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{{short description|Biblical creature}}
{{Other uses}} {{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Bahamut|Baphomet}}
] from his '']''.]]
] (in sky), and ] (under sea). From an illuminated manuscript, 13th century AD.]]
'''Behemoth''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɨ|ˈ|h|iː|m|ə|θ}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|iː|.|əm|ə|θ}}, also {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|eɪ|.|əm|ɔː|θ}}; {{lang-he|בהמות}}, ''behemoth'' (modern: ''behemot'')) is a beast mentioned in {{bibleref2|Job|40:15–24}}. Some ] believe it to be a description of a ]<ref name="Metzger2004">{{cite book|last1=Metzger|first1=Bruce Manning|last2=Coogan|first2=Michael D|title=The Oxford Guide To People And Places Of The Bible|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=amlXOOaSuLMC|accessdate=22 December 2012|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517610-0|page=33}}</ref> due to its tail being described as like a cedar tree. Some ], which has been proven false, believe identities range from an elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros or crocodile. ]ically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.
'''Behemoth''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɪ|ˈ|h|iː|m|ə|θ|,_|ˈ|b|iː|ə|-}}; {{langx|he|בְּהֵמוֹת}}, ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical ], and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the ]; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, ], and according to later Jewish tradition both would become food for the righteous at the end-time.{{sfn|Coogan|2004|p=33}} ]ically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.
The book of Job, which is where the term Behemoth originated, describes the creature as one "which feeds on grass like an ox". This suggests that the creature would have flat, rounded teeth because it is a herbivore. The book of Job also describes the Behemoth to have "strength in its loins (the part of the body on both sides of the spine between the lowest (false) ribs and the hipbones)" and "power in the muscles of its belly!" This suggests that the Behemoth has a strong and powerful abdomen or core. "It's tail sways like a cedar; the sinews (a piece of tough fibrous tissue uniting muscle to bone or bone to bone; a tendon or ligament) of its thighs are close-knit" This tendon would have to be strong, short, and "close-knit" in order to support the weight of its large, long, and heavy tail that is described like a cedar tree. "Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron." This obviously describes the limbs or legs to be strong and large. No other creature that has been seen or remains have been found fits this description, except the ]<ref name="Metzger2004">{{cite book|last1=Metzger|first1=Bruce Manning|last2=Coogan|first2=Michael D|title=The Oxford Guide To People And Places Of The Bible|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=amlXOOaSuLMC|accessdate=22 December 2012|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517610-0|page=33}}</ref>. The Book of Job goes on to describe the Behemoth habitat. "The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby." This suggests that the Behemoth eats plants and is a friendly non threating animal. "Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it." Lotus plants grow on top of the water and can grow up to 6 to 7 feet tall. This suggests that the Behemoth stay near and in the waters, particularly the Jordan River in this area of the world during this time period. Poplar trees can grow up to about 195 feet tall and would easily give it shade. This verse suggests that the poplar trees would have been another choice of food for the Behemoth. "A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth." This verse also suggests that the Behemoth resides around the waters of steams and rivers, the Jordan River in particular. The Behemoth was so strong that even the "raging river" does not even startle the massive creature. This verse has caused some to think the Book of Job is describing a hippopotamus, however the other descriptions of the Behemoth goes against this theory. Particularly the description of the tail being like a cedar. The last verse, "Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?", describes the inability to capture this massive animal. All of the other animals that some people think the Book of Job is describing like the elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros or crocodile, were obtainable or could have been trapped, or don't fit the description from the earlier verses. Such as eating grass or a large strong tail. The Behemoth was too big to capture and even if they could have captured it, they couldn't pierce its nose. This suggests that the nose and head was too tall to try and pierce the nose to try and tame the giant creature.


