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The Ugaritic text KTU describes Litan as a fearsome serpent destroyed by Baal in cosmic combat. Psalm 104 reshapes this same creature, also called Leviathan, into a sea monster God created as a plaything or pet.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.5
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
Though you smote Litan the wriggling serpent, finished off the writhing serpent, Encircler-with-seven-heads, the skies will be hot, they will shine when I tear you in pieces: I shall devour you, elbows, blood and forearms; You will indeed go down into the throat of divine Mot (death), into the maw of the Beloved of EI, the hero.
Date: 2300 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Psalms 104:26
Hebrew Bible
25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, living things both small and large. 26 The ships travel there, and over here swims Leviathan35 you made to play in it. 27 All your creatures wait for you to provide them with food on a regular basis. 28 You give food to them and they receive it; you open your hand and they are filled with food.
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Notes and References
“... Psalm 104 extols God for the majesty of creation; in speaking of the sea, the psalmist says: ‘There go the ships, and Leviathan whom you formed to play with’ (Psalm 104:26). The terrifying chaos monster is in fact God’s playmate. There appears to be a contradiction here: in certain texts, God battles and slays Leviathan, while in others, God praises and plays with Leviathan. Rabbinic interpreters, committed to the idea that the Bible contains no contradictions, decided that there must be two Leviathans. God killed one at the beginning of time (Psalm 74), and will kill the other at the end of time (Isaiah 27); in the meantime, God keeps the surviving Leviathan for sport (Psalm 104; Job 40–41). ...”
Higgins, Ryan S.
The Good, The God, and The Ugly: The Role of the Beloved Monster in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible
(pp. 16-17) Interpretation, 74 (2), 2020
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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