In Isaiah 51—the passage we examined in this week’s sermon—there is a brief mention of someone or something called “Rahab”:
“Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?”
If you’re familiar with the Old Testament, you may immediately associate the name Rahab with the Canaanite woman from Jericho who sheltered the Israelite spies in the book of Joshua. Rahab is one of the great women of faith in the Bible—one of four women mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew—and she even appears in the “Hall of Faith” chapter in Hebrews. But did God cut her in pieces?
As far as I can tell, the connection between the Rahab in this chapter and the woman Rahab is purely coincidental. The two names are unrelated! The Rahab in our text today is a figure that appears elsewhere in Scripture, and, as suggested by the parallel phrase “dragon,” Rahab is a mythical sea creature closely associated in the imagination of Isaiah’s audience with the chaotic power and terror of the ocean.
The word dragon in our text can also be misleading. As I mentioned in my sermon, when you hear the word dragon, you probably think of Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. However, the Hebrew word translated as dragon is tanin, which has no connection to the fire-breathing creatures of Western fantasy. Sometimes, tanin refers to a serpent or snake—such as in Exodus 7, when Aaron’s staff turns into a snake. But more commonly, it refers to a great sea serpent from Canaanite mythology, a symbol of chaotic evil. (Interestingly, in modern Hebrew, tanin means “crocodile!”)
Alongside Rahab and tanin, we also find Leviathan, which appears in Isaiah 27. There, Leviathan is called Leviathan the tanin, again referring to a great sea monster from Ancient Near Eastern mythology. In the cosmologies of the surrounding cultures, the gods of the land were often at war with the gods of the sea. For these people—who were not sea traders but traveled mostly by river or along the relatively calm Red Sea—the Mediterranean was a vast and terrifying place. Who knew what monsters might lurk in its depths? Leviathan, tanin, and Rahab all personified these powerful, mythical sea gods, locked in an eternal struggle against the land gods.
Isaiah is the only prophet who significantly references these creatures. While tanin appears frequently in the Old Testament—often just meaning “snake”—Rahab is mentioned in a few Psalms. In Psalm 87:4, it is used as a synonym for Egypt, which may stem from Isaiah’s mocking reference in Isaiah 30:7: “Rahab who sits still.” Over time, Rahab may have become a common metaphor for Egypt.
So why does Isaiah reference these mythological sea creatures? Here are a few thoughts:
Isaiah is using poetic imagery, not making scientific claims. He is not asserting that these creatures are real or play an active role in creation. Instead, he describes God’s glory, power, and purposes using imagery that would resonate with his audience. Some of them may have believed in sea monsters, just as some people today believe in Bigfoot. If I said, “God is more powerful than Bigfoot,” I wouldn’t be implying Bigfoot is real—only that, even if such a creature did exist, God would be greater.
Isaiah always depicts these creatures as defeated by God. This subverts their role in the mythologies of surrounding cultures, which may have influenced his audience’s worldview. In these other traditions, Leviathan, Rahab, and tanin were powerful adversaries, locked in endless battle with the gods of the land. But in Isaiah’s writings, they are no threat to God’s rule—he has already conquered them. They do not challenge his sovereignty or trouble his control over history.
These figures symbolize God’s power to subdue chaos and deliver his people. Throughout salvation history, God has demonstrated his authority over the waters—often seen as a symbol of chaos and evil—by bringing his people safely through them. The Red Sea parted before the Israelites as they fled Egypt. Noah and his family were preserved when the floodwaters covered the earth. Jesus calmed the stormy sea before his disciples. And in the throne room of God at the end of days, we see a great glass sea, upon which his people stand. If the ancient world saw the ocean as a source of evil and chaos, then Isaiah’s message is clear: God has already defeated these powers, and his people need never fear them.