==Etymology==
==Plural as singular==
The Hebrew word ''behemoth'' has the same form as the plural of the Hebrew noun בהמה ''behemah'' meaning 'beast', suggesting an ] meaning 'great beast'. However, some theorize that the word might originate from an ] word of the form '']'' 'the water-ox' meaning ']', altered by ] in Hebrew to resemble ''behemah''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=behemoth, n.|dictionary=OED Online|url=http://oed.com/view/Entry/17209|access-date=September 29, 2020}}</ref> However, this phrase with this meaning is unattested at any stage of Egyptian.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae - Login|url=http://aaew2.bbaw.de/tla/servlet/BwlBrowser?f=0&l=0&off=0&csz=-1&lcd=&tcd=hippo&etr=1&scd=&pn0=1&db=Egyptian&bc=Start|access-date=2021-03-03|website=aaew2.bbaw.de}}</ref>
{{main|pluralis excellentiae}}
{{bibleref2|Job|40}} is an example of the use of a plural noun suffix to mean "great", rather than plural. The ] plural Hebrew noun ''behemoth'' is also used in {{bibleref2|Joel|1:20}}.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}


==Biblical description==
==Description==
] from his '']'' (1826).]]
] 40:15–24 describes Behemoth, and then the sea-monster ], to demonstrate to ] the futility of questioning God, who alone has created these beings and who alone can capture them.<ref name="ToornBecking1999">{{cite book|last1=Van Der Toorn|first1=Karel |last2=Becking|first2=Bob|last3=Van Der Horst|first3=Pieter W|title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible: Second Extensively Revised Edition|year=1999|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-11119-6|pages=165–168}}</ref>


The Hebrew word behemoth is only mentioned once in Biblical text, in a speech from the mouth of God in the ]. It is a primeval creature created by God and so powerful that only God can overcome him:{{sfn|Dell|2003|p=362}}
Leviathan is identified figuratively with both the primeval sea ({{bibleref2|Job|3:8}}, {{bibleref2|Psalms|74:13}}) and in ] – describing the end-time – as that adversary, the ], from before creation who will finally be defeated. In the divine speeches in Job, Behemoth and Leviathan may both be seen as creatures with enormous strength, which humans like Job could not hope to control. But both are reduced to the status of divine pets, with rings through their noses and Leviathan on a leash.<ref>Michael D. Coogan, "A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament" Page 387</ref>
{{blockquote|<poem>
Take now behemoth, whom I made as I did you;
He eats grass, like the cattle.
His strength is in his loins,
His might in the muscles of his belly.
He makes his tail stand up like a ];
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are like tubes of bronze,
His limbs like iron rods.
He is the first of God’s works;
Only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
The mountains yield him produce,
Where all the beasts of the field play.
He lies down beneath the ],
In the cover of the swamp reeds.
The lotuses embower him with shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
He can restrain the river from its rushing;
He is confident the stream will gush at his command.
Can he be taken by his eyes?
Can his nose be pierced by hooks?
</poem>|Job 40:15-24<ref>{{cite web |title=Job 40:15–16 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Job.40.15-24?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>}}
The passage later pairs Behemoth with the sea-monster ], both composite mythical creatures with enormous strength that humans could not hope to control, yet both are reduced to the status of divine pets.{{sfn|Coogan|2004|p=33}}


==Later interpretations==
{{quote|
In Jewish ] and ], such as the 2nd century BC ] (]), Behemoth is the unconquerable male land-monster, living in an invisible desert (]) east of the ], as Leviathan is the primeval female sea-monster, dwelling in "]", and ] the primordial sky-monster. Similarly, in the ] of the ] (), written around AD 100 (]), the two are described as inhabiting the mountains and the seas, respectively, after being separated from each other, due to the sea's insufficiency to contain them both. Likewise, in the contemporary ] (), it is stated that Behemoth will come forth from his seclusion on land, and Leviathan out of the sea, and that the two gigantic monsters, created on the fifth day, will serve as food for the elect, who will survive in the days of the Messiah.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9841|website=Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Leviathan and Behemoth|first1=Emil G.|last1=Hirsch|first2=Kaufmann|last2=Kohler|first3=Solomon|last3=Schechter|first4=Isaac|last4=Broydé}}</ref>
Job 40:15-24
King James Version


