Ezekiel 29:3

Like the king of Tyre and his people, Pharaoh and Egypt had also been guilty of pride. He had become like a great river monster (Heb. tannim, probably a crocodile of which there were many in the Nile) because he had taken credit for the Nile River, the lifeblood of the nation. Tannin, a variant spelling of tannim, is translated "serpent," "leviathan," and "sea-monster" (Genesis 1:21; Exodus 7:9-10; Job 9:13; Job 26:11-13; Psalms 89:10; Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 51:9; Amos 9:3). It describes real animals as well as mythological monsters in the Old Testament. In ancient Near Eastern mythology this word referred to the monster of chaos destroyed in Creation. Egyptians believed Pharaoh conquered this chaos-monster, but here God called Pharaoh this monster. Rather than giving God thanks for the Nile as a resource, the king had proudly claimed responsibility for it.

"This was [Pharaoh] Hophra’s ([Gr.] Apries’) arrogant self-image. Herodotus implied that Pharaoh Apries was so strong in his position that he felt no god could dislodge him. [Note: Herodotus, 2:169.] In his reign he sent an expedition against Cyprus, besieged and took Gaza (cf. Jeremiah 47:1) and the city of Sidon, was victorious against Tyre by sea, and considered himself master over Palestine and Phoenicia. . . . This arrogance had also shown itself in an attempt to interrupt Babylonia’s siege of Jerusalem-an attempt thwarted by God." [Note: Alexander, "Ezekiel," p. 891.]