"Behold now behemoth,...He is the chief of the ways of God"
(Job 40: 17, 19)
In Part one of "Did Dragons Really Exist?" I
briefly dealt with the great sea dragon Leviathan. Here in this study I will being
looking at the behemoth, the great land dwelling dragon. A description of this
great beast is given in Job
40: 15-24. Many theologians and Bible
translators contend that the behemoth was either an elephant or a hippopotamus.
While others argue that the behemoth was a dinosaur, possibly the Brachiosaur
from the family of the sauropods. So what can we learn about this large land
dwelling beast known as the behemoth?
What Kind of Animal
was the Behemoth?
The term "Behemoth" in Strong's Complete Word Study
Concordance refers to the behemoth as a water
ox, hippopotamus, or an Egyptian Nile
horse.[1]This
seems to agree with what some Bible translators and Commentators have said
about the possible identity of the behemoth. However, a water ox, hippopotamus,
Nile horse, or even an elephant all have relatively small tales; whereas, the
behemoth's tail is described as a tail that "bends or moves like a cedar
(40: 17). This in no way describes any modern animal we know of today. The
evidence seems to lean towards a large type of dinosaur now extinct. Many
Creationist scientists argue that the behemoth is indeed a dinosaur. Consider the picture below and decide for yourself.
Was the Behemoth
Really an Elephant?
One opponent against the view of the behemoth possibly being
a dinosaur gives this interesting argument on Job 40: 17:
"The Bible never states that the described beast HAS a tail like a cedar
tree. What the Bible says is, that this particular beast MOVES his tail like a
cedar tree! However, examine a photo of an elephant's tail next to a photo of a
mid-eastern cedar tree and you will immediately grasp the similarity...When an
elephant's tail is erected, it is exceedingly stiff and strong. At the end of
its tail is a tuft of hair, exactly the same design as that of a cedar tree in
those parts of the world.
The cedar tree's trunk (although much
larger) quite surprisingly resembles an elephant's tail, for not until you come
to the top of the trunk do you find a clump of branches and leaves. However,
the scriptures is basically speaking of the
movement of the tree and the tail. When the wind blows, the cedar tree
sways back and forth. Walk in back of an elephant and notice the movement of
his tail. It is the same as a cedar tree, it sways back and forth."[2]
This is a very good argument posed by the writer, Robert
Surgenor. The behemoth could
possibly be an elephant. However, an
elephant is not "the chief of the
ways of God" (40: 19, KJV) or "the
first of the ways of God" (40: 19, NASB). In other words, the elephant
is not the largest land animal that God ever made. Perhaps the cousin to the
elephant, the woolly Mammoth would be a much better candidate. Better yet, some
of the largest land dwelling dinosaurs that God ever made would fit well as
being "the chief or first of God's ways."
It is true though that the Bible never says that the
behemoth HAS a tail like a cedar tree, but rather the scripture states that the
beast MOVES its tail like a cedar tree. However, what the author Mr. Surgenor
fails to see is that the passage of scripture in question DOES NOT tell us the
size of the behemoth's tail. All the verse says is that the behemoth "moveth [or bends, NASB] his tail like a
cedar" (40: 17). Again, author Darek Isaacs give this interesting
comment on the behemoth's tail.
"It was not until very recently
that modern science discovered that many of these dinosaurs would walk holding
their tails parallel, stiff as a beam. They did this, most likely, for balance
-- they needed a counterbalance when they walked so that they would not topple
over. For the Book of Job to record that this gigantic herbivore, which was one
of the largest of God's creations according to this description, had the
ability to make its tail stiff like a cedar is remarkable. Job recorded only
what an eyewitness account of the living creature could deliver."[3]
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