Behemoth
For other uses of the term, see- Behemoth (band) for the death metal group
- Behemoth (bicycle) a computerized bicycle
Behemoth (Hebrew בהמות Behemot or BəhēmÃÂôth, literally "beasts" or "animals"; Arabic Bahamūt) is the untranslated name of an 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, behemoth is plural for behama, meaning an animal in Hebrew, suggesting that the creature is as big as several animals. 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." (Job xl:19)
Some readers see a hippopotamus also in Isaiah xxx:6 (bahamot negeb "beasts of the south").
According to midrash, recording traditions, it is impossible for anyone to kill a behemoth except for the person who created it, in this case Jehovah. A later Jewish haggadic tradition furthermore holds that at the banquet at the end of the world, the behemoth will be served up along with the leviathan and ziz. The Hebrew behemoth is equated with the Persian Hadhayosh, as the leviathan is with the Kar and the ziz with the Simurgh.
Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful creature.