The Dragon In Elie Wiesel's Revelation
The dragon in Revelation isn’t shrouded in mystery. In fact, a few verses after the dragon is introduced the bible says who the dragon represents—Satan, the devil who leads the world astray. Regardless, it’s important to understand the historical context of the symbolism we come across when interpreting Revelation. The purpose of this paper is to describe the cultural context—especially that of the Israelites—surrounding the dragon around the time that Revelation was written. I decided on this topic because I’ve always been fascinated with the historical context surrounding ancient works. It also seemed interesting to learn about dragon mythology in ancient times. The symbol of a dragon as Satan is one that was easily understood across Israel
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Similarly, in Revelation 12 we see this mesh between a snake and dragon. “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” (Rev. 12:9) This is reminiscent of the serpent in the Garden of Eden who led the world astray when he deceived Adam and Eve. In his commentary on Revelation, Beale confirms this, saying “The dragon is now described as the serpent of old, that is, the serpent of Gen. 3:1, 14.” (Beale 430) Stefanovic agrees with Beale, saying “he is the ancient serpent. This is the allusion to Genesis 3, where through the serpent Satan deceived Adam and Eve, thus bringing sin on the earth.” (Stefanovic 395) In his essay on the dragon of Revelation, Benton points out a verse from Isaiah that meshes the dragon and the ancient serpent together. “In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, with His fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan the twisted serpent; and He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.” (Isaiah 27:1) This sums up the major beliefs about the interchangeability of the dragons and serpents. The Leviathan is a serpent and a dragon from the sea. Both the Judeo-Christian culture and the surrounding countries viewed dragons and serpents as the same or similar mythological
Similarly, in Revelation 12 we see this mesh between a snake and dragon. “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” (Rev. 12:9) This is reminiscent of the serpent in the Garden of Eden who led the world astray when he deceived Adam and Eve. In his commentary on Revelation, Beale confirms this, saying “The dragon is now described as the serpent of old, that is, the serpent of Gen. 3:1, 14.” (Beale 430) Stefanovic agrees with Beale, saying “he is the ancient serpent. This is the allusion to Genesis 3, where through the serpent Satan deceived Adam and Eve, thus bringing sin on the earth.” (Stefanovic 395) In his essay on the dragon of Revelation, Benton points out a verse from Isaiah that meshes the dragon and the ancient serpent together. “In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, with His fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan the twisted serpent; and He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.” (Isaiah 27:1) This sums up the major beliefs about the interchangeability of the dragons and serpents. The Leviathan is a serpent and a dragon from the sea. Both the Judeo-Christian culture and the surrounding countries viewed dragons and serpents as the same or similar mythological