the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Job 40:15
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"Take a look at Behemoth, which I made, just as I made you. It eats grass like an ox.
Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as all ox.
Now look at behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass as an ox.
"Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you. It eats grass like an ox.
"Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you; it eats grass like the ox.
Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
"See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox.
"Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.
Lo! behemot, whom Y made with thee, schal as an oxe ete hey.
Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He feeds on grass like an ox.
I created both you and the hippopotamus. It eats only grass like an ox,
Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as thee; He eateth grass as an ox.
See now the Great Beast, whom I made, even as I made you; he takes grass for food, like the ox.
"Now consider Behemot, whom I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox.
See now the behemoth, which I made with thee: he eateth grass as an ox.
"Look at the behemoth. I made the behemoth, and I made you. He eats grass like a cow.
Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
Beholde now Behemoth which I made with thee, hee eateth grasse as an oxe.
"See now the hippopotamus, which I made as well as you. He eats grass like an ox.
"Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you; it eats grass like an ox.
Behold now Behemoth (whom I made with thee) which eateth grasse as an oxe.
Behold now the hippopotamus which I made for you; he eats grass like an ox.
Look at the monster Behemoth; I created him and I created you. He eats grass like a cow,
Behold, I pray thee, the Hippopotamus, which I made with thee, Grass - like the ox, he eateth;
(40-10) Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass like an ox.
"Behold, Be'hemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.
Beholde the beaste Behemoth, who I made with thee, which eateth haye as an oxe:
And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy to the quadrupeds in the deep.
Look at Behemoth,which I made along with you.He eats grass like cattle.
"See now, behemot, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox.
Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
"Look, Behemoth, which I have made just as I made you; it eats grass like the ox.
Now behold Behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox;
Lo, I pray thee, Behemoth, that I made with thee: Grass as an ox he eateth.
Beholde, the cruell beaste (whom I made wt the) which eateth haye as an oxe:
"Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you. Grazing on grass, docile as a cow— Just look at the strength of his back, the powerful muscles of his belly. His tail sways like a cedar in the wind; his huge legs are like beech trees. His skeleton is made of steel, every bone in his body hard as steel. Most magnificent of all my creatures, but I still lead him around like a lamb! The grass-covered hills serve him meals, while field mice frolic in his shadow. He takes afternoon naps under shade trees, cools himself in the reedy swamps, Lazily cool in the leafy shadows as the breeze moves through the willows. And when the river rages he doesn't budge, stolid and unperturbed even when the Jordan goes wild. But you'd never want him for a pet— you'd never be able to housebreak him!"
"Behold, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.
"Look now at the behemoth, [fn] which I made along with you;He eats grass like an ox.
"Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.
"Behold now, Behemoth, which I made along with you;It eats grass like an ox.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
behemoth: ××××ת [Strong's H930], Perhaps an extinct dinosaur, maybe a Diplodocus or Brachiosaurus, the exact meaning is unknown. Some translate as elephant or hippopotamus but from the description in Job 40:15-24, this is patently absurd.
which: Genesis 1:24-26
he: Job 40:20, Job 39:8, Psalms 104:14
Reciprocal: Genesis 1:22 - General Genesis 1:30 - General Psalms 8:8 - The fowl Psalms 50:10 - every
Cross-References
Then a survivor who had escaped [from the invading forces on the other side of the Jordan] came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the terebinths (oaks) of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner—they were allies of Abram.
So Joseph's master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison.
He put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.
The captain of the guard put Joseph in charge of them, and he served them; and they continued to be in custody for some time.
And they said to him, "We have [each] dreamed [distinct] dreams and there is no one to interpret them." So Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell me [your dreams]."
and on the vine were three branches. Then as soon as it budded, its blossoms burst open, and its clusters produced ripe grapes [in rapid succession].
"Now Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup; then I placed the cup into Pharaoh's hand."
Then Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches represent three days;
and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds [of prey] were eating [these foods] out of the basket on my head."
