Dinosaurs in the Bible? (Part 2)

 

The Case of Behemoth and Leviathan: Are they Dinosaurs?

There are commentaries which mention them as Hippos and crocodiles (perhaps?) but the terrific description has made many enthusiasts inconvincible on this recognition. Norman Geisler, in his book When Critics Ask, refers them as poetic figures.[i] However, others believe them as real creatures due to following reasons[ii]:

1. In Job 38:39-39:30 there are 12 animals that are mentioned by God. All of these are real creatures. This would indicate that the final two creatures mentioned would also be real.
2. God told Job to look at the behemoth (40:15). He could only look at a real creature.
3. God told Job that He made the behemoth as He had made man (40:15).
4. The Bible provides detailed descriptions of the physical characteristics of the Leviathan and behemoth. This is not consistent with mythological creatures.
5. The Leviathan is spoken of elsewhere in the Bible as being part of God's creation

While reading the description of these massive terrific beasts, everyone mind gets concerned about what animals could they have been.

Several attempts can be observed as:

Behemoth:

1. The New King James Version footnotes Job 40 and 41 as follows: A large animal, exact identity unknown . . . (New King James Version, p. 535, notes 55).
2. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown argue that the behemoth is the Egyptian water-ox. The description in part agrees with the hippopotamus, in part with the elephant, but exactly in all details with neither. It is rather a personification of the great Pachydermata, or Herbivora (so he eateth grass, the idea of the hippopotamus being predominant. In vs. 17, the tail like a cedar hardly applies to the latter. . . Behemoth seems to be the Egyptian water-ox (JFB, p. 402).
3. A non-existence poetic or mythological figure.[iii]
4. God may be using a well-known mythical figure as a symbol of the most powerful imaginable creature in order to explain to Job how incredibly powerful he is. To use a very rough analogy, it might be like someone today saying that God is more powerful than superman.[iv]
5. Hippopotamus: Many people think the behemoth refers to the hippopotamus.[v] The reference in Job is to some marsh dwelling mammoth such as the Hippopotamus amphibius which inhabits the Nile and other African rivers. In the Apocrypha the name denotes the male counterpart of the Leviathan (2 Esd. 6:49,52) (R. K. Harrison, Behemoth, ISBE, Vol 1, p. 452)
6. There are some commentators who believe that the behemoth describes a dinosaur. The idea that the behemoth was an elephant or a hippopotamus does not fit all the facts. Neither of these has the tail of a cedar, one of the largest trees in the ancient world. However, this description does fit the dinosaurs. Therefore, it is argued that the behemoth was a gigantic plant-eating dinosaur such as the Diplodocus.

Leviathan:

1. A popular view is that the Leviathan was a crocodile. The word Leviathan means the twisted animal. The proper name (it always occurs without the definite article) of a large aquatic animal perhaps reflecting a mythological monster . . . Job 41:1-34 the most extended description of the Leviathan, suggests to many the crocodile . . . In his confrontation with Job, the Lord's point seems to be that while Job is no more a match for the power of evil than he would be for a crocodile (G.P. Hugenberger, ISBE, Volume 3, p. 109).
2. There are some students of Scripture who believe the Leviathan is a dinosaur: The leviathan the Bible talks about in Job 41 is described as the greatest creature of the sea. Unlike a crocodile or fish, it was useless to try and catch the leviathan with hooks. Nothing on earth is his equal-a creature without fear (Job 41:33, NIV). What was the leviathan? The large size, strong jaws, great teeth, fast swimming ability and its protected back and undersides all give clues. It could have been a Kronosaurus (KRONE-oh-SOR-us) or something like it. This was one of the greatest, most overwhelming animals ever to swim the seas. It was not a true dinosaur, but it was reptile-like and had great sharp teeth. It seems these animals were still alive at the time of King David. Psalm 104 says they played where the ships go to and fro. This was probably in the Mediterranean Sea (Paul Taylor, The Great Dinosaur Mystery, El Cajon, California, Master Books, 1987, p. 48).

Some Nepali Bible commentaries admits that the description is indeed suitable for usual animals like Hoppo and crocodile. They agree on:

Calling the behemoth and the leviathan dinosaurs wrongly dates Job's lifetime within only a few hundred years of the Flood (Roy Zuck, ibid. p. 772).

Dr. Hugh Ross, who is an astrophysicist and an apologist, is founder of reasons to believe has written a book named ‘Hidden Treasures in the book of Job’. He has given a good analysis on Behemoth and Leviathan.

His arguments go like this:

1. Dinosaurs would have no place within this context. Nothing researchers have discovered about them suggests they possessed characteristics uniquely associated with nepesh.
2. Given that Genesis and Job focus on key miracles God performed to prepare a home for humanity, dinosaurs do not make the cut. They do not rank high enough in the list of most important creation miracles.

