Behemoth: Difference between revisions

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<div style="float: right; text-align: center;">[[image:Behemoth.jpg]]<small><br>''Behemoth and Leviathan,<br>an engraving by [[William Blake]]''</small></div>

'''Behemoth''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] '''&#1489;&#1492;&#1502;&#1493;&#1514;''' '''B&#601;h&#275;môth''', ''Behemot'', ''B'hemot'' "Beasts; animals"; [[Arabic language|Arabic]] &#1576;&#1607;&#1610;&#1605;&#1608;&#1579; '''Bah&#299;m&#363;th''' or &#1576;&#1607;&#1605;&#1608;&#1578; '''[[Bahamut|Baham&#363;t]]''') is the untranslated name of an [[amphibianAmphibia|amphibious animal]] mentioned in the [[Book of Job]], 40:15. Suggestions as to his identity include a [[hippopotamus]], a [[water buffalo]], a [[crocodile]], and a [[dinosaur]].

Most probably, &#1489;&#1492;&#1502;&#1493;&#1514; ''b&#601;h&#275;môth'' is plural for &#1489;&#1492;&#1502;&#1492; ''b&#601;h&#275;m&#257;h'', meaning "animal" in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], this structure indicates that behemoth is the largest and most powerful animal. Behemoth is the primal unconquerable monster of the land, as [[Leviathan]] is the primal monster of the waters of the sea, for this is no mere giant hippopotamus but "He is the first [Authorized Version "chief"] of the ways of God." (''[[Book of Job|Job]]'' xl:14)