📖 Biblical Definition
The great creature YHWH points to in Job 40:15-24, paired with leviathan in chapter 41 in YHWH's whirlwind-speech to Job. "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee... He moveth his tail like a cedar... his bones are as strong pieces of brass... he is the chief of the ways of God." Often identified as hippopotamus, sometimes as dinosaur or mythopoeic chaos-creature; YHWH's point is the gulf between His creative power and Job's understanding.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Great creature in Job 40; YHWH's whirlwind-speech.
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The great creature YHWH points to in Job 40:15-24 in His whirlwind-speech to Job. Hebrew behemot is grammatically the plural-of-majesty form of behemah (beast) — the great-beast, the beast-among-beasts. Description: ate grass like an ox; strength in his loins; tail moving like a cedar; bones strong as brass; chief of God's ways; takes him with his eyes (i.e., he is fearsome to behold). Identification candidates: hippopotamus (most common scholarly view), dinosaur (some young-earth views), mythopoeic chaos-creature (literary view). YHWH's rhetorical point in the whirlwind-speech is not zoology but humbling: His creative power is beyond Job's reach to question.
📖 Key Scripture
Job 40:15-19 — "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar... his bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God."
Job 40:24 — "He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares."
Job 41:1 — "Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook?"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern debates focus on identification (hippopotamus? dinosaur?); the rhetorical-theological point of YHWH's whirlwind-speech is the actual content.
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Modern Bible-and-science debates spend extensive energy on whether behemoth is hippopotamus or dinosaur. The text's actual point is rhetorical: YHWH parades His creative power before Job to silence Job's litigation. Whether behemoth is hippopotamus, dinosaur, or chaos-monster, the function is the same: the gulf between Creator and creature is unbridgeable, and Job's right response is to put his hand over his mouth (Job 40:4).
Recover the function: behemoth and leviathan are humbling agents. Read Job 38-41 for the silencing they accomplish.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew behemot.
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['Hebrew', 'H930', 'behemot', 'behemoth, great beast']
Usage
"Behemoth is YHWH's humbling agent."
"Job 40-41 silences Job's litigation."
"Function over identification."