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Summary
- The Bible never names the hippopotamus in Hebrew; the nearest it comes is Behemoth in Job 40:15–24, which eats grass, lies among reeds and lotus plants, and is unafraid of a raging river.
- Many modern translations identify Behemoth with the hippopotamus in their notes, and the Contemporary English Version and The Living Bible print “hippopotamus” in the text.
- Hippopotamus bones from Israel’s coastal plain show the animal lived there until the Iron Age (about 1200–586 BC).
- Thomas Aquinas read Behemoth as the elephant, and Gregory the Great and Aquinas both took it as a figure of the devil.
- Other scholars see a mythical chaos monster, and Jewish writings such as 2 Esdras 6:49–52 pair Behemoth with Leviathan.
- Some young-earth creationists argue that Behemoth was a sauropod dinosaur, pointing to its tail “like a cedar” in Job 40:17.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Job 40:6, 15–24), with the King James Version and New International Version for Job 40:17. Translation notes at Job 40:15 from the Revised Standard Version, Amplified Bible, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New American Bible Revised Edition and NET Bible; text of the Contemporary English Version and The Living Bible. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+40%3A15-24
- 2 Esdras 6:49–52, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Esdras+6%3A49-52&version=NRSVUE
- 1 Enoch 60:7–8 and 2 Baruch 29:4, trans. R. H. Charles. http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/enoch.htm and http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/2Baruch.html
- Alfred Ely Day, “Behemoth,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915). https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/B/behemoth.html
- “Behemoth,” Wikipedia, on the proposed Egyptian etymology and the Russian word begemot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behemoth
- Thomas Aquinas, Literal Exposition on Job, chapter 40, lecture 2, trans. Brian Mulladay. https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/SSJob.htm
- Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, book 32, section 16, Library of the Fathers translation. https://www.lectionarycentral.com/GregoryMoralia/Book32.html
- Allan Steel, “Could Behemoth Have Been a Dinosaur?” Journal of Creation 15, no. 2 (2001): 42–45, republished by Answers in Genesis. https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/could-behemoth-have-been-a-dinosaur/
- Eli Tsahar, Ido Izhaki, Simcha Lev-Yadun and Guy Bar-Oz, “Distribution and Extinction of Ungulates during the Holocene of the Southern Levant,” PLOS ONE 4, no. 4 (2009): e5316. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005316
- “Hippopotamus,” Wikipedia, on diet, tail length, range in Egypt and Egyptian mythology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus
- “Taweret,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taweret
- “Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_extinction_event
