Dragon
(1.) Heb. tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Ps 44:19; Isa 13:22; Isa 34:13; Isa 43:20; Jer 10:22; Mic 1:8; Mal 1:3); probably, as translated in the Revised Version, the jackal (q.v.).
(2.) Heb. tannin. Some great sea monster (Jer 51:34). In Isa 51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Gen 1:21 (Heb. plural tanninim) the Authorized Version renders “whales,” and the Revised Version “sea monsters.” It is rendered “serpent” in Ex 7:9. It is used figuratively in Ps 74:13; Ezek 29:3.
In the New Testament the word “dragon” is found only in Rev 12:3, Rev 12:4, Rev 12:7, Rev 12:9, Rev 12:16, Rev 12:17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of “Satan.” (See Whale.)
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
