The Behemoth

“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.” - Job 40:16-18

The Behemoth was a Sauropod Dinosaur, which simply means it was a Footed Lizard. There are many different kinds of Sauropods according to the modern classification system of fossil records, like the Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and the Titanosaurus, but they all have one thing in common: they are gigantic!

For its great size and unparalleled stature, the Behemoth was called “the chief” by the Almighty in the book of Job (Job 40:19), which means that the Behemoth still walked the earth around 130 years after Noah’s flood. According to Scripture, we know that God spoke to Job about the Behemoth at around 130 A.F. (After the Flood). Noah transported two of them on the Ark as babies, and the adults reproduced in the New World.

As a terrestrial witness of the greatness of God, it was the largest land animal that ever lived! We are talking 120 feet in length and 70 to 100 feet in height, while the beast was standing with its neck erect. Some fossils indicate that the Behemoth could have ranged upwards to 190 feet in length! It’s no wonder the LORD said, “He moveth his tail like a cedar” (Job 40:17).

A Dinosaur of this size would have been a marvelous sight on any occasion! Just to see the Behemoth find enough “food” to eat to sustain itself would be remarkable (Job 40:20). Then to see him lay down for rest among a shady grove of trees would be equally amazing (Job 40:21-22). Then to see him quench his thirst – while appearing to drink the river dry! – would be an unforgettable sight (Job 40:23-24). Can you imagine it? Perhaps not. Just the footprints of this animal could range up to 5 feet and 9 inches in size, which means that an average person could fit inside it.

However, as an herbivore, the presence of the Behemoth would not have inspired panic and pandemonium like a carnivorous Leviathan. God willing, it behaved more like an “Ox” grazing in a field (Job 40:15). No great sense of danger would have been imposed upon the region when a Behemoth was present. Nevertheless, they were very capable of defending themselves when necessary.

If a smaller and more youthful Behemoth happened to be attacked by a predator like the T-rex or the Leviathan, it could use its tail as a deadly weapon of self-defense. With “bones” that are like “strong pieces of brass” and “bars of iron” (Job 40:18), and a “tail” like a “cedar” tree in length (Job 40:17), the beast would have been almost impossible to take down. Science proves it.

Scientists reasonably conjecture that the Behemoth could have cracked the sound barrier at the whip of its tail! In other words, the tail would have been a weapon of immense power and terrifying sound – a supersonic whip of “iron” that could be heard from a great distance (Job 40:18)! All the animals of the New World would have stood in awe at the sound of it. A hungry T-rex and Leviathan would be abased under its lash – forcing them to turn aside for a less dangerous prey of the field.