And Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: At the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to create the world, He said to the prince of the sea: Open your mouth and swallow all the waters that are in the world. He said before Him: Master of the Universe, it is enough that I remain within my own. Immediately He kicked him and killed him, as it is said (Job 26:12): "By His power He stilled the sea, and by His understanding He smote Rahab." Rabbi Yitzchak said: Learn from this that the prince of the sea, "Rahab" is his name; and were it not that the waters cover him, no creature could endure his stench, as it is said (Isaiah 11:9): "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, etc., as the waters cover the sea." Do not read "cover the sea (la-yam)," but rather "cover its prince of the sea (le-sarah shel yam)." [The verse's plain sense is "as the waters cover the sea."]
The Rebellion Of Rahab
Bava Batra 74b
וְאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב: בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבִּיקֵּשׁ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִבְראוֹת אֶת הָעוֹלָם, אָמַר לוֹ לְשַׂר שֶׁל יָם: פְּתַח פִּיךָ וּבְלַע כׇּל מֵימוֹת שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם. אָמַר לְפָנָיו: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, דַּי שֶׁאֶעְמוֹד בְּשֶׁלִּי. מִיָּד בָּעַט בּוֹ וַהֲרָגוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בְּכֹחוֹ רָגַע הַיָּם וּבִתְבוּנָתוֹ מָחַץ רָהַב״. אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ, שָׂרוֹ שֶׁל יָם ״רַהַב״ שְׁמוֹ; וְאִלְמָלֵא מַיִם מְכַסִּין אוֹתוֹ – אֵין כׇּל בְּרִיָּה יְכוֹלָה לַעֲמוֹד בְּרֵיחוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לֹא יָרֵעוּ וְלֹא יַשְׁחִיתוּ בְּכׇל הַר קׇדְשִׁי וְגוֹ׳, כַּמַּיִם לַיָּם מְכַסִּים״ – אַל תִּקְרֵי ״לַיָּם מְכַסִּים״, אֶלָּא ״לְשָׂרָהּ שֶׁל יָם מְכַסִּים״.