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The [[Book of Enoch]] (60:7–9) describes Leviathan as a female monster dwelling in the watery abyss (as [[Tiamat]]), while [[Behemoth]] is a male monster living in the desert of Dunaydin ("east of Eden").<ref name=DDD/>
When the Jewish [[midrash]] (explanations of the Tanakh) were being composed, it was held that God originally produced a male and a female leviathan, but lest in multiplying the species should destroy the world, he slew the female, reserving her flesh for the banquet that will be given to the righteous on the advent of the [[Jewish Messiah|Messiah]].<ref>''Babylonian Talmud'', tractate ''Baba Bathra'' 74b.</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> A similar description appears in [[Book of Enoch]] (60:24), which describes how the Behemoth and Leviathan will be prepared as part of an eschatological meal.
[[Rashi]]'s commentary on {{Bibleverse|Genesis|1:21|HE}} repeats the tradition:
<blockquote>'''the...sea monsters''': The great fish in the sea, and in the words of the Aggadah (B.B. 74b), this refers to the Leviathan and its mate, for He created them male and female, and He slew the female and salted her away for the righteous in the future, for if they would propagate, the world could not exist because of them. הַתַּנִינִם is written. [I.e., the final "yud", which denotes the plural, is missing, hence the implication that the Leviathan did not remain two, but that its number was reduced to one.] – [from Gen. Rabbah 7:4, Midrash Chaseroth V’Yetheroth, Batei Midrashoth, vol 2, p. 225].<ref>{{cite web |last=Chabad |title=Rashi's Commentary on Genesis|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165/showrashi/true|access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref></blockquote>
In the [[Talmud]] ''[[Baba Bathra]] 75'' it is told that the Leviathan will be slain and its flesh served as a feast to the righteous in [the] Time to Come and its skin used to cover the tent where the banquet will take place. Those who do not deserve to consume its flesh beneath the tent may receive various vestments of the Leviathan varying from coverings (for the somewhat deserving) to amulets (for the least deserving). The remaining skin of the Leviathan will be spread onto the walls of Jerusalem, thereby illuminating the world with its brightness. The festival of [[Sukkot]] (Festival of Booths) therefore concludes with a prayer recited upon leaving the ''sukkah'' (booth): "May it be your will, Lord our God and God of our forefathers, that just as I have fulfilled and dwelt in this sukkah, so may I merit in the coming year to dwell in ''the sukkah of the skin of Leviathan''. Next year in Jerusalem."<ref>{{cite book |last=Finkel |first=Avraham |title=The Essence of the Holy Days: Insights from the Jewish Sages |year=1993 |publisher=J. Aronson |location=Northvale, N.J. |oclc=27935834 |isbn=0-87668-524-6 |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpCOAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
The enormous size of the Leviathan is described by [[Johanan bar Nappaha]], from whom proceeded nearly all the [[Aggadah|aggadot]] concerning this monster: "Once we went in a ship and saw a fish which put his head out of the water. He had horns upon which was written: 'I am one of the meanest creatures that inhabit the sea. I am three hundred miles in length, and enter this day into the jaws of the Leviathan'".<ref name="Baba Bathra 74a">Babylonian Talmud, ''Baba Bathra'' 74a.</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>
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The body of the Leviathan, especially his eyes, possesses great illuminating power. This was the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, who, in the course of a voyage in company with Rabbi Joshua, explained to the latter, when frightened by the sudden appearance of a brilliant light, that it probably proceeded from the eyes of the Leviathan. He referred his companion to the words of [[Book of Job|Job]] 41:18: "By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning".<ref>Bava Batra l.c.</ref> However, in spite of his supernatural strength, the leviathan is afraid of a small worm called "kilbit", which clings to the [[gill]]s of large fish and kills them.<ref>Shabbat 77b</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia>{{Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Leviathan and Behemoth|inline=1|last=Hirsch |first=Emil G. |author2=Kaufmann Kohler |author3=Solomon Schechter |author4=Isaac Broydé|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=275&letter=L|access-date=3 September 2009}}</ref>
In the eleventh-century [[piyyut]] (religious poem), ''[[Akdamut]]'', recited on ''[[Shavuot]]'' (Pentecost), it is envisioned that, ultimately, God will slaughter the Leviathan, which is described as having "mighty fins" (and, therefore, a kosher fish, not an inedible snake or crocodile), and it will be served as a sumptuous banquet for all the righteous in Heaven.
In the [[Zohar]], the Leviathan is a metaphor for enlightenment. The Zohar remarks that the legend of the righteous eating the skin of the leviathan at the end of the days is not literal, and merely a metaphor for enlightenment.<ref>Zohar 1:140b. See also Zohar 3:279a</ref> The Zohar also specifies in detail that the Leviathan has a mate.<ref>Zohar 1:4b</ref> The Zohar also associates the metaphor of the leviathan with the "tzaddik" or righteous in Zohar 2:11b and 3:58a. The Zohar associates it with the "briach" the pole in the middle of the boards of the tabernacle in Zohar 2:20a. Both, are associated with the [[Sefira]] of Yesod.<ref>Matuk Midvash on Zohar 2:11b</ref>
According to [[Abraham Isaac Kook]], the Leviathan – a singular creature with no mate, "its tail is placed in its mouth" ([[Zohar]]) "twisting around and encompassing the entire world" ([[Rashi]] on [[Baba Batra]] 74b) – projects a vivid metaphor for the universe's underlying unity. This unity will only be revealed in the future, when the righteous will feast on the Leviathan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morrison |first1=Chanan |last2=Kook |first2=Abraham Isaac |title=Sapphire from the Land of Israel: A new light on Weekly Torah Portion from the writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook |date=2013 |isbn=978-1490909363 |pages=91|publisher=Chanan Morrison }}</ref>
==Christianity==
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