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{{short description|Biblical creature}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Bahamut|Baphomet}}
[[File:Ill dict infernal p0100-86 behemoth.jpg|thumb|Behemoth as depicted in the ''[[Dictionnaire Infernal]]'' by [[Jacques Collin de Plancy|Collin de Plancy]]]]
'''Behemoth''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɪ|ˈ|h|iː|m|ə|θ|,_|ˈ|b|iː|ə|-}}; {{langx|he|בְּהֵמוֹת}}, ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical [[Book of Job]], and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the [[Genesis creation narrative|beginning of creation]]. [[Metaphor]]ically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.
==Etymology==
The Hebrew word ''behemoth'' has the same form as the plural of the Hebrew noun בהמה ''behemah'' meaning 'beast', suggesting an [[augmentative]] meaning 'great beast'. However, some theorize that the word might originate from an [[Egyptian (language)|Egyptian]] word of the form ''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Egyptian/pꜣ-jḥ-mw|pꜣ jḥ mw]]'' 'the water-ox' meaning '[[hippopotamus]]', altered by [[folk etymology]] in Hebrew to resemble ''behemah''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=behemoth, n.|dictionary=OED Online|url=http://oed.com/view/Entry/17209|access-date=September 29, 2020}}</ref> However, this phrase with this meaning is unattested at any stage of Egyptian.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae - Login|url=http://aaew2.bbaw.de/tla/servlet/BwlBrowser?f=0&l=0&off=0&csz=-1&lcd=&tcd=hippo&etr=1&scd=&pn0=1&db=Egyptian&bc=Start|access-date=2021-03-03|website=aaew2.bbaw.de}}</ref> Even before the [[Decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts|decipherment of Ancient Egyptian]] in the early 19th century there was widespread identification of the biblical behemoth with the hippopotamus. The word for hippopotamus in [[Russian language|Russian]] remains derivative of ''behemoth'' (бегемот), a meaning that entered the language in the mid-18th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=бегемот translations, 6 examples and declension |url=https://en.openrussian.org/ru/%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%82 |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=en.openrussian.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Словарь Академии Российской |url=https://runivers.ru/bookreader/book10107/#page/123/mode/1up |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=runivers.ru}}</ref>
==Biblical description==
[[File:Behemoth3.jpg|thumb|upright|''Behemoth and Leviathan'', watercolour by [[William Blake]] from his ''[[William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job|Illustrations of the Book of Job]]'' (1826).]]
[[File:Lev-Beh-Ziz.jpg|thumb|[[Leviathan]] the sea-monster, with Behemoth the land-monster and [[Ziz]] the air-monster. "And on that day were two monsters parted, a female monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters. But the male is named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a waste wilderness named [[Duidain]]." (1 Enoch 60:7–8)]]
The Hebrew word behemoth is mentioned only once in Biblical text, in a speech from the mouth of God in the [[Book of Job]]. It is a primeval creature created by God and so powerful that only God can overcome him:{{sfn|Dell|2003|p=362}}
{{blockquote|<poem>
Take now behemoth, whom I made as I did you;
He eats grass, like the cattle.
His strength is in his loins,
His might in the muscles of his belly.
He makes his tail stand up like a [[cedar tree|cedar]];
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are like tubes of bronze,
His limbs like iron rods.
He is the first of God’s works;
Only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
The mountains yield him produce,
Where all the beasts of the field play.
He lies down beneath the [[Nymphaea lotus|lotuses]],
In the cover of the swamp reeds.
The lotuses embower him with shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
He can restrain the river from its rushing;
He is confident the stream will gush at his command.
Can he be taken by his eyes?
Can his nose be pierced by hooks?
</poem>|Job 40:15-24<ref>{{cite web |title=Job 40:15–16 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Job.40.15-24?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>}}
The passage later pairs Behemoth with the sea-monster [[Leviathan]], both composite mythical creatures with enormous strength that humans could not hope to control, yet both are reduced to the status of divine pets.{{sfn|Coogan|2004|p=33}}
==Later interpretations==
In Jewish [[apocrypha]] and [[pseudepigrapha]], such as the 2nd century BC [[Book of Enoch]] ([[:wikisource:The Book of Enoch (Charles)/Chapter 60|60:7–10]]), Behemoth is the unconquerable male land-monster, living in an invisible desert ([[Duidain]]) east of the [[Garden of Eden]], as Leviathan is the primeval female sea-monster, dwelling in "[[Abyss (religion)|the Abyss]]", and [[Ziz]] the primordial sky-monster. Similarly, in the [[4 Ezra|most ancient section]] of the [[Second Book of Esdras]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2_Esdras_6:47-52&version=NRSV&interface=print 6:47–52]), written around AD 100 ([[:wikisource:Bible (King James)/II Esdras#Chapter 3|3:1]]), the two are described as inhabiting the mountains and the seas, respectively, after being separated from each other, due to the sea's insufficiency to contain them both. Likewise, in the contemporaneous [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch]] ([http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/2Baruch.html 29:4]), it is stated that Behemoth will come forth from his seclusion on land, and Leviathan out of the sea, and that the two gigantic monsters, created on the fifth day, will serve as food for the elect, who will survive in the days of the Messiah.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9841|website=Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Leviathan and Behemoth|first1=Emil G.|last1=Hirsch|first2=Kaufmann|last2=Kohler|first3=Solomon|last3=Schechter|first4=Isaac|last4=Broydé}}</ref>
A Jewish rabbinic legend describes a great battle that will take place between them at the end of time: "they will interlock with one another and engage in combat, with his horns the Behemoth will gore with strength, the fish [Leviathan] will leap to meet him with his fins, with power. Their Creator will approach them with his mighty sword [and slay them both];" then, "from the beautiful skin of the Leviathan, God will construct canopies to shelter the righteous, who will eat the meat of the Behemoth and the Leviathan amid great joy and merriment." In the [[Haggadah]], Behemoth's strength reaches its peak on the [[summer solstice]] of every solar year (around 21 June). At this time of year, Behemoth lets out a loud roar that makes all animals tremble with fear, and thus renders them less ferocious for a whole year. As a result, weak animals live in safety away from the reach of wild animals. This mythical phenomenon is shown as an example of divine mercy and goodness. Without Behemoth's roar, traditions narrate, animals would grow more wild and ferocious, and hence go around butchering each other and humans.{{sfn|Ginzberg|2006|p=43–49}}
Modern interpretations of Behemoth tend to fall into several categories:
# Behemoth is an animal of the modern natural world, most often the [[hippopotamus]] (e.g. in Russian where the word {{transliteration|ru|begemot}} refers more often to hippopotamus rather than the Biblical animal), although the [[elephant]] and [[water buffalo]] could also be candidates. All three consume grass and chew it as an [[ox]] would, and the elephant and water buffalo both have mobile, sprucy tails that sway in a similar manner to a [[Lebanese cedar]]-tree sapling (though the text does not specify a sapling).
