Dragon

Dragon is a word the King James Version uses in several ways, and the verses show the range. In the Psalms and Isaiah the dragon is a creature of the waste places or the sea: Jerusalem or Babylon becomes “a den of dragons” when it is left empty (Jeremiah 9:11). The prophets also call Pharaoh “the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers” (Ezekiel 29:3), a picture of Egypt’s pride. In Revelation the dragon stands for the enemy of God’s people, and Christians read that figure in different ways. Psalm 91:13 promises that those who trust God will trample both lion and dragon. Start with Ezekiel 29 or Revelation 12.

9 verses

Genesis

Genesis 1:21

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Psalms

Psalms 74:13

Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

Psalms 91:13

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Isaiah

Isaiah 34:13

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 9:11

And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Jeremiah 51:37

And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 29:3

Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

Ezekiel 32:2

Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.

Revelation

Revelation 16:13

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

(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; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 10:22; Micah 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, 4, 7, 9, 16, 17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of “Satan.” (See WHALE.)

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

The translators of the Authorized Version, apparently following the Vulgate, have rendered by the same word "dragon" the two Hebrew words tan and tannin , which appear to be quite distinct in meaning.

(1.) The former is used, always in the plural, in (Job 30:29; Psalms 44:19; Isaiah 34:13; 43:20; Jeremiah 9:11) It is always applied to some creatures inhabiting the desert, and we should conclude from this that it refers rather to some wild beast than to a serpent. The syriac renders it by a word which, according to Pococke, means a "jackal."

(2.) The word tannin seems to refer to any great monster, whether of the land or the sea, being indeed more usually applied to some kind of serpent or reptile, but not exclusively restricted to that sense. (Exodus 7:9,10,12; 32:33; Psalms 91:13) In the New Testament it is found only in the Apocalypse, (Revelation 12:3,4,7,9,16,17) etc., as applied metaphorically to "the old serpent, called the devil, and Satan."