Joseph answered, "This is the interpretation of it: the three baskets represent three days;
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Behold, now behemoth,.... The word is plural, and signifies beasts, and may be used to denote the chiefest and largest of beasts, and therefore is commonly understood of the elephant; and certain it is that a single beast is described in the following account, and so the word is rendered, Psalms 73:22; The word is here rendered by the Septuagint θηÏια, "beasts"; which is the word used by the Greeks c for elephants as "belluae", a word of the same signification, is by the Latins d: and so the Sabines called an elephant "barrus", and the Indians "barro" e, ×ער, a "beast"; and it may be observed, that ivory is called "shenhabbim", 1 Kings 10:22; that is, "shenhabehim", "behem" or "behemoth" f, the tooth of the beast: and it may be also observed, that Seneca g says, that the Nile produces beasts like the sea; meaning particularly the crocodile and hippopotamus. Bochart dissents from the commonly received opinion of the elephant being meant; and thinks the "hippopotamus", or river horse, is intended so called from its having a head like a horse; and is said to have a mane, and to neigh like one, and to bear some resemblance to it in its snout, eyes, ears, and back h. And the reasons that celebrated author has given for this his opinion have prevailed on many learned men to follow him; and there are some things in the description of behemoth, as will be observed, which seem better to agree with the river horse than with the elephant. It is an amphibious creature, and sometimes lives upon the land, and sometimes in the water; and by various i writers is often called a beast and four footed one:
which I made with thee; or as well as thee; it being equally the work of my hands, a creature as thou art: or made on the continent, as than art, so Aben Ezra; and made on the same day man was made; which those observe, who understand it of the elephant; or, which cometh nearest to thee, the elephant being, as Pliny k says, the nearest to man in sense; and no beast more prudent, as Cicero l affirms. But the above learned writer, who interprets it of the river horse, takes the meaning of this phrase to be; that it was a creature in Job's neighbourhood, an inhabitant of the river Nile in Egypt, to which Arabia joined, where Job lived; which is testified by many writers m: and therefore it is thought more probable that a creature near at hand, and known should be instanced in, and not one that it may be was never seen nor known by Job. But both Diodorus Siculus n and Strabo o speak of herds of elephants in Arabia, and of that as abounding: with them; and of various places called from them, and the hunting of them, and even of men from eating them;
he eateth grass as an one; which is true both of the elephant and of the river horse: that a land animal should eat grass is not so wonderful; but that a creature who lives in the water should come out of it and eat grass is very strange and worthy of admiration, it is observed: and that the river horse feeds in corn fields and on grass many writers p assure us; yea, in the river it feeds not on fishes, but on the roots of the water lily, which fishermen therefore use to bait their hooks with to take it. Nor is it unlike an ox in its shape, and in some parts of its body: hence the Italians call it "bomaris", the "sea ox"; but it is double the size of an ox q. Olaus Magnus r speaks of a sea horse, found between Britain and Norway; which has the head of a horse, and neighs like one; has cloven feet with hoofs like a cow; and seeks its food both in the sea and on the land, and grows to the bigness of an ox, and has a forked tail like a fish.
