Tannin

Contributed by Rabbi Geoffrey W. Dennis

"Dragon." With only a few vague references in the Bible, this term is open to various interpretations, the most mundane being the crocodile. More imaginative readers understand it to refer to a monstrous serpent or dragon. Dragons dwell in water and are a menace to navigation.¹ At times the word becomes synonymous with the Leviathan. Daniel is credited with battling a dragon and killing it by filling its mouth with pitch.

In the Apocalyptic literature there is a dragon of monstrous dimensions in Sheol that feeds on the souls of the wicked.²Demons will take the form of dragons.³ In the Kabbalah, a cosmic blind dragon, Tanin'iver, serves as the steed of Lilith.⁴

Tannin is also a designation for Egypt.⁵

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