About Behemoth:

1. If the behemoth were a raging, meat-eating predator, these wild animals would most likely play somewhere far away. The mention of grass and produce confirms the impression that this creature feeds on plants, not on flesh.
2. behemoth is a threat to humans, not because it considers humans as prey, but because this creature is highly territorial and enormously strong.
3. The mention of the Jordan River provides further interpretive assistance. To date no remains of herbivorous dinosaurs have been found in the Jordan River valley.
4. Through the centuries prior to discovery of dinosaurs, the identity of behemoth as a hippopotamus held sway among the majority of Hebrew and English Bible scholars because of its match with both the literal and figurative language of the text.
5. The ‘tail’ in the passage is referring to movement and not the dimension.
6. Job 40:15–24 provides one of the most detailed and accurate descriptions of hippopotamus anatomy and behavior humanity possesses from the ancient world.
7. God’s main point, however, in this description of the behemoth has more to do with demonstrating humanity’s limitations in taming certain nepesh creatures. No human has ever been known to tame an adult hippopotamus.

About Leviathan:

ü  It has been identified as crocodile or alligator by scholars.

ü  Both species have jaws nearly as large and flat as doors, and although the muscles used to open them are relatively weak, the muscles used to close them can snap shut with deadly force.

ü  Alligator and crocodile tails leave wide and unmistakable trails in shoreline mud and sand, as the Job passage describes. Both creatures glide gracefully and rapidly through water, propelled by that powerful tail.

ü  Their capacity to hold their breath for over ten minutes makes these animals especially dangerous. They can lie submerged and motionless in muddy depths, unseen to humans along the shore or in a nearby boat, and then launch themselves in a blinding flash from that submerged, still position. Any animal or person who comes near can be snatched and killed.

ü  The leviathan fears no other creature, as the Job text relates. It earns the title of king in its own right—another reason to identify it as a crocodile. More than once a crocodile has ambushed a mature lion and dragged it into the water, whereupon fellow crocodiles help dispatch and consume the lion in short order.

ü  Alligators and crocodiles may be the least soulish of the soulish animals. As with the hippopotamus, adult crocodiles and alligators defy taming. Even when raised by a human from the time they emerge from the egg, these creatures seem nearly impossible to tame.

He finally concludes:

This particular Job passage drives home, in colorful, evocative imagery, some significant truths about God and us. The One who created these wild beasts rules over all life and understands them in ways no human can. He has the power and wisdom to tame any creature at will. Humans do not. These two creatures powerfully dramatize our need to depend upon God for the power and wisdom essential for managing Earth’s life, especially and most importantly for managing, or taming, our own lives.

“While dinosaurs were not the primary source of Earth’s petroleum reserves, they did contribute substantially to Earth’s biodeposits. They also helped regulate the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere.”

“Geologists tell us that from 250 to 65 million years ago, Earth’s shallow seas and wet climate favored large reptilian creatures. In that era, dinosaurs suited God’s plan to fill Earth with as great an abundance and diversity of life as conditions allowed. The presence of those creatures meant that when humans arrived they would have at their disposal the best atmosphere for their needs and the richest supply of biodeposits.”

Finally, he further adds:

“Job and his friends recognized that animals, especially nepesh animals, can teach us innumerable, invaluable lessons about life and the Creator of all life. Animals show us how richly the Creator has provided not only for our basic survival but also for our pleasure, joy, and quality of life. Animals allow us to see, by comparison, the unique glories of humanity and what it means to bear the image of God, and also to see the awful effects of human autonomy and rebellion against the Creator’s authority. As Job makes clear, God uses animals to put us in our place, revealing both our greatness and our wretchedness.”

http://paleo.cc/paluxy/behemoth.htm notes:

However, most Biblical scholars believe the creatures in Job refer to mythical or metaphorical creatures, or modern creatures with some artistic license taken in their descriptions. For example, no creature (modern or ancient) would actually possess limbs of "iron" or drink up an entire river, so we must be cautious not to take other parts of the passages a strictly literal sense. We must also fully consider the context of the passages and important linguistic considerations. When done, it is seen that the descriptions are at least as compatible with modern as ancient creatures, and on balance, favor the former.

Assuming the creatures to be dinosaurs just because of terrifying languages used is actually a big unjust for the text itself. Children at Sunday school are also given unnecessary impression in their mind set by such crazy teachings. Why would Church educate them on dinosaurs? As I said earlier, if dinosaurs are focused to this extent why not then go for other prehistoric animals?

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[i] Mistake 14: Neglecting to note that the Bible uses different literary devices

[ii] https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_671.cfm, 7/19/2021, 10 pm

[iii] http://paleo.cc/paluxy/behemoth.htm

[iv] https://evidenceforchristianity.org/why-would-god-imagine-a-creature-just-to-compare-himself-to-itr/, 7/19/2021, 10:15 pm

[v] Also read two details on it in https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_671.cfm by G.S. Cansdale and Roy Zuck