(See Definition for 0930. Editor)
c Suidas in voce θηÏια. Plutarch in Eumenc. d Terent. Eunuch. Act. 3. Sc. 1. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 3. e Isidor. Origin. l. 12, c. 2. Vid. Horat. Epod. 12. v. 1. f Hiller. Oaomastic, Sacr. p. 434. g Nat. Quaest. l. 4. c. 2. h Vid. lsidor. Origin. l. 12. c. 6. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 25. Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 7. i Herodot. Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 71. Plin. ib. Ammian, Marcellin. l. 22. Leo African. Descript. African, l. 9. p. 758. k Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 1. l De Natur. Deor. l. 1. m Solin. Polyhist. c. 45. Aelian. de Animal. l. 5. c. 53. Philo de Praemiis, p. 924. Plin. Afric. ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 1.) n Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 136. & l. 3. p. 173, 174, 175. o Geograph. l. 16. p. 531, 533. p Diodor. Sic. l. 1. p. 31. Aelian. Plin. Solin. Ammian. ut supra. q Ludolf. Ethiop. Hist. l. 1. c. 11. r De Ritu Septent. Gent. l. 21. c. 26.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Behold now behemoth - Margin, âor, the elephant, as some think.â In the close of the argument, God appeals to two animals as among the chief of his works, and as illustrating more than any others his power and majesty - the behemoth and the leviathan. A great variety of opinions has been entertained in regard to the animal referred to here, though the âmainâ inquiry has related to the question whether the âelephantâ or the âhippopotamusâ is denoted. Since the time of Bochart, who has gone into an extended examination of the subject (âHieroz.â P. ii. L. ii. c. xv.), the common opinion has been that the latter is here referred to. As a âspecimenâ of the method of interpreting the Bible which has prevailed, and as a proof of the slow progress which has been made toward settling the meaning of a difficult passage, we may refer to some of the opinions which have been entertained in regard to this animal. They are chiefly taken from the collection of opinions made by Schultens, in loc. Among them are the following:
(1) That wild animals in general are denoted. This appears to have been the opinion of the translators of the Septuagint.
(2) Some of the rabbis supposed that a huge monster was referred to, that ate every day âthe grass of a thousand mountains.â
(3) It has been held by some that the wild bull was referred to. This was the opinion particularly of Sanctius.
(4) The common opinion, until the time of Bochart, has been that the elephant was meant. See the particular authors who have held this opinion enumerated in Schultens.
(5) Bochart maintained, and since his time the opinion has been generally acquiesced in, that the âriverhorseâ of the Nile, or the hippopotamus, was referred to. This opinion he has defended at length in the âHieroz.â P. ii. L. v. c. xv.
(6) Others have held that some âhieroglyphic monsterâ was referred to, or that the whole description was an emblematic representation, though without any living original. Among those who have held this sentiment, some have supposed that it is designed to be emblematic of the old Serpent; others, of the corrupt and fallen nature of man; others, that the proud, the cruel, and the bloody are denoted; most of the âfathersâ supposed that the devil was here emblematically represented by the behemoth and the leviathan; and one writer has maintained that Christ was referred to!
To these opinions may be added the supposition of Dr. Good, that the behemoth here described is at present a genus altogether extinct, like the mammoth, and other animals that have been discovered in fossil remains. This opinion is also entertained by the author of the article on âMazology,â in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, chiefly for the reason that the description of the âtailâ of the behemoth Job 40:17 does not well accord with the hippopotamus. There must be admitted to be some plausibility in this conjecture of Dr. Good, though perhaps I shall be able to show that there is no necessity for resorting to this supposition. The word âbehemothâ (××××ת beheÌmoÌth), used here in the plural number, occurs often in the singular number, to denote a dumb beast, usually applied to the larger kind of quadrupeds. It occurs very often in the Scriptures, and is usually translated âbeast,â or collectively âcattle.â