A Jewish rabbinic legend describes a great battle that will take place between them at the end of time: "they will interlock with one another and engage in combat, with his horns the Behemoth will gore with strength, the fish will leap to meet him with his fins, with power. Their Creator will approach them with his mighty sword ;" then, "from the beautiful skin of the Leviathan, God will construct canopies to shelter the righteous, who will eat the meat of the Behemoth and the Leviathan amid great joy and merriment." In the ], Behemoth's strength reaches its peak on the ] of every solar year (around 21 June). At this time of year, Behemoth lets out a loud roar that makes all animals tremble with fear, and thus renders them less ferocious for a whole year. As a result, weak animals live in safety away from the reach of wild animals. This mythical phenomenon is shown as an example of divine mercy and goodness. Without Behemoth's roar, traditions narrate, animals would grow more wild and ferocious, and hence go around butchering each other and humans.{{sfn|Ginzberg|2006|p=43–49}}
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
}}


Modern interpretations of Behemoth tend to fall into several categories:
==Later Jewish writings==
# Behemoth is an animal of the modern natural world, most often the ] (e.g. in Russian where the word {{transliteration|ru|begemot}} refers more often to hippopotamus rather than the Biblical animal), although the ] and ] could also be candidates. All three consume grass and chew it as an ] would, and have mobile, sprucy tails that sway in a similar manner to a ]-tree.
In Jewish ] and ] such as the 2nd century BCE ], Behemoth is the primal unconquerable monster of the land, as Leviathan is the primal monster of the waters of the sea and ] the primordial monster of the sky. According to this text Leviathan lives in "]", while Behemoth the land-monster lives in an invisible desert east of the ] (1 Enoch 60:7–8). A Jewish rabbinic legend describes a great battle which will take place between them at the end of time: "...they will interlock with one another and engage in combat, with his horns the Behemoth will gore with strength, the fish will leap to meet him with his fins, with power. Their Creator will approach them with his mighty sword ." Then, "from the beautiful skin of the Leviathan, God will construct canopies to shelter the righteous, who will eat the meat of the Behemoth and the Leviathan amid great joy and merriment." (''Artscroll'' ], p.&nbsp;719).
# Behemoth was an invention of the poet who wrote the Book of Job.
# Behemoth and Leviathan were both separate mythical chaos-beasts.{{sfn|Uehlinger|1999|p=166–167}}


Additionally, some ] ], such as the ] organization ], claim that the Behemoth is some species of ] or other ] based on the comparison of the tail to a ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Could Behemoth Have Been a Dinosaur? |url=https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/could-behemoth-have-been-a-dinosaur/ |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=Answers in Genesis |language=en}}</ref>
==Identity==
], Behemoth and ].]]
]''.]]
Since the 17th century CE there have been many attempts to identify Behemoth. Some scholars have seen him as a real creature, usually the ], occasionally the ], ], or ].<ref name="ToornBecking1999"/> The reference to Behemoth's "tail" that "moves like a cedar" presents a problem for most of these readings, since it cannot easily be identified with the tail of any animal. Biologist Michael Bright suggests that the reference to the cedar tree actually refers to the brush-like shape of its branches, which resemble the tails of modern elephants and hippopotamuses.<ref name="BOTF">{{cite book|author=Bright, Michael|title=Beasts of the Field: The Revealing Natural History of Animals in the Bible|year=2006|pages= 26–27|isbn=1-86105-831-4|publisher=Robson|location= London}}</ref> Some have identified the cedar as an elephant ], but it might instead refer to Behemoth's ], since the Hebrew word for "move" can also mean "extend", and the second part of the verse speaks of the sinew around his "stones" (not, as in the translation provided above, his "thighs"). The ] seems to endorse such a reading by using the word "'']''".<ref name="Mitchell 1987">Mitchell (1987)</ref> ] ] бегемот (''begemot'') actually means ''hippopotamus'' (From third quarter of 18th century. The earlier name is гиппопотам (''gippopotam'').).

