Tannin (monster)

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The Tannin (Dragon), by al-Qazwini (1203–1283).

Tannin (

Hebrew mythology used as a symbol of chaos and evil.[2]

Canaanite mythology

Tannin appears in the Baal Cycle as one of the servants of Yam (lit.'Sea') defeated by Baʿal (lit.'Lord')[3] or bound by his sister, Anat.[4] He is usually depicted as serpentine, possibly with a double tail.[4]

Hebrew mythology

The tanninim (תַּנִּינִים) also appear in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis,[5] Exodus,[6] Deuteronomy,[7] Psalms,[9] Job,[10] Ezekiel,[11] Isaiah,[12] and Jeremiah.[13] They are explicitly listed among the creatures created by God on the fifth day of the Genesis creation narrative,[5] translated in the King James Version as "great whales".[14] The tannin is listed in the apocalypse of Isaiah as among the sea beasts to be slain by Yahweh "on that day",[15] translated in the King James Version as "the dragon".[16][n 1]

In

Rahab by Christians.[19][clarification needed] Along with Rahab, "Tannin" was a name applied to ancient Egypt after the Exodus to Canaan.[2]

The word Tannin is used in the Hebrew Bible fourteen times.

Job 7:12) the protagonist questions God "Am I the sea or the sea dragon that you have set a guard over me?"[20]

The name has subsequently been given to three submarines in the

HMS Springer, was in commission from 1958 until 1972. The second, a Gal-class submarine, was in commission from 1977 until 2002. The third INS Tanin is a Dolphin-class submarine
in commission since 2014.

Modern Hebrew

In modern Hebrew usage, the word tanin (תנין) means crocodile.[21]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ This passage in Isaiah directly parallels another from the earlier Baal Cycle. The Hebrew passage describing the tannin takes the place of a Ugaritic one describing "the encircler"[17] or "the mighty one with seven heads" (šlyṭ d.šbʿt rašm).[18] In both the Ugaritic and Hebrew texts, it is debatable whether three figures are being described or whether the others are epithets of Lotan or Leviathan.

References

Citations

Bibliography