It usually denotes land animals, in opposition to birds or reptiles. See the Lexicons, and Taylorâs âHebrew Concordance.â It is rendered by Dr. Nordheimer (Heb. Con.) in this place, âhippopotamus.â The plural form is often used (compare Deuteronomy 32:24; Job 12:7; Jeremiah 12:4; Habakkuk 2:17; Psalms 50:10), but in no other instance is it employed as a proper name. Gesenius supposes that under the form of the word used here, there lies concealed some Egyptian name for the hippopotamus, âso modified as to put on the appearance of a Semitic word. Thus, the Ethiopian âpehemoutâ denotes âwater-ox,â by which epithet (âbomarinoâ) the Italians also designate the hippopotamus.â The translations do not afford much aid in determining the meaning of the word. The Septuagint renders it, θηÏιÌα theÌria, âwild beasts;â Jerome retains the word, âBehemoth;â the Chaldee, ××¢×ר××, âbeast;â the Syriac retains the Hebrew word; Coverdale renders it, âcruelbeast;â Prof. Lee, âthe beasts;â Umbreit, âNilpferd,â âNile-horse;â and Noyes, âriver-horse.â The only method of ascertaining, therefore, what animal is here intended, is to compare carefully the characteristics here referred to with the animals now known, and to find in what one these characteristics exist. We may here safely âpresumeâ on the entire accuracy of the description, since we have found the previous descriptions of animals to accord entirely with the habits of those existing at the present day. The illustration drawn from the passage before us, in regard to the nature of the animal, consists of two parts:
(1) The âplaceâ which the description occupies in the argument. That it is an âaquaticâ animal, seems to follow from the plan and structure of the argument. In the two discourses of yahweh Job 38â41, the appeal is made, first, to the phenomena of nature Job 38:0; then to the beasts of the earth, among whom the âostrichâ is reckoned Job 39:1-25; then to the fowls of the air Job 39:26-30; and then follows the description of the behemoth and the leviathan. It would seem that an argument of this kind would not be constructed without some allusion to the principal wonders of the deep; and the fair presumption, therefore, is, that the reference here is to the principal animals of the aquatic race. The argument in regard to the nature of the animal from the âplaceâ which the description occupies, seems to be confirmed by the fact that the account of the behemoth is immediately followed by that of the leviathan - beyond all question an aquatic monster. As they are here grouped together in the argument, it is probable that they belong to the same class; and if by the leviathan is meant the âcrocodile,â then the presumption is that the river-horse, or the hippopotamus, is here intended. These two animals, as being Egyptian wonders, are everywhere mentioned together by ancient writers; see Herodotus, ii. 69-71; Diod. Sic. i. 35; and Pliny, âHist. Nat.â xxviii. 8.
(2) The character of the animal may be determined from the âparticular thingsâ specified. Those are the following:
(a) It is an amphibious animal, or an animal whose usual resort is the river, though he is occasionally on land. This is evident, because he is mentioned as lying under the covert of the reed and the fens; as abiding in marshy places, or among the willows of the brook, Job 40:21-22, while at other times he is on the mountains, or among other animals, and feeds on grass like the ox, Job 40:15, Job 40:20. This account would not agree well with the elephant, whose residence is not among marshes and fens, but on solid ground.
(b) He is not a carnivorous animal. This is apparent, for it is expressly mentioned that he feeds on grass, and no allusion is made to his at any time eating flesh, Job 40:15, Job 40:20. This part of the description would agree with the elephant as well as with the hippopotamus.
(c) His strength is in his loins, and in the navel of his belly, Job 40:16. This would agree with the hippopotamus, whose belly is equally guarded by his thick skin with the rest of his body, but is not true of the elephant. The strength of the elephant is in his head and neck, and his weakest part, the part where he can be most successfully attacked, is his belly. There the skin is thin and tender, and it is there that the rhinoceros attacks him, and that he is even annoyed by insects. Pliny, Lib. viii. c. 20; Aelian, Lib. xvii. c. 44; compare the notes at Job 40:16.
(d) He is distinguished for some unique movement of his tail - some slow and stately motion, or a certain âinflexibilityâ of the tail, like a cedar. This will agree with the account of the hippopotamus; see the notes at Job 40:17.
(e) He is remarkable for the strength of his bones, Job 40:18,
(f) He is remarkable for the quantity of water which he drinks at a time, Job 40:23; and
(g) he has the power of forcing his way, chiefly by the strength of his nose, through snares by which it is attempted to take him, Job 40:24.
