Behemoth - what type of animal was it??

by Truthexplorer 15 Replies latest social relationships

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia
    I would like to think that the brontasurus was the animal that the bible writer was describing as it appears to talk about a very large powerful animal, particularly when it describes his tail swaying like a tree (cedar).

    Since there were no living dinosaurs in the ANE, and there hadn't been for 65 million years, it is particularly unlikely that this would have been the case. Also Apatosaurus did not live in the region; its fossils are found only in North America.

    If the Israelites and other ancients really lived alongside such a creature, not only would there have been bones but there should at least be other references to it, or even a word referring to it. There is no name for this beast; "Behemoth" is simply the par excellance word for "wild beast".

    And FWIW, (1) The Behemoth is described as eating grass. Apatosaurus did not eat grass (which did not exist in its day), it ate leaves. Grazing animals eat grass, and so the Behemoth is compared to one. All ruminating animals have molar-like teeth for chewing grass, Apatosaurus did not have any teeth for chewing, it swallowed leaves whole. And it was built to forage treetops like a giraffe, not grass on the ground. (2) The Behemoth is described as hidden in the shade of the lotus plants near the water, or covered by reeds only several feet tall. This is hardly the image of a huge Apatosaurus. (3) Similarly the Jordan is described as rushing to its mouth when it rages. The Jordan has a depth averaging 6-10 feet whereas the Apatosaurus was over 30 feet tall; again the Apatosaurus is too big. (4) As for the reference to the cedar-like tail, it is widely accepted that the "tail" is a euphemism for the animal's erect penis; this is particularly apparent since the preceding verse referred to the creature's loins and the stiff cedar-like tail is in poetic parallelism with the tendons of the animal's "stones" (a euphemism for testicles, cf. Leviticus 21:20). Dinosaurs probably didn't have external genitalia but rather cloacae.

  • darth frosty
    darth frosty

    I've always heard behemoth was a hippo and leviathan was a crocodile.

  • EndofMysteries
    EndofMysteries

    The Book of Enoch 58:7-end (Book of Enoch also in dead sea scrolls)

    7 In that day shall be distributed for food (54) two monsters; a female monster, whose name is Leviathan, dwelling in the depths of the sea, above the springs of waters;

    (54) Distributed for food. Or, "separated from one another" (Knibb, p. 143).

    8 And a male monster, whose name is Behemoth; which possesses, moving on his breast, the invisible wilderness.

    9 His name was Dendayen in the east of the garden, where the elect and the righteous will dwell; where he received it from my ancestor, who was man, from Adam the first of men, (55) whom the Lord of spirits made.

    (55) He received it…first of men. Or, "my [great-] grandfather was taken up, the seventh from Adam" (Charles, p. 155). This implies that this section of the book was written by Noah, Enoch's descendant, rather than Enoch. Scholars have speculated that this portion of the book may contain fragments of the lost Apocalypse of Noah.

    10 Then I asked of another angel to show me the power of those monsters, how they became separated, how they became separated on the same day, one being in the depths of the sea, and one in the dry desert.

    11 And he said, You, son of man, are here desirous of understanding secret things.

    12 And the angel of peace, who was with me, said, These two monsters are by the power of God prepared to become food, that the punishment of God may not be in vain.

    13 Then shall children be slain with their mothers, and sons with their fathers.

    14 And when the punishment of the Lord of spirits shall continue, upon them shall it continue, that the punishment of the Lord of spirits may not take place in vain. After that, judgment shall exist with mercy and longsuffering.

  • tenyearsafter
    tenyearsafter

    21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
    hidden among the reeds in the marsh.

    22 The lotuses conceal him in their shadow;
    the poplars by the stream surround him.

    23 When the river rages, he is not alarmed;
    he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth.

    I think these verses contain the answer. The lotus is an aquatic plant and reeds grow along the sides of the river beds. The reference to "to the river surging against his mouth" also gives a clue.

    My vote is a hippo...

  • heathen
    heathen

    That is a tuff one since dinos were not around when the passage was written . The hippo does not have a tail like a cedar and if captured at a young age can be domesticated as the passage alludes to mans inability to put blinders on or pierce it's nose like a bull .

  • tenyearsafter
    tenyearsafter

    20 The hills bring him their produce,
    and all the wild animals play nearby.

    "Hippos leave the water at dusk and travel inland, sometimes up to 8 kilometers (5 miles), to graze on short grass, their main source of food. They spend four to five hours grazing and can consume 68 kilograms (150 lb) of grass each night. Like almost any herbivore, they will consume many other plants if presented with them, but their diet in nature consists almost entirely of grass, with only minimal consumption of aquatic plants."

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