Psalms 74:14

Thou breakest the heads of leviathan in pieces,.... A large fish, generally thought to be the whale, by some the crocodile, described in Job 41:1 to which the king of Egypt or Babylon is compared,

Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

The heads, i.e. the head; called heads, partly for the greatness of this beast, as that great monster is called beasts, , for the same reason; and partly for the several heads or princes who were and acted under his influence. Leviathan; Pharaoh. To the people inhabiting the wilderness, Heb. to the people in or of the desert; either, 1. To the Israelites then in the wilderness, to whom the destruction of Pharaoh and his host was meat, i.e. matter of great support and refreshment. Or, 2. To those savage people to whom they were meat, because they lived upon fishes, and might eat those very fishes which had devoured Pharaoh’ s host in the bottom of the sea. Or rather, 3. To those ravenous birds and beasts of the desert, which after their manner fed and feasted themselves upon the carcasses of the Egyptians, who were cast upon the sea-shore, , which were properly and immediately meat unto them. And when words can be taken properly, we ought to prefer that before the metaphorical sense, as is agreed by interpreters. And this was a very suitable punishment for this proud and insolent people, that they who were so haughty, that they would not own nor submit to the Lord himself, , should be devoured by these contemptible creatures, which was a great reproach, ,46, and oft threatened by God as a grievous curse, as 16:4, &c. Neither let any think it strange that the name of people is given to these creatures, for it is given to conies, grasshoppers, pismires, &c., both in Scripture, as ,26 Joe 1:6, and in Homer, and other ancient profane writers. Nay, here is an elegancy in the expression; for these creatures are significantly called the people of the wilderness, because they are the only people that inhabited it, this being a wilderness wherein was no man, as is said, .

Psalms 74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.Ver. 14. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan] i.e. Of Pharaoh himself. See Isaiah 26:1 Ezekiel 29:3. Egypt is situated between two seas; and a great part of it overflowed by the river Nile. Pharaoh, therefore, is fitly compared to the master fish, and his captains to crocodiles. And gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness] i.e. To the birds and wild beasts, who fed upon the dead carcases of the Egyptians cast upon the shore; the Israelites having first taken the spoil of them, whereby they were provided of many necessaries for their voyage toward Canaan.

(14) Leviathan.—See last note. And gavest him . . .—The crocodile was eaten by the people of Elephantine (Herod. ii. 69), but there is no allusion here to that custom, nor to the Ichthyophagi mentioned by Agatharchides, nor to the Æthiopians (as in the LXX.). It is the Egyptian corpses thrown up by the Red Sea that are to be devoured (comp. Ezekiel 29:3-5) by the “wild beasts,” called here “people,” as the ants and conies are (Proverbs 30:25-26).

Verse 14. The heads of leviathan] Leviathan might be intended here as a personification of the Egyptian government; and its heads, Pharaoh and his chief captains. To the people inhabiting the wilderness.] Probably meaning the birds and beasts of prey. These were the people of the wilderness, which fed on the dead bodies of the Egyptians, which the tides had cast ashore. The Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic read, "Thou hast given him for meat to the Ethiopians," or Abyssinians.

14. Thou brakest &c. Thou didst crush … thou didst give him &c. The dead bodies of the Egyptians were cast up on the shore (Exodus 14:30) to be devoured by the wild beasts of the desert. Cp. Ezekiel 29:3-5. For ‘people’ applied to animals cp. Proverbs 30:25-26.

Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces - On the meaning of the word “leviathan,” see the notes at Job 41:1. The word is used here as descriptive of sea monsters.

14. Leviathan—A different word in the original from “dragons” in preceding verse, but of similar import. In Isaiah 27:1, it is described as a serpent, crooked and tortuous, but crocodiles often present that form. So Job 26:13.