Some visitors to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science—especially those with guides provided by Biblically Correct Tours—learn about “behemoth” and “leviathan,” two great beasts so memorably portrayed in Job 40–41. They are told that “either or both creatures were probably dinosaurs” (specifically, according to another news report, a brontosaurus and a plesiosaur). Apparently, these dinosaurs were created on the Sixth Day, along with all the other land creatures, only to suffer extinction during the Flood (too large for the ark?). And all of this took place thousands (not billions) of years ago—as reported in the Denver Post, among other newspapers.
Clearly the popular media are not the best (re)source for a judicious explication of Biblical criticism. They do excel, however, in applying such Biblical terms to a seemingly endless array of contexts.
In the world of fine dining, we find both leviathan—as in “Bubba the Leviathan Lobster to Live on” in the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium—and behemoth—as in “Behemoth hamburger [weighing in at 1 pound] puts up a fight” at California’s Hazel Restaurant.
Any large company, especially one that is perceived as somehow threatening, can qualify for this epithet: “US coffee behemoth Starbucks,” “Bordering on a Behemoth” (which bookstore chain could that be?) and, the behemoth-est of them all, “Behemoth Wal-Mart Steamroller.”That brings us to large vehicles—be they “belching behemoth earth-moving equipment” or “behemoth tractor-trailer” units—which are also natural choices. Nor should we overlook (since the popular press does not) the world of television with “American Idol,” styled “Fox’s Behemoth,” or the “ringful of infamous behemoths” who populate “Showdown: Legends of Wrestling.”
Surprisingly, or not, almost all of the above uses are in keeping with the Biblical imagery surrounding these beasts, be they dinosaurs or not. But the most endearing reference comes from a review of a book titled Clara’s Grand Tour: Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe. Clara, it turns out, was “the 18th-century equivalent of a little green man from Mars. Many believed this fabulous beast [who was 12 feet from nose to tail and more than 5000 pounds in weight] was the Behemoth of the Bible.” Okay, I’m willing to believe pretty much anything, but I have to express serious doubt that the creature Job described was ever named Clara!
Some visitors to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science—especially those with guides provided by Biblically Correct Tours—learn about “behemoth” and “leviathan,” two great beasts so memorably portrayed in Job 40–41. They are told that “either or both creatures were probably dinosaurs” (specifically, according to another news report, a brontosaurus and a plesiosaur). Apparently, these dinosaurs were created on the Sixth Day, along with all the other land creatures, only to suffer extinction during the Flood (too large for the ark?). And all of this took place thousands (not billions) of years ago—as reported in the Denver Post, among […]
You have already read your free article for this month. Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.
