3 myths
The monsters of the deep in Jewish tradition: Leviathan, Rahab, the great fish that swallowed Jonah, and the creatures of the abyss.
3 myths on JewishMythology.com retell how Jewish tradition imagines sea creatures, drawn from the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, Talmud, Kabbalah, and later Jewish literature. Each story below synthesizes primary sources into a single narrative; follow any myth to read it, and from there into the source passages behind it.
Swallowed whole, Jonah found a diamond burning in the fish's belly, then learned the fish was about to be fed to Leviathan, with him still inside.
The army at the water could not agree. Some wanted the gold and no killing. Some wanted the killing and no gold. The third group wanted both at once.
Bava Batra remembers Rabbah bar bar Chana on seas where one dead fish destroyed sixty cities, and fiery waves could only be calmed by the Name.
