,
- and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
- And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters
- brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Psalm 104, quoted by Spanish explorer José de Acosta in his description of whaling (see the Curation Whaling Legends), describes the Leviathan as a wondrous creation of God.
- O Lord, how manifold are thy works!
- in wisdom hast thou made them all:
- the earth is full of thy riches.
- So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable,
- both small and great beasts.
- There go the ships:
- there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
In “This Huge Leviathan” (Emblem 42), Pulter compares her leviathan to the Hydra, a mythical snake with many heads. Psalm 74 similarly describes the leviathan as a sea monster with multiple heads. In this instance, God is described as having defeated the leviathan in a triumph of good over evil. The leviathan becomes food for “the people inhabiting the wilderness,” facing the same fate as Pulter’s whale.
- Thou [i.e., God] didst divide the sea by thy strength:
- thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
- Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces,
- and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
The Book of Job lists potential means of killing a whale. Job’s faith in the justice of God begins to fail after enduring several trials at the hands of Satan. In response, God addresses Job directly, describing his most magnificent creations, the behemoth and the leviathan, in order to display his supreme power. God compares the leviathan to a wild horse, claiming that the beast cannot be bridled. He also compares its heart to the “nether millstone,” a symbol of brute strength (Job 41:24). In a mill, the lower millstone is the stone that, under the weight of another rotating millstone, grinds grain into flour. Pulter’s description of whales working in mills in Emblem 42 was in fact inspired by a mistake in a travel book (see the Curation, Whales Working in Mills), but she was perhaps also aware of this biblical passage. In this chapter, God describes the nose and the nostrils of the leviathan, an image echoed in Pulter’s emblem and explorer accounts of Indigenous whaling.
- Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook?
- or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
- Canst thou put an hook into his nose?
- or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
- Will he make many supplications unto thee?
- will he speak soft words unto thee?
- Will he make a covenant with thee?
- wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
- Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?
- or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
- Shall the companions make a banquet of him?
- shall they part him among the merchants?
- Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons?
- or his head with fish spears?
- Lay thine hand upon him,
- remember the battle, do no more.
- Behold, the hope of him is in vain:
- shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
- None is so fierce that dare stir him up:
- who then is able to stand before me?
- Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him?
- whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
- I will not conceal his parts, nor his power,
- nor his comely proportion.
- Who can discover the face of his garment?
- or who can come to him with his double bridle?1
- Who can open the doors of his face?
- his teeth are terrible round about.
- His scales are his pride,
- shut up together as with a close seal.
- One is so near to another,
- that no air can come between them.
- They are joined one to another,
- they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
- By his neesings2 a light doth shine,
- and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
- Out of his mouth go burning lamps,
- and sparks of fire leap out.
- Out of his nostrils goeth smoke,
- as out of a seething pot or caldron.
- His breath kindleth coals,
- and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
- In his neck remaineth strength,
- and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
- The flakes of his flesh are joined together:
- they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
- His heart is as firm as a stone;
- yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.3
- When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid:
- by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
- The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold:
- the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.4
- He esteemeth iron as straw,
- and brass as rotten wood.
- The arrow cannot make him flee:
- slingstones5 are turned with him into stubble.6
- Darts are counted as stubble:
- he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
- Sharp stones are under him:
- he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.
- He maketh the deep to boil like a pot:
- he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
- He maketh a path to shine after him;
- one would think the deep to be hoary.7
- Upon earth there is not his like,
- who is made without fear.
- He beholdeth all high things:
- he is a king over all the children of pride.
1. A bridle with two bits and four reins.
2. Sneezings (OED, "neezing, n.").
3. The lower millstone is a large, circular stone that grinds grain in a mill, operated by the rotation of another millstone on top of it. Also used figuratively to represent an oppressive force (OED, “millstone, n.” 1a and 2b).
4. A coat of chainmail or armor (OED).
5. Stones projected into the air with a sling, used as a weapon (OED, “sling-stone, n.” 1).
6. The ends of stalks of grain left in a field after the grain has been harvested (OED, “stubble, n.” 2).
7. Grey or greyish white.