These characteristics agree better with the hippopotamus than with any other known animal; and at present critics, with few exceptions, agree in the opinion that this is the animal which is referred to. As additional reasons for supposing that the âelephantâ is not referred to, we may add:
(1) that there is no allusion to the proboscis of the elephant, a part of the animal that could not have failed to be alluded to if the description had pertained to him; and
(2) that the elephant was wholly unknown in Arabia and Egypt.
The hippopotamus ÎÌÏÏοÏοÌÏÎ±Î¼Î¿Ï hippopotamos or âriver horseâ belongs to the mammalia, and is of the order of the âpachydermata,â or thick-skinned animals To this order belong also the elephant, the tapirus, the rhinoceros, and the swine. âEdin. Ency.,â art. âMazology.â The hippopotamus is found principally on the banks of the Nile, though it is found also in the other large rivers of Africa, as the Niger, and the rivers which lie between that and the Cape of Good Hope. It is not found in any of the rivers which run north into the Mediterranean except the Nile, and there only at present in that portion which traverses Upper Egypt; and it is found also in the lakes and fens of Ethiopia. It is distinguished by a broad head; its lips are very thick, and the muzzle much inflated; it has four very large projecting curved teeth in the under jaw, and four also in the upper; the skin is very thick, the legs short, four toes on each foot inverted with small hoofs, and the tail is very short.
The appearance of the animal, when on land, is represented as very uncouth, the body being very large, flat, and round, the head enormously large in proportion, the feet as disproportionably short, and the armament of teeth in its mouth truly formidable. The length of a male has been known to be seventeen feet, the height seven, and the circumference fifteen; the head three feet and a half, and the mouth about two feet in width. Mr. Bruce mentions some in the lake Tzana that were twenty feet in length. The whole animal is covered with short hair, which is more thickly set on the under than the upper parts. The general color of the animal is brownish. The skin is exceedingly tough and strong, and was used by the ancient Egyptians for the manufacture of shields. They are timid and sluggish on land, and when pursued they betake themselves to the water, plunge in, and walk on the bottom, though often compelled to rise to the surface to take in fresh air.
In the day-time they are so much afraid of being discovered, that when they rise for the purpose of breathing, they only put their noses out of the water; but in rivers that are unfrequented, by mankind they put out the whole head. In shallow rivers they make deep holes in the bottom to conceal their bulk. They are eaten with avidity by the inhabitants of Africa. The following account of the capture of a hippopotamus serves greatly to elucidate the description in the book of Job, and to show its correctness, even in those points which have formerly been regarded as poetical exaggerations. It is translated from the travels of M. Kuppell, the German naturalist, who visited Upper Egypt, and the countries still further up the Nile, and is the latest traveler in those regions (âReisen in Nubia, Kordofan, etc.,â Frankf. 1829, pp. 52ff). âIn the province of Dongola, the fishermen and hippopotamus hunters form a distinct class or caste; and are called in the Berber language Hauauit (pronounced âHowowit.â) They make use of a small canoe, formed from a single tree, about ten feet long, and capable of carrying two, and at most three men.
The harpoon which they use in hunting the hippopotamus has a strong barb just back of the blade or sharp edge; above this a long and strong cord is fastened to the iron, and to the other end of this cord a block of light wood, to serve as a buoy, and aid in tracing out and following the animal when struck. The iron is then slightly fastened upon a wooden handle, or lance, about eight feet long. The hunters of the hippopotamus harpoon their prey either by day or by night; but they prefer the former, because they can then better parry the ferocious assaults of the enraged animal. The hunter takes in his right hand the handle of the harpoon, with a part of the cord; in his left the remainder of the cord, with the buoy. In this manner he cautiously approaches the creature as it sleeps by day upon a small island, or he watches at night for those parts of the shore where he hopes the animal will come up out of the water, in order to feed in the fields of grain.