Another opinion is that Behemoth is a product of the imagination of the author of Job, a symbol of God's power: in verse 24 he is described as having a ring ("snare") through his nose, a sign that he has been tamed by ].<ref name="Metzger2004"/>

Some ] identify Behemoth as possibly a ] ],<ref>{{cite web|last=Steel |first=Allan K. |url=http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/tj/v15/n2/behemoth |title=Could Behemoth Have Been a Dinosaur? |publisher=Answers in Genesis |date=2001-08-01 |accessdate=2014-02-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genesispark.com/genpark/bible/bible.htm |title=Scriptural Evidence: Dinos in the Bible |publisher=Genesis Park |date=2013-09-15 |accessdate=2014-02-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/dinosaurs-alive-after-babel|title=Dinosaurs—Alive After Babel?|author=Taylor, P. S.|date=February 13, 2008|work=Answers in Genesis|accessdate=February 27, 2012}}</ref> claiming that no other animal but a sauropod dinosaur has a tail that "moves like a cedar".<ref>Job 40:17</ref> The belief that dinosaurs and humans lived together, however, contradicts the scientific evidence that the last of the sauropods became ] about ] when a large ] struck the Earth,<ref>{{cite news|title=Finally confirmed: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs|author=Anthony, S.|url=http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/147978-finally-confirmed-an-asteroid-wiped-out-the-dinosaurs|newspaper=ExtremeTech|date=February 8, 2013|accessdate=March 4, 2013}}</ref> and that ] humans did not exist until around ].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Nowell April | year = 2010 | title = Defining Behavioral Modernity in the Context of Neandertal and Anatomically Modern Human Populations | url = | journal = Annual Review of Anthropology | volume = 39 | issue = | pages = 437–452 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.105113 }}</ref>

The '']'' has depicted Behemoth as a humanoid Elephant Demon with a round belly. This depiction of Behemoth is a huge soldier of ] that lives in ]. Behemoth is an infernal ] who also presides over the gluttonous banquets and feasts. It is also said that Behemoth has also enjoyed a certain renown for his voice where he was regarded as Hell's official demonic singer.


==Literary references== ==Literary references==
{{more footnotes|section|date=April 2024}}
The 17th-century political philosopher ] named the ] 'Behemoth' in his book '']''. It accompanies his book of political theory that draws on the lessons of ], the rather more famous '']''. It is also the name of a ] in ]'s novel, '']''.
]''.]]
The 17th-century political philosopher ] named the ] 'Behemoth' in his book '']''. It accompanies his book of political theory that draws on the lessons of ], the rather more famous '']''.


The '']'' version of Behemoth is a ] that resembles a round-bellied ] ]. He works as the infernal ] for Satan and oversees the banquets in ] while having a good singing voice.
The Behemoth also appears in ]’s '']'' (Book VII 470–472):
"''Scarce from his mould / Behemoth biggest born of earth upheaved / His vastness: Fleeced the flocks and bleating rose,''"


The Behemoth is also mentioned in the opera, '']'', composed by ], and written by ]. At the beginning of the first act, the chorus sings "The people are the heroes now, Behemoth pulls the peasants' plow" several times.<ref>{{cite report |author1-link=Alice Goodman |first1=Alice |last1=Goodman <!-- |author2-link=] |type=opera lyrics |via=Opera-Arias.com |url=http://www.opera-arias.com/adams/nixon-in-china/libretto/ |access-date=2014-02-04 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The Behemoth is mentioned in '']'' by ]:
"'' behold ! in plaited mail / Behemoth rears his head.''" (''Summer''). The German émigré ] entitled his 1941 book about National Socialism, '' ]''.


The Russian writer ] used a demonic cat with the name ] as a character in his novel '']''. In the book the cat could speak, walk on two legs and was part of the entourage of ] who represented ].
The Behemoth is also mentioned in the opera, ], composed by ], and written by ]. At the beginning of the first act, the chorus sings "The people are the heroes now, Behemoth pulls the peasants' plow" several times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opera-arias.com/adams/nixon-in-china/libretto/ |title=Nixon in China Libretto &#124; Adams |publisher=Opera-Arias.com |date=1972-02-21 |accessdate=2014-02-04}}</ref>

The ] '']'' features the Endbringers, a trio of city-destroying monsters named Behemoth, Leviathan, and the ].


