Read
Psalm 74:14
You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
12Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth.
13You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
15You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.
16The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
Notice
Leviathan’s broken heads and body given as food make this a violent picture of God’s victory, recalled within a lament over devastation.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about God’s power in Leviathan becoming food for people and desert creatures?
Write on thisHow might recalling this victory shape a prayer when present trouble remains unresolved?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 27:1In that day, the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan, the twisted serpent; and he will kill …Both passages name Leviathan and describe his violent defeat by God, with Isaiah looking ahead and the psalm recalling victory.
Numbers 14:9Only don’t rebel against the LORD, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and the LORD is …Both passages portray a defeated threat as food: Leviathan feeds people and desert creatures, while the land’s inhabitants are called bread.
Job 41:1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?Both name Leviathan: Job questions a human’s ability to capture him, while the psalm recounts God breaking his heads.
Psalm 72:9Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.Both include wilderness inhabitants and images of subjugation, though Psalm 72 describes enemies licking dust rather than a monster becoming food.
Psalm 104:25–26There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals.The shared setting is the sea and its creatures; Psalm 104 describes abundant life, while Psalm 74 recounts violence against Leviathan.
Job 3:8Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.Leviathan appears in both poems: one speaks of rousing him, while the other recounts God breaking his heads.
Revelation 20:2He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years,Both portray a monstrous figure overcome; Revelation names its dragon as Satan, while Psalm 74 does not identify Leviathan that way.
Exodus 12:35–36The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing.The link is limited: Israel asks Egyptians for valuables, while the psalm describes God giving Leviathan as food.
Exodus 14:30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.Both recount God’s victory with death near water: Egyptians lie on the seashore, and Leviathan is broken in the sea setting.
Psalm 104:26There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.Both name Leviathan under God’s power: Psalm 104 describes him formed to play, while Psalm 74 describes his destruction.
Ezekiel 29:5I’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together or gathered. I have …Both describe bodies given as food to creatures, with the wilderness forming part of each scene of defeat.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Within this lament, remembered victory leaves the present distress unresolved; the shattered heads declare that even Leviathan stands beneath God’s power.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 74:14. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 74 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).