It is very sad to see that people are so very narrow minded. These same people that do not believe that Dinosaurs were on the ark are the same people that feel that the Big Bang Theory is true. Get a grip! The dinosaur that scientists have created are just as bad as Santa Claus. Dinosaurs are mentioned in the bible! Being that the word was created in 1841, you have to read between the lines. Didn't you guys learn that in school? I guess you were too caught up in learning about Dinosaurs! Duh!
"Behold now behemoth, which I am made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
Lo now, his strength is in the loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
He moveth his tail like a cedar; this sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron."
These biblical verses (Job 40 v. 15-18) are the main account for Behemoth, which creationists believe is a Sauropod dinosaur (namely Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus).
However, from these verses, and the verses following (19-24), most scholars believe the Behemoth is nothing more than a hippopotamus for various reasons:
- Verse 23, saying, "Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not; he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth." has been attributed to the large mouth of the hippopotamus opening while the beast is in the water, almost giving the illusion of the beast drinking the water.
- More conclusively though, it describes the Behemoth as having a navel. This rules out dinosaurs as they laid eggs and therefore had no need for a navel (no umbilical chord).
- Sauropod dinosaurs, such as Apatosaurus, would have had a hard time eating grass with their large, blunt teeth. Also, an eighty-foot dinosaur would have an even harder time laying "under the shady trees, In the covert reed and fens".
Others though, have claimed that the beast is not a hippopotamus, but rather, an elephant. In apocryphal literature and Jewish legend, the behemoth is a monster of formidable strength.
Traditionally, the word behemoth can be given to any large, heavy, and otherwise unknown animal. The word behemoth comes from the plural of the Hebrew b'hemah, meaning 'beast'.
The behemoth was often linked with another beast described in the very next chapter of Job: the Leviathan. In the apocryphal book of Enoch the two creatures are described as follows:
"And in that day will two monsters be separated, a female named Leviathan to dwell in the abyss over the fountains of waters. But the male is called Behemoth which occupies with his breasts an immeasurable desert named Dendain."
In other legends, the two are supposed to be deadly enemies who battle at the beginning of time, and must be destroyed by the Lord before they destroy his creation. In other stories these two battled on the Day of Judgment.
In Jewish legend, the behemoth was supposedly created out of clay on the sixth day of creation. This differs from the accounts in the bible that suggest that the behemoth was the first of God's works. Only one was created, so it could not multiply.
The behemoth is said to be one of the delicacies served at the messianic banquet at the end of days. The other delicacies are the ziz, and the leviathan, again reinforcing the link between the two creatures.