Were Behemoth & Leviathan Dinosaurs, Dragons, or Something Else?
As a child, my favorite Bible chapters were Job 40 and 41. I found their descriptions of strange seemingly mythological beasts to be fascinating. I imagine many other children have shared my fascination over the last two thousand years of Christian history. Many have pondered the nature of the two massive creatures discussed in those chapters, but have we come to any conclusions about their true nature?
BEHEMOTH
"Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword! For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play. Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh. For his shade the lotus trees cover him; the willows of the brook surround him. Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth. Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare?" -Job 40:15-24
The Bible's description of behemoth doesn't seem to fit any currently living animal. The most popular candidate has been the hippopotamus. This comparison initially seems obvious, but the "tail stiff like a cedar" doesn't fit at all. It seems absurd to compare a hippo's tiny tail to a ceder. God makes several references to rivers, marshes, and water plants that seem to suggest a hippo's environment. However, the behemoth also seems to live in the mountains, which isn't a common place for hippos to live. The elephant has also been suggested, but elephants also have thin weak tales and don't typically dwell in the rivers or mountains.
Eric Lyons of Apologetics Press has suggested the animal was a dinosaur of some kind: "it must be some type of extinct creature. But what kind? God’s description of behemoth is compatible in every way with the descriptions we have of some of the dinosaurs that roamed the Earth." Some have suggested the behemoth might have been a brontosaurus.
The biblical evidence isn't conclusive. I think the best guess we can make is that the behemoth was probably some species of extinct animal. Perhaps we'll never know.
LEVIATHAN
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?... Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again! Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle? Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable. His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee; for him, sling stones are turned to stubble. Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins. His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired. On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride." -Job 41The leviathan is almost always interpreted as a crocodile, but it's also been identified with several other animals including the whale. Gill's Exposition:
"whether by the 'leviathan' is meant the whale, which was the most generally received notion; or the crocodile, as Bochart, who has been followed by many; or the 'orca,' a large fish of the whale kind with many teeth, as Hasaeus, it is not easy to say 'Leviathan' is a compound word of than the first syllable of 'thanni,' rendered either a whale, or a dragon, or a serpent, and of 'levi,' which signifies conjunction, from the close joining of its scales… and the name bids fairest for the crocodile, and which is called 'thannin,' Ezekiel 29:3."
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary says: "leviathan—literally, 'the twisted animal,' gathering itself in folds: a synonym to the Thannin."
There are some good reasons to think leviathan might have been a crocodile. It lived in the water, it had scales, and it fought with humans. However, there are also good reasons to think the leviathan wasn't a crocodile. Firstly, God boasted about the leviathan's limbs. Crocodiles aren't known for the strength or size of their limbs. It seems a strange choice of anatomy to brag about. Secondly, the leviathan appears to have been able to breath fire. It would be easy to dismiss the leviathan's description as a fire breather as figurative language if God hadn't spent several sentences describing this ability. The two most referenced features of leviathan are its scales and fiery breath. Additionally, we have numerous ancient records alleging the existence of fire breathing dragons.
In my opinion, the existence of dragon stories throughout all human history and in almost every civilization proves humans and dinosaurs once lived side by side. Many people seem incapable of understanding that dragons are dinosaurs. Dragons are almost universally depicted as huge reptiles with scales. Dinosaurs are huge reptiles with scales. Leviathan was a huge reptile with scales. It seems to fit neatly together.
CONCLUSION
It appears likely to me that behemoth and leviathan were both species that have since gone extinct. I think it's likely leviathan was among the dinosaur species that later became legendary as the fire breathing dragons of western stories. Many Christians presume themselves too realistic to believe in fire breathing dragons, but is anything too hard for the Lord? God was proving his greatness to Job, it would make sense for him to create such an animal to emphasize it. I'll refer again to Eric Lyons:
"If Jehovah wanted to create one or more dinosaurs that could expel fire, smoke, or some deadly chemical out of their mouths without harming themselves, He certainly could have done so. Bearing in mind the way that He described leviathan to Job in Job 41:18-21, and considering that many secular stories have circulated for millennia that describe 'fiery dragons,' it is logical to conclude that He did create such creatures."