When he has gained the desired distance (about seven paces), he throws the lance with his full strength; and the harpoon, in order to hold, must penetrate the thick hide and into the flesh. The wounded beast conmmonly makes for the water, and plunges beneath it in order to conceal himself; the handle of the harpoon falls off, but the buoy swims, and indicates the direction which the animal takes. The harpooning of the hippopotamus is attended with great danger, when the hunter is perceived by the animal before he has thrown the harpoon. In such cases the beast sometimes rushes, enraged, upon his assailant, and crushes him at once between his wide and formidable jaws - an occurrence that once took place during our residence near Shendi. Sometimes the most harmless objects excite the rage of this animal; thus; in the region of Amera, a hippopotamus once craunched in the same way, several cattle that were fastened to a water-wheel.
So soon as the animal has been successfully struck, the hunters hasten in their canoe cautiously to approach the buoy, to which they fasten a long rope; with the other end of this they proceed to a largo boat or bark, on board of which are their companions. The rope is now drawn in; the pain thus occasioned by the barb of the harpoon excites the rage of the animal, and he no sooner perceives the bark, than he rushes upon it; seizes it, if possible, with his teeth; and sometimes succeeds in shattering it, or oversetting it. The hunters, in the meantime, are not idle; they fasten five or six other harpoons in his flesh, and exert all their strength, by means of the cords of these, to keep him close alongside of the bark, in order thus to diminish, in some measure, the effects of his violence. They endeavor, with a long sharp iron, to divide the âligamentum lugi,â or to beat in the skull - the usual modes in which the natives kill this animal.
Since the carcass of a fullgrown hippopotamus is too large to be drawn out of the water without quite a number of men, they commonly cut up the animal, when killed, in the water, and draw the pieces ashore. In the whole Turkish province of Dongola, there are only one or two hippopotami killed annually. In the years 1821-23, inclusive, there were nine killed, four of which were killed by us. The flesh of the young animal is very good eating; when full grown, they are usually very fat, and their carcass is commonly estimated as equal to four or five oxen. The hide is used only for making whips, which are excellent; and one hide furnishes from three hundred and fifty to five hundred of them. The teeth are not used. One of the hippopotami which we killed was a very old male, and seemed to have reached his utmost growth. He measured, from the snout to the end of the tail, about fifteen feet, and his tusks, from the root to the point, along the external curve, twenty-eight inches.
In order to kill him, we had a battle with him of four hours long, and that too in the night. Indeed, he came very near destroying our large bark, and with it, perhaps, all our lives. The moment he saw the hunters in the small canoe, as they were about to fasten the long rope to the buoy, in order to draw him in, he threw himself with one rush upon it, dragged it with him under water, and shattered it to pieces. The two hunters escaped the extreme danger with great difficulty. Out of twenty-five musketballs which were fired into the monsterâs head, at the distance of five feet, only one penetrated the hide and the bones near the nose; so that every time he breathed he snorted streams of blood upon the bark. All the other balls remained sticking in the thickness of his hide. We had at last to employ a small cannon, the use of which at so short a distance had not before entered our minds; but it was only after five of its balls, fired at the distance of a few feet, had mangled, most shockingly, the head and body of the monster, that he gave up the ghost.
The darkness of the night augmented the horrors and dangers of the contest. This gigantic hippopotamus dragged our large bark at will in every direction of the stream; and it was in a fortunate moment for us that he yielded, just as he had drawn the bark among a labyrinth of rocks, which might have been so much the more dangerous, because, from the great confusion on board, no one had observed them. Hippopotami of the size of the one above described cannot be killed by the natives, for want of a cannon. These animals are a real plague to the land, in consequence of their voraciousness. The inhabitants have no permanent means of keeping them away from their fields and plantations; all that they do is to make a noise during the night with a drum, and to keep up fires in different places. In some parts the hippopotami are so bold that they will yield up their pastures, or places of feeding, only when a large number of persons come rushing upon them with sticks and loud cries.â
The method of taking the hippopotamus by the Egyptians was the following: âIt was entangled by a running noose, at the extremity of a long line wound upon a reel, at the same time that it was struck by the spear of the chasseur. This weapon consisted of a broad, flat blade, furnished with a deep tooth or barb at the side, having a strong rope of considerable length attached to its upper end, and running over the notched summit of a wooden shaft, which was inserted into the head or blade, like a common javelin. It was thrown in the same manner, but on striking, the shaft fell and the iron head alone remained in the body of the animal, which, on receiving the wound, plunged into deep water, the rope having been immediately let out. When fatigued by exertion, the hippopotamus was dragged to the boat, from which it again plunged, and the same was repeated until it became perfectly exhausted: frequently receiving additional wounds, and being entangled by other nooses, which the attendants held in readiness, as it was brought within their reach.â Wilkinsonâs âManners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,â vol. iii. pp. 70, 71.