# Behemoth was an invention of the poet who wrote the Book of Job.
# Behemoth and Leviathan were both separate mythical chaos-beasts.{{sfn|Uehlinger|1999|p=166–167}}
Additionally, some [[Young Earth creationism|creationist]] [[Fundamentalism|fundamentalists]], such as the [[Christianity|Christian]] organization [[Answers in Genesis]], claim that the Behemoth is some species of [[Sauropoda|sauropod]] or other [[dinosaur]] based on the comparison of the tail to a [[Cedrus libani|cedar tree]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Could Behemoth Have Been a Dinosaur? |first1=Allan|last1=Steel|date=1 August 2001|url=https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/could-behemoth-have-been-a-dinosaur/ |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=Answers in Genesis |language=en}}</ref>
==Literary references==
{{more footnotes|section|date=April 2024}}
The 17th-century political philosopher [[Thomas Hobbes]] named the [[Long Parliament]] 'Behemoth' in his book ''[[Behemoth (Hobbes book)|Behemoth]]''. It accompanies his book of political theory that draws on the lessons of [[English Civil War]], the rather more famous ''[[Leviathan (Hobbes book)|Leviathan]]''.
The ''[[Dictionnaire Infernal]]'' version of Behemoth is a [[demon]] that resembles a round-bellied [[humanoid]] [[elephant]]. He works as the infernal [[Security guard|watchman]] for Satan and oversees the banquets in [[Hell]] while having a good singing voice.
The Behemoth is also mentioned in the opera, ''[[Nixon in China]]'', composed by [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]], and written by [[Alice Goodman]]. At the beginning of the first act, the chorus sings "The people are the heroes now, Behemoth pulls the peasants' plow" several times.<ref>{{cite report |author1-link=Alice Goodman |first1=Alice |last1=Goodman <!-- |author2-link=[[John Adams (composer) |first2=John |last2=Adams --> |date=1972-02-21 |title=Nixon in China |department=Libretto |others=[[John Adams (composer)|Adams, John (score)]] |type=opera lyrics |via=Opera-Arias.com |url=http://www.opera-arias.com/adams/nixon-in-china/libretto/ |access-date=2014-02-04 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The Russian writer [[Mikhail Bulgakov]] used a demonic cat with the name [[Behemoth (Master and Margarita)|Behemoth]] as a character in his novel ''[[The Master and Margarita]]''. In the book the cat could speak and walk on two legs and was part of the entourage of [[Woland]], who represented [[Satan]].
The [[Web fiction|webnovel]] ''[[Worm (web serial)|Worm]]'' features the Endbringers, a trio of city-destroying monsters named Behemoth, Leviathan and the [[Simurgh]].
==See also==
{{Portal|Mythology}}
* [[Bamot]]
* [[Bahamut]]
* [[Senegal River|Bambotus]], ancient name for the Senegal River
* [[The Beast (Revelation)]], two beasts described in the New Testament
* [[Beast of the Earth|Dābbat al-Arḍ]]
* [[Book of Job in Byzantine illuminated manuscripts]]
* [[The Giant Behemoth]], an American-British science fiction giant monster film
* [[Tarasque]]
* [[Hadhayosh]]
* [[Behemoth (novel)]], novel by Scott Westerfeld
== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|25em}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Coogan
|first1 = Michael D.
|chapter = Behemoth
|editor1-last = Metzger, Michael David
|editor1-first= Bruce Manning
|editor2-last = Coogan
|editor2-first= Michael D.
|title = The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|year = 2004
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=amlXOOaSuLMC
|isbn = 9780195176100
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Dell
|first1 = Katharine J.
|chapter = Job
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA362
|editor1-last = Dunn
|editor1-first= James D. G.
|editor2-last = Rogerson
|editor2-first= John William
|title = Eerdmans Bible Commentary
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2003
|isbn = 9780802837110
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Ginzberg
|first1 = Louis
|title = Legends of the Jews
|volume = V
|publisher = Cosimo
|year = 2006
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=t90Xo3uSZeEC
|isbn = 9781596057920
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Uehlinger
|first1 = C.
|chapter = Behemoth
|editor1-last = Toorn
|editor1-first= Karel van der
|editor2-last = Becking
|editor2-first= Bob
|title = Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 1999
|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C
|isbn = 9780802824912
}}
{{Refend}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Animals in the Bible]]
[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Jewish legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Christian legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Islamic legendary creatures]]
[[
[[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category:Mythological elephants]]
[[Category:Hippopotamuses]]
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