==See also== ==See also==
{{Portal|Mythology}} {{Portal|Mythology}}
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ], ancient name for the Senegal River
* ]
* ], two beasts described in the New Testament
* ]
* ] * ]
* ], an American-British science fiction giant monster film
* ] * ]
* ], novel by Scott Westerfeld


==Notes== == References ==
{{Reflist}}


==References== === Citations ===
{{reflist|25em}}
*{{cite book | last =Metzeger | first =Bruce M. (ed) | coauthors = Michael D. Coogan (ed) | title = The Oxford Companion to the Bible | publisher = ]| year = 1993 | location = Oxford, UK| pages = | isbn = 0-19-504645-5 }}

*Mitchell, Stephen, 1987. ''The Book of Job''. San Francisco: North Point Press. Cited in R. T. Pennock, 1999, Tower of Babel, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Coogan
|first1 = Michael D.
|chapter = Behemoth
|editor1-last = Metzger, Michael David
|editor1-first= Bruce Manning
|editor2-last = Coogan
|editor2-first= Michael D.
|title = The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|year = 2004
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=amlXOOaSuLMC
|isbn = 9780195176100
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Dell
|first1 = Katharine J.
|chapter = Job
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA362
|editor1-last = Dunn
|editor1-first= James D. G.
|editor2-last = Rogerson
|editor2-first= John William
|title = Eerdmans Bible Commentary
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2003
|isbn = 9780802837110
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Ginzberg
|first1 = Louis
|title = Legends of the Jews
|volume = V
|publisher = Cosimo
|year = 2006
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=t90Xo3uSZeEC
|isbn = 9781596057920
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Uehlinger
|first1 = C.
|chapter = Behemoth
|editor1-last = Toorn
|editor1-first= Karel van der
|editor2-last = Becking
|editor2-first= Bob
|title = Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 1999
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C
|isbn = 9780802824912
}}
{{Refend}}


{{Authority control}}
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* article in the ]
* contains a major section on the literary use of Behemoth.
{{Book of Job}}


] ]
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Latest revision as of 10:07, 14 December 2024

Biblical creature For other uses, see Behemoth (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Bahamut or Baphomet.
Clockwise from left: Behemoth (on earth), Ziz (in sky), and Leviathan (under sea). From an illuminated manuscript, 13th century AD.

Behemoth (/bɪˈhiːməθ, ˈbiːə-/; Hebrew: בְּהֵמוֹת, bəhēmōṯ) is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, Leviathan, and according to later Jewish tradition both would become food for the righteous at the end-time. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.

Etymology

The Hebrew word behemoth has the same form as the plural of the Hebrew noun בהמה behemah meaning 'beast', suggesting an augmentative meaning 'great beast'. However, some theorize that the word might originate from an Egyptian word of the form pꜣ jḥ mw 'the water-ox' meaning 'hippopotamus', altered by folk etymology in Hebrew to resemble behemah. However, this phrase with this meaning is unattested at any stage of Egyptian.

Biblical description

Behemoth and Leviathan, watercolour by William Blake from his Illustrations of the Book of Job (1826).

The Hebrew word behemoth is only mentioned once in Biblical text, in a speech from the mouth of God in the Book of Job. It is a primeval creature created by God and so powerful that only God can overcome him:

Take now behemoth, whom I made as I did you;
He eats grass, like the cattle.
His strength is in his loins,
His might in the muscles of his belly.
He makes his tail stand up like a cedar;
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are like tubes of bronze,
His limbs like iron rods.
He is the first of God’s works;
Only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
The mountains yield him produce,
Where all the beasts of the field play.
He lies down beneath the lotuses,
In the cover of the swamp reeds.
The lotuses embower him with shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
He can restrain the river from its rushing;
He is confident the stream will gush at his command.
Can he be taken by his eyes?
Can his nose be pierced by hooks?

— Job 40:15-24

The passage later pairs Behemoth with the sea-monster Leviathan, both composite mythical creatures with enormous strength that humans could not hope to control, yet both are reduced to the status of divine pets.

