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Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places |
Behemoth
From a painting by William Blake
(Behemoth on top, Leviathan on bottom)
| Description | Large
animal, like a hippopotamus. Can drink a whole river in one
gulp. At the End of Days, Leviathan and Behemoth will battle,
destroying each other. The body of the Behemoth will be fed to the
righteous.
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| Features | Behemoth
is based on the Hebrew for "beast." Also called "Enoch,"
it is the land counterpart to the Leviathan,
which resides in the water. It requires the produce of a
thousand mountains a day for food.
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| Might be | May be based
originally on exaggerations of hippopotamus or elephants. Other
theories suggest that Behemoth and Leviathan refer to dinosaurs.
Here is a picture of a hippopotamus from the late 1600's, showing an
exaggerated ferocity.
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| Described By: |
King James Bible, Job 40:15-24 - "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares."
Apocrypha 2 Esdr 6:49-52 - "Then
didst thou ordain two living creatures, the one thou calledst
Enoch, and the other Leviathan; And didst separate the one from the other:
for the seventh part, namely, where the water was gathered together, might
not hold them both. Unto Enoch thou gavest one part,
which was dried up the third day, that he should
dwell in the same part, wherein are a thousand hills: But
unto Leviathan thou gavest the seventh part, namely, the moist;
and hast kept him to be devoured of whom thou wilt, and when." |
