| Creature |
Key References |
Description
|
| Giants and Ancient Beings
|
| Leviathan |
Job 41, Psalms 74, Isaiah 27 |
A massive, powerful sea creature that only God can subdue. Described in Job as breathing fire with impenetrable scales. Variously interpreted as a mythological chaos monster drawing on ancient Near Eastern imagery or a poetic description of a real animal.
|
| Behemoth |
Job 40 |
An enormous land creature that eats grass like an ox, has bones like iron, and a tail like a cedar tree. Like Leviathan, it represents the untamable power of creation that only God commands.
|
| Nephilim |
Genesis 6, Numbers 13 |
Described as the offspring of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men," called mighty men and men of renown. The Israelite spies in Numbers report seeing them as giants in Canaan. Their exact nature has been debated for centuries.
|
| Rephaim |
Deuteronomy 2–3, Isaiah 14, Psalms 88 |
A term with dual meaning: sometimes a race of giants in the Old Testament (Og king of Bashan was said to be the last of them), and in other passages the shades or spirits of the dead in the underworld.
|
| Demonic and Adversarial Beings
|
| Satan |
Job 1–2, 1 Chronicles 21, Matthew 4, Revelation 12 |
In Job, an accuser in God's heavenly court. By the New Testament, the primary adversary of God and humanity — the tempter in the wilderness, the ruler of demons, and ultimately the dragon of Revelation.
|
| Demons |
Mark 5, Luke 11, Deuteronomy 32, Psalms 106 |
Evil spirits opposed to God. Jesus frequently casts them out of afflicted people in the Gospels. The Old Testament refers to shedim (often translated as demons), which the Israelites are condemned for worshipping.
|
| Seirim (Goat Demons) |
Leviticus 17, 2 Chronicles 11, Isaiah 13, 34 |
Goat-like demonic beings that Israelites are condemned for sacrificing to. Isaiah describes them dancing or calling to one another in desolate ruins.
|
| Azazel |
Leviticus 16 |
Mentioned in connection with the Day of Atonement, where one goat is sacrificed and another is sent into the wilderness "for Azazel." Whether this refers to a place, a demon, or simply means "scapegoat" is debated. Developed further in the apocryphal Book of Enoch.
|
| Lilith |
Isaiah 34:14 |
Appears once in a description of the desolation of Edom. The Hebrew word is sometimes translated as "night creature" or "screech owl." In Jewish tradition outside the Bible, Lilith developed into a much more elaborate demonic figure.
|
| Serpents and Beasts
|
| The Serpent |
Genesis 3, Revelation 12, 20 |
The cunning creature that tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden. Genesis calls it a beast of the field, but later Christian tradition identified it with Satan, a connection made explicit in Revelation which refers to "that ancient serpent."
|
| The Dragon |
Revelation 12–13, 20 |
A great red beast with seven heads and ten horns that wages war in heaven against Michael and his angels. Explicitly identified with the devil and Satan.
|
| Beast from the Sea |
Revelation 13 |
A beast with seven heads and ten horns that receives authority from the dragon. Generally interpreted as representing a political power opposed to God.
|
| Beast from the Earth (False Prophet) |
Revelation 13 |
A beast that performs signs and enforces the mark of the beast. Generally interpreted as representing a religious power that serves the beast from the sea.
|
| Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse |
Revelation 6 |
Four riders released as the first four seals are opened: conquest on a white horse, war on a red horse, famine on a black horse, and death on a pale horse. They represent divine judgments unleashed upon the earth.
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