Behemoth appears only in Job 40:15-24 as a creature God points to when answering Job out of the whirlwind. The word is the plural intensive form of behemah (beast), suggesting supreme beasthood. Its description — strength in its loins, power in the muscles of its belly, tail like a cedar — has led interpreters to identify it as a hippopotamus or, in some ancient traditions, a primordial chaos creature.
God's reference to Behemoth (and Leviathan in ch. 41) serves a profound theological purpose: to humble Job by displaying the raw scope of creation. If God rules over creatures of this magnitude, how much more does He govern human affairs? Behemoth became a touchstone for reflection on divine omnipotence and the appropriate human response of awe and trust. Some patristic writers saw Behemoth as a symbol of Satan's power ultimately subdued by Christ.