James Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Crocodile

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James Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Crocodile


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CROCODILE.—(1) livyâthân, Psa_74:14, Isa_27:1, Job_41:1 f. The last reference is almost certainly to the crocodile, which is adopted in RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] . See Leviathan. (2) hayyath qâneh, ‘the wild beast of the reeds,’ Psa_68:30 RV [Note: Revised Version.] , is thought by many to be the crocodile or the hippopotamus as symbolizing Egypt. (3) In Jer_14:6 tannîm is in RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘crocodiles.’ See Dragon. For ‘land crocodile’ see Lizard. The crocodile probably still exists in the Nahr ez-Zerka, S. of Mount Carmel, called by Pliny the Crocodile River. It is supposed to have been brought there by some Egyptian settlers. A dead crocodile was brought from there to the late Rev. J. Zeller of Nazareth. Herr Schumacher reports that he saw one there, and quite recently a number of crocodile’s eggs were brought from this river and sold in Jerusalem. A stuffed specimen is in the PEF [Note: EF Palestine Exploration Fund.] museum, London.

E. W. G. Masterman.