Which I made with thee - That is, either âI have made him as well as you, have formed him to be a fellow-creature with thee,â or, âI have made him near thee â - to wit, in Egypt. The latter Bochart supposes to be the true interpretation, though the former is the more natural. According to that, the meaning is, that God was the Creator of both; and he calls on Job to contemplate the power and greatness of a fellow-creature, though a brute, as illustrating his own power and majesty. The annexed engraving - the figures drawn from the living animal - shows the general appearance of the massive and unwieldy hippopotamus. The huge head of the animal, from the prominency of its eyes, the great breadth of its muzzle, and the singular way in which the jaw is placed in the head, is almost grotesque in its ugliness. When it opens its jaws its enormously large mouth and tongue, pinkish and fleshy, and armed with tusks of most formidable character, is particularly striking. In the engraving hippopotami are represented as on a river bank asleep, and in the water, only the upper part of the head appearing above the surface, and an old animal is conveying her young one on her back down the stream.
He eateth grass as an ox - This is mentioned as a remarkable property of this animal. The âreasonsâ why it was regarded as so remarkable may have been:
(1) that it might have been supposed that an animal so huge and fierce, and armed with such a set of teeth, would be carnivorous, like the lion or the tiger; and
(2) it was remarkable that an animal that commonly lived in the water should be graminivorous, as if it were wholly a land animal.
The common food of the hippopotamus is âfish.â In the water they pursue their prey with great swiftness and perseverance. They swim with much force, and are capable of remaining at the bottom of a river for thirty or forty minutes. On some occasions three or four of them are seen at the bottom of a river, near some cataract, forming a kind of line, and seizing upon such fish as are forced down by the violence of the stream. âGoldsmith.â But it often happens that this kind of food is not found in suffient abundance, and the animal is then forced on land, where it commits great depredations among plantations of sugar cane and grain. The fact here adverted to, that the food of the hippopotamus is grass or herbs, is also mentioned by Diodorus - ÎαÏανεÌμεÏαι ÏοÌν Ïε ÏιÍÏον και ÏοÌν ÏοÏÏον Katanemetai ton te siton kai ton chorton. The same thing is mentioned also by Sparrmann, âTravels through South Africa,â p. 563, German Translation.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 40:15. Behold now behemoth — The word ××××ת behemoth is the plural of ×××× behemah, which signifies cattle in general, or graminivorous animals, as distinguished from ×××ª× chayetho, all wild or carnivorous animals. See Genesis 1:24. The former seems to mean kine, horses, asses, sheep, c., and all employed in domestic or agricultural matters the latter, all wild and savage beasts, such as lions, bears, tigers, c.: but the words are not always taken in these senses.
In this place it has been supposed to mean some animal of the beeve kind. The Vulgate retains the Hebrew name so do the Syriac and Arabic. The Chaldee is indefinite, translating creature or animal. And the Septuagint is not more explicit, translating by θηÏια, beasts or wild beasts; and old Coverdale, the cruell beaste, perhaps as near to the truth as any of them. From the name, therefore, or the understanding had of it by the ancient versions, we can derive no assistance relative to the individuality of the animal in question; and can only hope to find what it is by the characteristics it bears in the description here given of it.
