Behemoth in the Bible: the “Super-Beast” of Job 40 and Its Meaning
1) What “Behemoth” Means—and Why Job 40 Is Different
By form, behemoth (bĕhēmôt) is the intensive plural of bĕhēmâ (“beast,” “cattle”), but in Job 40:15–24 every verb and pronominal form is masculine singular, presenting one colossal creature—a “super-ox,” the Beast par excellence. That mismatch (plural form, singular grammar) already hints at more than a normal animal. Elsewhere the same spelling can simply mean “beasts/cattle” (e.g., Ps 8:7), which is why proposed “sightings” of Behemoth outside Job are debated (e.g., Deut 32:24; Isa 30:6; Job 12:7; Ps 73:22).
Job’s Behemoth is grass-eating (Job 40:15), land-and-water at home (40:21–22), with iron-like bones (40:18) and a cedar-like tail (40:17). He is introduced as “the first of the works of God” (40:19)—not first in time necessarily, but first in might—and “only his Maker can approach him with the sword” (40:19). The portrait signals a creature beyond human mastery, placed deliberately alongside Leviathan (Job 41) in God’s second speech to Job.
2) Behemoth’s Role in Job 40: God’s Speech and Job’s Smallness
God answers Job’s litigation by touring creation (Job 38–41). The aim isn’t zoology but theology: to relocate Job within a cosmos whose scale, complexity, and moral depth are governed by God. In that arc:
Behemoth (land/river power) and Leviathan (sea/chaos power) crown the list.
Both are untamable to humans, yet bounded by God.
Their very existence argues that Job cannot administer the universe (cf. Job 40:9–14).
Read this way, Behemoth is no trivia note; he is evidence. If Job cannot leash Behemoth or harpoon Leviathan, how will he adjudicate providence? The Creator’s wise care extends even to the world’s most fearsome realities.
3) Three Main Interpretations: Animal, “No Behemoth,” or Mythic Being
Scholarly readings tend to cluster in three families:
A) Behemoth = a natural animal
Hippopotamus: The classic view (since Bochart). Fits some features: amphibious, river reeds, hard to capture (Job 40:21–24).
Other proposals: Crocodile (requires emending the text and “he eats grass” line), or water buffalo (less convincing).
Challenge: The hyperbolic traits—cedar-like tail, metal bones, “first of God’s works”—sound bigger than zoology.
B) There is no “Behemoth” as a separate being
Some argue Behemoth is poetic shorthand for “beasts” in general, or a parodic composite to expose Job’s presumption, or part of Leviathan’s single, extended description.
Challenge: The paired structure (Behemoth, then Leviathan) and singular grammar in Job 40 make Behemoth look distinct.
C) Behemoth = a distinct mythic creature
Many note the deliberate pairing with Leviathan (Job 41). In Second Temple literature, Behemoth (land) and Leviathan (sea) are twin monsters reserved for God’s final demonstration of sovereignty (e.g., 1 Enoch 60:7–9; 4 Ezra 6:49–52; 2 Baruch 29:4).
Ugaritic texts cite Baal’s foes (e.g., the seven-headed serpent), and some see a bovine chaos-figure (El’s calf Atik/Arshu) as a possible background analogy.
Verdict: On literary and theological grounds within Job, Behemoth functions best as a mythic-scale creature—a singular, supernatural “beast” that only the Maker can bridle.
4) Ancient Parallels: Why They Help (and Don’t Decide)
Comparative texts don’t “prove” Behemoth’s identity, but they clarify expectations:
Near Eastern chaos motifs: Super-creatures embodying untamed forces (sea/earth) are common.
Ugaritic pairings: Sea-dragon plus a bovine adversary appear in mythic combat lists—useful parallels for paired monsters.
Egyptian imagery: Hippopotamus imagery can symbolize cosmic threat—which overlaps descriptively with Behemoth’s amphibious profile.
Even so, Job 40 is Israel’s Scripture—not a cut-and-paste of myth. The poet retools shared imagery to announce Yahweh’s unrivaled rule: these monsters are not rival gods; they are creatures.
5) Why Behemoth Matters for Wisdom Theology
Wisdom literature presses us to live rightly under God’s governance, not to run it. Behemoth’s cameo secures three claims:
Creation’s moral scale exceeds us
Job’s demand for an immediate, transparent calculus of suffering meets a world that is vaster and more intricate than he knows (Job 38:2). Behemoth personifies realities beyond human leverage.God’s sovereignty includes the untamable
“Only his Maker can approach him” (Job 40:19). The most intimidating elements of reality are not autonomous. God sets the bounds.Human humility is wisdom’s beginning
Job’s final posture—hand over mouth (Job 40:4), repentance in dust and ashes (Job 42:6)—is not resignation but reoriented trust. Behemoth helped him get there.
6) A Measured Redemptive Glimpse (Without Forcing It)
Job never mentions Messiah, yet the arc from Behemoth/Leviathan to the Gospels is intuitive: the One who still(s) the sea (Mark 4:39), binds the strong man (Matt 12:29), and disarms rulers and authorities (Col 2:15) is the same Creator to whom Behemoth bows. Wisdom’s end is trust, and in Scripture that trust is ultimately centered on the Lord who rules monsters and men alike with unassailable goodness.
7) How to Read Job 40 Devotionally (Quick Guide)
Read slowly: Notice how often God emphasizes what humans cannot do (Job 40–41).
Hold the pair: Behemoth (land/river) + Leviathan (sea) = comprehensive “untamable creation” under God.
Ask the point: Not “What animal is it?” but “What does this reveal of God—and require of me?”
Apply with humility: When we face unmanageable realities, Job 40 calls us to yield control and rest in the Maker’s wisdom.
Bible Verses on Behemoth, Leviathan, and the God Who Rules What We Can’t
Job 40:15 — “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.”
Job 40:17 — “He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.”
Job 40:18 — “His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron.”
Job 40:19 — “He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!”
Job 40:21–22 — “Under the lotus plants he lies… the willows of the brook surround him.”
Job 40:23 — “Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though the Jordan rushes.”
Job 41:1–2 — “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook…? Can you put a rope in his nose?”
Psalm 73:22 — “I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.”
Isaiah 30:6 — “An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb…”
Job 42:2 — “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
