Wrestling with the Leviathan

Fear results from the unknown, either that which one cannot perceive with the senses and therefore is left to the imagination, or that which seems overwhelming to the senses, creating feelings of helplessness and thus also loss of hope.  The English language has words to express such gargantuan fear, but a Power Word with a Biblical and literary history that creates the consummate imagery you might be looking for is the word Leviathan.

Definition
Leviathan:  anything of immense size and power; something large or formidable; a sea monster in the Old Testament; often capitalized as the proper name of the sea monster


Part of Speech
Noun or adjectival noun (noun used as an adjective)


Pronunciation
[le  vahy  uh  thuh  n]


Origin
Middle English: leviathan, from late Latin, leviathan, from Hebrew, liwyathan, meaning twisted or coiled.
First used in the Bible in the books of Job and the Psalms as a proper noun, Leviathan
First recorded use as a common noun, leviathan:  1350-1400; used by Thomas Hobbs as the title of his 1651 political treatise on government


Examples


1.  The head accountant took two weeks off to sort out the leviathan budgetary crisis of the printing company, only to discover the monster had grown in size overnight.




2.  Autumn crispness in the air,  the cheerleaders' intoxicating yells energized the crowd to the rhythm of the band as their team stepped onto the field, an overpowering Leviathan ready to swallow their opponents.




3.  The megaship floating into the St. Thomas harbor was known as the Leviathan of the seas with  powerful gross tonnage and length equal to no other cruise ship in the world.


4.  The President of the United States must often wrestle with the leviathan responsibility allocated to the most powerful leader of the free world and perhaps even the planet.




We live in a world in which the immense and the powerful gain our attention and support until, of course, the weight of the monster crushes us. Such is the muscle of metaphor and the use of figurative aids such as allusions and Biblical allegory. Look at these examples.


In the book of Psalm 74:12-14, God destroys the Leviathan, a sea serpent, and gives it to the Hebrews as food in the wilderness. 
                 12  For God is my King from of old,
                       Working salvation in the midst of the earth,
                 13  You divided the sea by Your strength;
                       You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters,
                 14  You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
                       And gave him as food to the people
                            inhabiting the wilderness.


Leviathan, a large sea monster, is mentioned again in the book of Job, Chapter 41 as God challenges him and tests his faith:
                1    "Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
                      Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower...
                9    Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is vain
                      Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?


Later in 1667, Milton writes about Leviathan in his epic blank verse poem Paradise Lost about the Biblical fall of man.  Book I, lines 200-202:
                     By ancient Tarsus held, or that Sea-beast
                     Leviathan, which God of all his works
                     Created hugest that swim th' Ocean stream...


Finally, in 1651Thomas Hobbs uses leviathan as the title of his famous essay written during the English Civil War, urging for a strong undivided government in opposition to war.


The word Leviathan carries with it so much meaning and historical significance that its usefulness to our language seems to grow exponentially in the strength of its allusion to the Bible.


When you choose the word leviathan, use it to enhance the enormity of the concept that you are describing. That person, place, thing, event, action--it isn't just big or tall or heavy.  It is a skyscraper lying on its side in the ocean, the tip so far away that its size seems minuscule.  Now that's real power, almost leviathan.