Isaiah 27:1

The judgment on the ungodly powers of this world, is represented symbolically as the destruction of three living monsters by the sword of Jehovah. It is disputed whether the reference is to the world-power in general, or to a single Empire, or to three separate Empires. Assuming that they are distinct the "Dragon that is in the sea" is almost certainly an emblem of Egypt (ch. Isaiah 51:9; Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2; Psalms 74:13). To the reference of the other two we have no key. It is of the essence of apocalyptic symbolism to be obscure; and it will always be possible, at any date, to find representatives, more or less suitable, of the three creatures. If the prophet wrote during or soon after the Exile they might denote Assyria and Babylonia; if at a later period, perhaps Babylonia and Persia, or even Persia and Greece.

For the swordof Jehovah cf. ch. Isaiah 34:5-6; Isaiah 66:16; Deuteronomy 32:41 f.; Ezekiel 21:4-5; Ezekiel 21:9 ff., &c. For sorerender hard.

leviathan The word apparently means "twisted," and is originally an epithet for the serpent. Although applied (probably) in Job 41 to the crocodile, it is no doubt mythological in its origin, denoting (like our "dragon") a fabulous monster figuring largely in popular legends. It is so used in Job 3:8 and perhaps Psalms 104:26; as a political symbol in Psalms 74:14 and here.

the piercing serpent the fugitive serpent. The phrase occurs in Job 26:13, where we have the wide-spread myth of the dragon that devours the sun (in eclipses, &c.). See Dr Davidson's Job, p. 20. How this astronomical dragon came to be specially connected with any political power we cannot tell; but we find an analogous case in the word Rahab as a symbol for Egypt (see on ch. Isaiah 30:7).

even leviathan that crooked serpent Render: and Leviathan the tortuous serpent.

the dragon thatis in the sea The sea means here the Nile, as often: see on Isaiah 19:5.