Tannin (Hebrew:תַּנִּיןtannīn;Syriac:ܬܢܝܢܐtannīnā plural:tannīnē;Arabic:التنينtinnīn, ultimately fromAkkadian 𒆗𒉌𒈾dannina) orTunnanu (Ugaritic: 𐎚𐎐𐎐tnn, likely vocalizedtunnanu[1]) was asea monster inCanaanite andHebrew mythology used as a symbol ofchaos andevil.[2]
Tannin appears in theBaal Cycle as one of the servants ofYam (lit. 'Sea') defeated byBaʿal (lit. 'Lord')[3] or bound by his sister,Anat.[4] He is usually depicted asserpentine, possibly with a double tail.[4]
Thetanninim (תַּנִּינִים) also appear in theHebrew Bible'sBook of Genesis,[5]Exodus,[6]Deuteronomy,[7]Psalms,[9]Job,[10]Ezekiel,[11]Isaiah,[12] andJeremiah.[13] They are explicitly listed among the creatures created byGod on thefifth day of theGenesis creation narrative,[5]translated in theKing James Version as "greatwhales".[14] The tannin is listed in theapocalypse of Isaiah as among the sea beasts to be slain byYahweh"on that day",[15] translated in the King James Version as "thedragon".[16][n 1]
InJudaism, tannin is the term used for sea monsters such asLeviathan andRahab.[19] Along with Rahab, "Tannin" was a name applied toancient Egypt afterthe Exodus toCanaan.[2]
The wordTannin is used in the Hebrew Bible fourteen times.Aaron's staff becomesTannin in theBook of Exodus (Exodus 7:9-12), it is used in the meaning "snake" in theBook of Deuteronomy (Deut 32:33) andPsalms (Psalm 91:13). It representsNebuchadnezzar II (the king ofBabylon) inJeremiah (Jeremiah 51:34) and Pharaoh inEzekiel (Ezekiel 29:3, 32:2). In theBook of Job (Job 7:12) the protagonist questions God "Am I the sea or the sea dragon that you have set a guard over me?"[20]
The name has subsequently been given to three submarines in theIsraeli Navy: the first, anS-class submarine formerly known asHMSSpringer, was in commission from 1958 until 1972. The second, aGal-class submarine, was in commission from 1977 until 2002. The thirdINSTanin is aDolphin-class submarine in commission since 2014.
Inmodern Hebrew usage, the wordtanin (תנין) meanscrocodile.[21]