Behemoth (Hebrew: behemot literally "beasts") is a large mythical land animal from Hebrew mythology mentioned in the Book of Job in the Hebrew bible. The literal translation of Behemoth is "beast." Exactly what kind of beast the Behemoth is supposed to be is unknown, but it is described in the Book of Job as eating grass "like an ox," leading to the tradition of depicting the Behemoth as a giant ox. Much later, during the Georgian and Victorian eras, some Christian and occult writers re-imagined the Behemoth as a giant elephant-like demon. Some scholars suggest the Behemoth originally meant to describe a giant hippopotamus.
Behemoth in the Hebrew Bible[]
The Behemoth only appears once in the Hebrew bible in Job chapter 40. In this chapter Yahweh is describing to Job the majesty of His creation as a response to Job questioning the purpose of his suffering:
Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
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.
A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?
In this speech found in Job 40:15-24, Yahweh describes the Behemoth. In following chapter of the text the Leviathan is also described. The purpose of this is to show Job the pointlessness of questioning the motives of God. The two creatures were usually depicted as immensely powerful beings, yet were reduced to the pets of Yahweh, having rings in their noses and Behemoth leashed.
The Behemoth in Extra-Biblical Jewish Texts[]
Image of Behemoth (Ox), Leviathan (Fish), and Ziz (Griffin), 13th century miniature of a Bible, by Ya 'aqov bar Shemuel, Hebrew manuscript.
In later Jewish apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, Behemoth is the primal creature of earth. Leviathan is that of water, and Ziz is the primal creature of the sky. A rabbinic legend states that a great battle will take place between Behemoth and Leviathan, where the Creator will slay both creatures, and create canopies for the righteous under which they will feast on the meat of the beasts.
Behemoth in Christian and Occult Demonologies[]
Throughout history multiple formalized classifications of demons have been proposed. None of them however are considered canon by modern mainstream Christian denominations. Instead, lists of formalized demonologies tend to remain popular in occult traditions.
Christian and occult writers re-imagined the Behemoth as a giant elephant-like demon. This demonic form of the Behemoth is associated with the sin of gluttony.
Dictionnaire Infernal (Infernal Dictionary):[]
An image of Behemoth from the Dictionnaire Infernal
The Infernal Dictionary is a book of demonology written in 1818 by the French occultist Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy. The entry for Behemoth is as follows:
- Behemoth, heavy and stupid demon, in spite of his stateliness. His strength is in his loins; his domains are gluttony and the pleasures of the belly. Several devil worshipers say that in hell he is butler and high cup-bearer. Bodin believes that Behemoth is none other than the Egyptian Pharaoh who persecuted the Hebrews. Behemoth is spoken of in Job as a monstrous creature. Some commentators say that he is a whale, and others that he is an elephant; but there have been other monstrous species which have disappeared. One sees in the works of Urbain Grandier that Behemoth is surely a demon. Delancre says that one sees him as a monstrous animal, because he gives himself the form of all the grossest beasts. He swears that Behemoth can also disguise himself to perfection as a dog, an elephant, a fox, or a wolf.
- If Wierus, our oracle on all that concerns demons, does not admit Behemoth to his inventory of the infernal monarchy, he says in his first book, des Prestiges des démons, ch. XXI, that Behemoth or the elephant could well be Satan himself, of whom one also grants vast power.
- Finally, because one reads, in ch. 40 of Job, that Behemoth eats as much hay as a beef, the rabbis will make of him a marvelous roast reserved for the festival of their Messiah. This beef is so enormous, they say, that he gobbles up every day the hay of a thousand huge mountains, which he has grazed since the beginning of the world. He never leaves his thousand mountains, or the grass that he had eaten that day would push back the night into the next day. They swear that God killed the female of the species in the beginning; since one could not let such a race multiply. The Jews promise well of the joy at the festival where he will be the "pièce de résistance." They swear on their side by the flesh of Behemoth.
Behemoth in Cryptozoology and Young-Earth Creationism[]
Brontosaurus in the water, and Diplodocus on land, by Charles R. Knight (1897). This is an outdated and inaccurate artists rendering of these dinosaurs, which are now known to not be semi-aquatic. Creationists base their ideas on the Behemoth on such outdated depictions.
Some Young Earth creationists, who believe every animal (including dinosaurs) were made on the sixth day of creation, believe the Behemoth could have been a sauropod (a large herbivorous dinosaur known for their large size, and their long necks and tails), based off of now outdated views that these dinosaurs were semi-aquatic, thus matching with the description from the Book of Job. These creationists also base their ideas off of a literal interpretation of the verse in Job where the Behemoth's tail is described as being like a cedar tree, and argue that only a large dinosaur would have a tail that would match such a description.
Young earth creationists are often closely linked to the field of cryptozoology, which focuses on searching for creatures who's existence has yet to be proven. This is done in the hopes of proving their literalist biblical ideas correct by finding one of these "supposedly" extinct animals.
Other identifications were pointed to still existing creatures, such as the hippopotamus or the elephant, but some even considered a crocodile or water buffalo. A biologist Michael Bright suggested that the reference tries to point out the brush-like leaves of the tree, which resembles the tail of modern elephants or hippopotamuses.
Despite all of the above, the Behemoth is most likely an imaginary creature, created by the author of Job in order to show the power of God.