Why is there no proof for the existence of Leviathan?

An atheist friend posed a question to me about Leviathan. He said: “God has given an elaborate description about Leviathan in the Bible. But, to date, no one has seen it nor has a skeleton been found. We know from the Bible that when God spoke of this creature to Job, Job perfectly understood what God was talking about. So, did this creature exist only during the time of Job? Why has Leviathan not yet been discovered?”

This is a very interesting question. Some scholars have identified Leviathan as either an alligator or a crocodile. Others have suggested that the description does not match the creature. Some have also argued that this was some kind of water dinosaur.

This, of course, suggests that humans and dinosaurs co-existed in the time of Job. For context, Job lived around the time of Abraham or slightly after (2100 to 2000 BC).

I do not think this was a creature that just lived at the time of Job. I do think Leviathan has been discovered, but not by that name because that creature is no longer here.

What could it be?

Before getting into what Leviathan is, let’s get a summary description. Leviathan is described in Job 41. It is a strong creature that cannot be tamed. Spears do not pierce its skin, and it is a fierce creature that people do not want to get entangled with (Job 40:1-14). The creature has rows of shields on its back, his scales are so close that nothing can go between them, and in its breath is smoke and fire (Job 40:15-21). 

The creature is also described as very strong — swords, slingstones, and arrows are no match for it (Job 40:22-34). This imagery reminds us of dragons, but it is described as a creature that spends much time in the water.

The imagery reminds us of dragons, but it is described as a creature that spends much time in the water

In Job 40, another creature is described. This is a land creature called Behemoth. It eats grass, is very muscular, has a tail like a tree trunk, has large bones like tubes of bronze, and limbs like bars of iron (Job 40:15-18). 

This creature likes being in marshlands and is not shaken by strong currents in the rivers. People do not try and catch this creature (Job 40:19-24). This creature sounds very much like a sauropod dinosaur.

In Job 40, we find God telling Job about a great land creature, and in Job 41 God tells Job about a fierce water creature. Both creatures are described in a way that reminds readers of dragon imagery. In fact, the word dragon is used many times in Scripture. 

The Hebrew word “tannin” is used a number of times in the Hebrew Scriptures to refer to dragon-like creatures or sea serpents. We even see the term in Job 7:12. The term dragon is also used a number of times in the Greek New Testament. It seems that the term “tannin” or “dragon” could refer to both land and sea creatures and that Leviathan and Behemoth were specific kinds of dragons.

What history records say

If we take the story of creation literally — that God made the world in six days — then dinosaurs would have lived as contemporaries with people and even some kinds of dinosaurs would have been on Noah’s Ark. 

That being said, we know that very few people encountered such creatures because they were spread out all over the earth. They continued to live after the flood but likely did not get as big as those before the flood. 

If we take the story of creation literally, then dinosaurs would have lived as contemporaries with people

Throughout history, different terms for dragons have been used all over the world. These terms always describe strong and fierce creatures. We even find many depictions of these creatures in art, sculpture, paintings, stories, etc. It is likely that dragon-like creatures died out over time and that they no longer exist, but because of their prevalence in cultural depictions and historical writings, it is very plausible that they did. 

My favourite story of a dragon in a historical book comes from Marco Polo who travelled through China between 1271 and 1295 AD. In his travels, he discussed much of what he saw including the following:

Here are found snakes and huge serpents, ten paces in length and ten spans in girth. At the fore part, near the head, they have two short legs, each with three claws, as well as eyes larger than a loaf and very glaring. The jaws are wide enough to swallow a man, the teeth are large and sharp, and their whole appearance is so formidable that neither man, nor any kind of animal can approach them without terror. Others are of smaller size, being eight, six, or five paces long (pp. 158-159).

Marco Polo describes a dragon with a large head and two tiny arms. This description is surprisingly close to a T-Rex. He goes on to talk about how people would dig large holes with wooden spikes to kill the beats because they were too formidable for people to fight with, after which their oils would be used in medicines. 

The real kicker here is that the term “dinosaur” was not coined until 1842. The word literally means “terrible lizard”. Today, we know that dinosaurs existed and we have tried to piece together what many of them looked like through archeology.

In reality, our archeological findings reflect many of the drawings that exist from the past from before any of the bones were discovered in modern times. This means that we are likely finding evidence today of creatures people saw (rarely) in the past.

In summary, the term “dinosaur” that we use today likely refers to the term “dragon” used by people in cultures of the past. Leviathan was likely a specific kind of dragon or dinosaur — creatures that are no longer found to be in existence today. Leviathan would have lived from the time of creation until sometime after the flood.