These, having been carefully considered and deeply investigated both by critics and naturalists, have led to the conclusion that either the elephant, or the hippopotamus or river-horse, is the animal in question; and on comparing the characteristics between these two, the balance is considerably in favour of the hippopotamus. But even here there are still some difficulties, as there are some parts of the description which do not well suit even the hippopotamus; and therefore I have my doubts whether either of the animals above is that in question, or whether any animal now in existence be that described by the Almighty.
Mr. Good supposes, and I am of the same opinion, that the animal here described is now extinct. The skeletons of three lost genera have actually been found out: these have been termed palaeotherium, anoplotherium, and mastodon or mammoth. From an actual examination of a part of the skeleton of what is termed the mammoth, I have described it in my note, Genesis 1:24.
As I do not believe that either the elephant or the river-horse is intended here, I shall not take up the reader's time with any detailed description. The elephant is well known; and, though not an inhabitant of these countries, has been so often imported in a tame state, and so frequently occurs in exhibitions of wild beasts, that multitudes, even of the common people, have seen this tremendous, docile, and sagacious animal. Of the hippopotamus or river-horse, little is generally known but by description, as the habits of this animal will not permit him to be tamed. His amphibious nature prevents his becoming a constant resident on dry land.
The hippopotamus inhabits the rivers of Africa and the lakes of Ethiopia: feeds generally by night; wanders only a few miles from water; feeds on vegetables and roots of trees, but never on fish; lays waste whole plantations of the sugar-cane, rice, and other grain. When irritated or wounded, it will attack boats and men with much fury. It moves slowly and heavily: swims dexterously; walks deliberately and leisurely over head into the water; and pursues his way, even on all fours, on the bottom; but cannot remain long under the water without rising to take in air. It sleeps in reedy places; has a tremendous voice, between the lowing of an ox and the roaring of the elephant. Its head is large; its mouth, very wide; its skin, thick and almost devoid of hair; and its tail, naked and about a foot long. It is nearly as large as the elephant, and some have been found seventeen feet long. Mr. Good observes: "Both the elephant and hippopotamus are naturally quiet animals; and never interfere with the grazing of others of different kinds unless they be irritated. The behemoth, on the contrary, is represented as a quadruped of a ferocious nature, and formed for tyranny, if not rapacity; equally lord of the floods and of the mountains; rushing with rapidity of foot, instead of slowness or stateliness; and possessing a rigid and enormous tail, like a cedar tree, instead of a short naked tail of about a foot long, as the hippopotamus; or a weak, slender, hog-shaped tail, as the elephant."
The mammoth, for size, will answer the description in this place, especially Job 40:19: He is the chief of the ways of God. That to which the part of a skeleton belonged which I examined, must have been, by computation, not less than twenty-five feet high, and sixty feet in length! The bones of one toe I measured, and found them three feet in length! One of the very smallest grinders of an animal of this extinct species, full of processes on the surface more than an inch in depth, which shows that the animal had lived on flesh, I have just now weighed, and found it, in its very dry state, four pounds eight ounces, avoirdupois: the same grinder of an elephant I have weighed also, and found it just two pounds. The mammoth, therefore, from this proportion, must have been as large as two elephants and a quarter. We may judge by this of its size: elephants are frequently ten and eleven feet high; this will make the mammoth at least twenty-five or twenty-six feet high; and as it appears to have been a many-toed animal, the springs which such a creature could make must have been almost incredible: nothing by swiftness could have escaped its pursuit. God seems to have made it as the proof of his power; and had it been prolific, and not become extinct, it would have depopulated the earth. Creatures of this kind must have been living in the days of Job; the behemoth is referred to here, as if perfectly and commonly known.
He eateth grass as an ox. — This seems to be mentioned as something remarkable in this animal: that though from the form of his teeth he must have been carnivorous, yet he ate grass as an ox; he lived both on animal and vegetable food.
