Whales are very large sea-mammals. I have seen Shamu, Sea World’s killer whale, and he is huge!
The first animals specifically mentioned in the Creation account of Genesis 1 were the great whales. In Genesis 1:21 we read, “And God created [great whales], and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind.” So, along with birds and other creatures of the sea, on the fifth day of Creation, God made these gigantic creatures called great whales.
The word “whale” is the Hebrew word tannin, a word that refers to any great water animal, not just whales. Actually, it comes from a root word that means “to elongate or stretch out.” So, the idea is that of something big, something stretched out; and it can refer to any large marine animal – sharks and sea-monsters of all kinds. In fact, the most frequent translation of this word in the Authorized Version is “dragon.”
Dr. Henry Morris, the creationist, expands on this thought in his commentary: “Evidently the term includes all large sea-creatures, even the monsters of the past that are now extinct. The frequent references to dragons in the Bible, as well as in the early records and traditions…certainly cannot be shrugged off as mere fairy tales. Most probably they represent memories of dinosaurs… before they became extinct.” Well, on the fifth day God created large sea creatures, including dinosaurs.
Now you know the real meaning of the word.
Hey – God did create the dinosaurs – there’s no question about that.