Ezekiel 32:2

Hebrew Bible

1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: “‘You were like a lion among the nations, but you are a monster in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, stir up the water with your feet, and muddy your streams. 3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘I will throw my net over you in the assembly of many peoples; and they will haul you up in my dragnet. 4 I will leave you on the ground, I will fling you on the open field, I will allow all the birds of the sky to settle on you,and I will permit all the wild animals to gorge themselves on you.

Targum Job 41:2

Targum

2 and he is king over all the sons of lions. 3 Job answered and said before God: I know that you 4 can do everything, and that you are not in want of strength and wisdom. 5 I have spoken once and I will not repeat; twice, and to that I will not 6 add. Listen, then, and I will speak; I will question you 7 and you shall answer me. I have heard of you only by hearsay, and now my eye 8 has seen you; for this I will be poured out and dissolved, and I will turn into dust

 Notes and References

"... While Behemoth was associated with an ox in biblical and rabbinic lore, Leviathan was envisioned as a lion. One can possibly see an early background for such an association already in the cylinder seal from Tell Asmar, dated to the third millennia BCE, where a seven-headed serpent has a lion’s body. Such an association might also be implied in the monster’s depiction in Ezekiel 32:2: “You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas.” One of the readings of the Targum on Job 41:26 states that Leviathan is a king over all the sons of lions. These connections are noteworthy, since the rivalry between the lion of Judah and the ox of Joseph is tied to the battle between Leviathan and Behemoth in some rabbinic accounts. One can find such a connection, for example, in Midrash Tanchuma Buber ..."

Orlov, Andrei Fight between Leviathan and Behemoth in the Messianic Time (pp. 1-12) Marquette University, 2022

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