Whale, tlie rendering in the A. Y. (besides K»)roc, Matt, xii, 40) of two very closely related Heb. terms: ",n, tail (or rather C^iP, taiiiiim', as a sing., Ezek. xxxii, 2; "ilragon," xxix.o; elsewhere as a plur. and render- ed '-dragons," Job xxx, "29; Psa. xliv, 19; Isa. xiii, 22; xxxiv, 13; XXXV, 7; xlii, 20; Jer. ix, 11; x, 22; xiv, (!; xlix, 33; li, 37), and ""'21^, laniiin' (Gen. i, 21; Job vii. 12; "serpent," Exod. vii, 9, 10, 12; "sea-monster," 1-ain. iv, 3; elsewhere also "dragon," Dent, xxxii, 33; Nch. ii, 13; Psa. Ixxiv, 13; xci, 13; cxlviii, 7; Isa. xxvii. 1 ; li, 9 ; Jer. li, 34). The texts where these are used in general present pictures of ruined cities and of desolation in the wilderness, rendering it difficult to de- termine what kind of creatures in particular are meant, except as may be inferred from other passages (Job xxx, 29: Psa." xliv, 19. 20; Isa. xiii, 22; xxxiv, 13; XXXV, 7; Jer. ix, 11; x, 22; xlix,33; li, 34, 37). Where the term is associated with beasts or birds of the desert, it clearly indicates serpents of various species, both small and large (Isa. xliii, 20; Psa. xci, 13; also Exod. vi. 9-12), and in one passage a poisonous reptile is dis- tinctly referred to (Dent, xxxii, 33). See Seupent. [n Jer. xiv, 6, where wild asses snuffing np the wind are compared to dragons, the image will appear in its full strength, if we understand by dragons great boas and 7)y//i!o«-serpents, such as are figured in the Prsenes- tine mosaics. They were common in ancient times, and are still far from rare in the tropics of both conti- nents. Several of the species grow to an enormous size, and, during their periods of activity, are in the habit of raising a considerable portion of their length into a vortical ])osition. like iiillars, ten or twelve feet liiijli, iu order to survey the vicinity above the snr- romiding bushes, while with open jaws they drink in a (piautity of the current air. The same character exists iu smaller serpents; but it is not obvious, unless when, threatening to strike, they stand on end nearly three- fourths of their length. Most, if not all, of these spe- cies are mute, or can utter only a hissing sound; and, although the malli-pambu, the great rock -snake of Sdutliern Asia, is said to wail in the night, no natural- ist has ever witnessed such a phenomenon, nor heard it asserted that any other boa, python, or erpeton had a real voice; but they hiss, and, like crocodiles, may utter sounds somewhat akin to howling, a fact that will sufficiently explain the passage in Micah (i, 8). When used in connection with rivers, the term proba- bly signifies the crocodile (Psa. Ixxiv, 13; Isa. xxvii, 1 ; li, 9; Ezek. xxix, 3; xxxii, 2), and when allusion is had to larger bodies of water, probably some of the ce- taceous mammalia (Gen. i, 21 ; Psa. cxlviii, 7 ; Lam. iv, 3). See Leviathan. The above interpretation is ac- cording to that of Bochart (^Hieroz. ii, 429), who pro- poses always to read "psri in the sense of huge ser- |ients; but others, following Rab. Tanchum Hieros.. suggest a different etymology for the plur. forms D'^SB and "piri (the isolated case of a sing, form D'^irt, in Ezek. xxix, 3, being taken for a corrupt reading for "^Sri, as in some ^ISS.), from the root 'SP, in the trop- ical sense of stretched out in running, and applied to the jackal, a swift animal, which answers well to the description where these forms occur, being a creature living in deserts (Psa. xliv, 19; Isa. xiii, 22; xxxiv, 13; XXXV, 7; xliii, 20; Jer. ix, 11 ; x, 22; xiv, 6; xlix, .33; li, 37), suckling its young (Lam. iv, 3), and uttering a wailing cry (Job xx, 29 ; Mic. i, 8). The other pas- sages in which the forms, sing. "pSFl, plur. D''3"^in, occur are thus left to be explained as before, nameh', as signifying, (1) a great fish or sea-monster, e. g. a Avhale, shark, etc. (Gen. i, 21 : Job vii, 12; Isa. xxvii, 1 ; Psa. cxlviii, 7); (2) a serpent, either in general (Exod. vii, 9-12; Dent, xxxii, 33; Psa. xci, 13), or specially a "dragon" (Jer. li, 34), or the crocodile (Psa. Ixxiv, 13),
put as a symbol of Egypt (Ezek. xxix, 3, according to the true reailiug; also xxxii, 2). See Dkagon.