Leviathan : Rolling in the deep on Sukkot.

(21) God created the great sea monsters, and all the living creatures of every kind that creep, which the waters brought forth in swarms, and all the winged birds of every kind. And God saw that this was good.

(1) In that day the LORD will punish, With His great, cruel, mighty sword Leviathan the Elusive Serpent— Leviathan the Twisting Serpent; He will slay the Dragon of the sea.

on leviathan the barlike serpent Targum Jonathan renders: On the king who aggrandized himself like Pharaoh the first king, and upon a king who was as haughty as Sennacherib the second king. בָּרִיחַ is an expression of ‘straight’ like a bar, since he is the first. (. Since Pharaoh was the first great king, he is referred to as ‘the barlike serpent,’ a straight, penetrating serpent, that does not coil.)

(3) Speak these words: Thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, Mighty sea monster, sprawling in your channels, Who said, My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.

(26) There go the ships, and Leviathan that You formed to sport with.

(13) it was You who drove back the sea with Your might, who smashed the heads of the monsters in the waters;(14) it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan, who left him as food for the people of the desert;

(25) Can you draw out Leviathan by a fishhook? Can you press down his tongue by a rope?(26) Can you put a ring through his nose, Or pierce his jaw with a barb?(27) Will he plead with you at length? Will he speak soft words to you?(28) Will he make an agreement with you To be taken as your lifelong slave?(29) Will you play with him like a bird, And tie him down for your girls?(30)Shall traders traffic in him? Will he be divided up among merchants?(31) Can you fill his skin with darts Or his head with fish-spears?(32) Lay a hand on him, And you will never think of battle again.(1) See, any hope [of capturing] him must be disappointed; One is prostrated by the very sight of him.(2) There is no one so fierce as to rouse him; Who then can stand up to Me?(3) Whoever confronts Me I will requite, For everything under the heavens is Mine.(4)I will not be silent concerning him Or the praise of his martial exploits.(5) Who can uncover his outer garment? Who can penetrate the folds of his jowls?(6) Who can pry open the doors of his face? His bared teeth strike terror.(7) His protective scales are his pride, Locked with a binding seal.(8) One scale touches the other; Not even a breath can enter between them.(9) Each clings to each; They are interlocked so they cannot be parted.(10) His sneezings flash lightning, And his eyes are like the glimmerings of dawn.(11) Firebrands stream from his mouth; Fiery sparks escape.(12) Out of his nostrils comes smoke As from a steaming, boiling cauldron.(13) His breath ignites coals; Flames blaze from his mouth.(14) Strength resides in his neck; Power leaps before him.(15) The layers of his flesh stick together; He is as though cast hard; he does not totter.(16) His heart is cast hard as a stone, Hard as the nether millstone.(17) Divine beings are in dread as he rears up; As he crashes down, they cringe.(18) No sword that overtakes him can prevail, Nor spear, nor missile, nor lance.(19) He regards iron as straw, Bronze, as rotted wood.(20) No arrow can put him to flight; Slingstones turn into stubble for him.(21) Clubs are regarded as stubble; He scoffs at the quivering javelin.(22) His underpart is jagged shards; It spreads a threshing-sledge on the mud.(23) He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; He makes the sea [boil] like an ointment-pot.(24) His wake is a luminous path; He makes the deep seem white-haired.(25) There is no one on land who can dominate him, Made as he is without fear.(26) He sees all that is haughty; He is king over all proud beasts.

Rav Yehuda from India relates: Once we were traveling in a ship and we saw a certain precious stone that was encircled by a snake. A diver descended to bring it up, and the snake came and sought to swallow the ship. A raven came and cut off its head, and the water turned into blood due to the enormousness of the snake. Another snake came, took the precious stone, and hung it on the dead snake, and it recovered. It returned and again sought to swallow the ship, and yet again a bird came and cut off its head, took that precious stone, and threw it onto the ship. We had with us these salted birds; we placed the stone on them, and they took the stone and flew away with it.

§ Apropos the stories of large sea creatures, the Gemara discusses the large sea creatures mentioned in the Bible. The Sages taught: There was an incident involving Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, who were traveling on a ship, and Rabbi Eliezer was sleeping and Rabbi Yehoshua was awake. Rabbi Yehoshua trembled, and Rabbi Eliezer awoke.Rabbi Eliezersaid to him: What is this, Yehoshua; for what reason did you tremble?Rabbi Yehoshuasaid to him: I saw a great light in the sea.Rabbi Eliezersaid to him: Perhaps you saw the eyes of the leviathan, as it is written: “And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning” (Job 41:10).

That is also taught in a baraita: The Jordan issues forth from the cave of Pamyas, and travels in the Sea of Sivkhi, i.e., the Hula Lake, and in the Sea of Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, and rolls down to the Great Sea, and rolls down until it reaches the mouth of the leviathan. As it is stated: “He is confident, though the Jordan rush forth to his mouth” (Job 40:23).

(26) The Leviathan above is the Righteous-One,
like a fish that is
(1) small,
on the shore of the sea.

Rav Ḥanan bar Taḥlifa sent a message to Rav Yosef: I found one man, and in his hand there was one scroll written in Ashurit script and in the sacred tongue, Hebrew. I said to him: From where did this scroll come into your possession? He said to me: I was hired to serve in the Roman army and I found the scroll among the Roman archives. It was clear that the scroll was written by Jews, not Romans. And it is written in the scroll: After 4,291 years have elapsed from the creation of the world, the world will end; during those years there will be the wars of the sea monsters between the leviathan and the animals, and among those years there will be the wars of Gog and Magog and the remaining years of the messianic period. Then the world will be destroyed. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, will renew His world only after the passage of seven thousand years. Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, says that it was stated: After the passage of five thousand years.