Later interpretations

In Jewish apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, such as the 2nd century BC Book of Enoch (60:7–10), Behemoth is the unconquerable male land-monster, living in an invisible desert (Duidain) east of the Garden of Eden, as Leviathan is the primeval female sea-monster, dwelling in "the Abyss", and Ziz the primordial sky-monster. Similarly, in the most ancient section of the Second Book of Esdras (6:47–52), written around AD 100 (3:1), the two are described as inhabiting the mountains and the seas, respectively, after being separated from each other, due to the sea's insufficiency to contain them both. Likewise, in the contemporary Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (29:4), it is stated that Behemoth will come forth from his seclusion on land, and Leviathan out of the sea, and that the two gigantic monsters, created on the fifth day, will serve as food for the elect, who will survive in the days of the Messiah.

A Jewish rabbinic legend describes a great battle that will take place between them at the end of time: "they will interlock with one another and engage in combat, with his horns the Behemoth will gore with strength, the fish will leap to meet him with his fins, with power. Their Creator will approach them with his mighty sword ;" then, "from the beautiful skin of the Leviathan, God will construct canopies to shelter the righteous, who will eat the meat of the Behemoth and the Leviathan amid great joy and merriment." In the Haggadah, Behemoth's strength reaches its peak on the summer solstice of every solar year (around 21 June). At this time of year, Behemoth lets out a loud roar that makes all animals tremble with fear, and thus renders them less ferocious for a whole year. As a result, weak animals live in safety away from the reach of wild animals. This mythical phenomenon is shown as an example of divine mercy and goodness. Without Behemoth's roar, traditions narrate, animals would grow more wild and ferocious, and hence go around butchering each other and humans.

Modern interpretations of Behemoth tend to fall into several categories:

  1. Behemoth is an animal of the modern natural world, most often the hippopotamus (e.g. in Russian where the word begemot refers more often to hippopotamus rather than the Biblical animal), although the elephant and water buffalo could also be candidates. All three consume grass and chew it as an ox would, and have mobile, sprucy tails that sway in a similar manner to a Lebanese cedar-tree.
  2. Behemoth was an invention of the poet who wrote the Book of Job.
  3. Behemoth and Leviathan were both separate mythical chaos-beasts.

Additionally, some creationist fundamentalists, such as the Christian organization Answers in Genesis, claim that the Behemoth is some species of sauropod or other dinosaur based on the comparison of the tail to a cedar tree.

Literary references

This section includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations. (April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Behemoth as depicted in the Dictionnaire Infernal.

The 17th-century political philosopher Thomas Hobbes named the Long Parliament 'Behemoth' in his book Behemoth. It accompanies his book of political theory that draws on the lessons of English Civil War, the rather more famous Leviathan.

The Dictionnaire Infernal version of Behemoth is a demon that resembles a round-bellied humanoid elephant. He works as the infernal watchman for Satan and oversees the banquets in Hell while having a good singing voice.

The Behemoth is also mentioned in the opera, Nixon in China, composed by John Adams, and written by Alice Goodman. At the beginning of the first act, the chorus sings "The people are the heroes now, Behemoth pulls the peasants' plow" several times.

The Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov used a demonic cat with the name Behemoth as a character in his novel The Master and Margarita. In the book the cat could speak, walk on two legs and was part of the entourage of Woland who represented Satan.

The webnovel Worm features the Endbringers, a trio of city-destroying monsters named Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Simurgh.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Coogan 2004, p. 33.
  2. "behemoth, n.". OED Online. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  3. "Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae - Login". aaew2.bbaw.de. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  4. Dell 2003, p. 362.
  5. "Job 40:15–16". www.sefaria.org.
  6. Hirsch, Emil G.; Kohler, Kaufmann; Schechter, Solomon; Broydé, Isaac. "Leviathan and Behemoth". Jewish Encyclopedia.
  7. Ginzberg 2006, p. 43–49.
  8. Uehlinger 1999, p. 166–167.
  9. "Could Behemoth Have Been a Dinosaur?". Answers in Genesis. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  10. Goodman, Alice (21 February 1972). Nixon in China. Libretto (opera lyrics). Adams, John (score). Retrieved 4 February 2014 – via Opera-Arias.com.

Bibliography

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