are dinosaurs mentioned in the bible

8/3/2019 Are Dinosaurs Mentioned in the Bible

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/are-dinosaurs-mentioned-in-the-bible 1/8

Are Dinosaurs Mentioned in the Bible?

By Randy Neal

If you were to pick up a Bible concordance and look up the word “dinosaur,” I am

certain you would not find the word under that particular heading. In fact, the first

dinosaur fossil was discovered (known as the Iguanodon) in 1822 by Dr. Gideon Mantell.

At the start, Dr. Mantell and the scientists who examined the fossil did not realize what

this strange creature was. They finally understood that they had uncovered a totally new

kind of creature and that some were enormous in size. Then in 1841, the famous British

anatomist and paleontologist, Sir Richard Owen, came up with the name “dinosaurs”

(which means “terrible lizard”) to describe these creatures. When one considers that the

Tyrannosaurus Rex had a massive jaw six feet long and six inch long teeth, then no

wonder they were called “terrible lizards.”

At least in part, even if the Biblical writers referred to such animals in the Bible, we

should not expect to find them referred to as “dinosaurs” (especially since that English

word has only been around some 150 years or so).

There are four main Hebrew Old Testament words that some have argued

describe dinosaurs. The first is the word Behemoth (Job 40:15, tomhb). The second is

the word tannin (nynt), found in Genesis 1:21 and other places. The third term is

Leviathan (Job 41:1). The fourth term is Rahab (bhr, Job 9:13). We will look at each of

these words individually and then make some final comments. Finally, we will examine

what happened to those “terrible lizards.” Did they die in the flood, did Noah take

dinosaurs onto the ark, and if so, did the dinosaurs gradually die following the flood due

to a change in temperature (going from a warmer, more tropical climate to a colder



climate)?

Behemoth

First of all, in Job 40:15-24, we read of a creature that is known as Behemoth.

The word used in Job 40:15, behemoth, is the plural form of the word, behema (found

some 190 times in scripture). The singular form of this word is variously translated:

animal, livestock, cattle, or beast. Most English versions unfortunately transliterate the

Hebrew word as behemoth. Even the Latin Vulgate did so in the Latin translation of this

passage. The LXX (Greek translation of the Old Testament the 2nd century B.C.)

renders this word qusia, meaning “beast” or “wild beast.” Miles Coverdale, in his

translation of the Old Testament, rendered this word, “the cruell beaste.” Yet what type

of animal was is God describing here?

To put this passage in context, we must remember that Job’s three friends

(Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, chapters 4-5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22) told him that he is

suffering due to sin (chapters 3, 6-7, 9-10, 12-14, 16-17, 19, 21, 23-24, 26-31). Job

bemoans his plight and tries to justify himself before his three friends. Job questions why

he is suffering at the hand of God? After Job and his three friends are all reproved by the

young man, Elihu (chapters 32-37), God asks Job a series of questions (chapters 38-41).

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast

understanding?” (38:4) If Job thought he had a handle on difficult questions, God had a

few of His own for Job. When considering God’s greatness, have you considered His

marvelous creatures (behemoth and leviathan)?

What type of creature is God describing here in Job 40:15? Some have suggested



an elephant (or Mastodon), a hippopotamus (the so-called Egyptian “river-horse”), a

bison/buffalo type creature, a rhinoceros, or some animal no longer in existence.

Whatever the creature (and I do not believe anyone can argue definitively that Job is

describing here some extinct dinosaur), God shows that His power is demonstrated

through this powerful creature.

Tannin

The second “creature” we want to discuss is found fifteen times in the Bible. The

Hebrew word, tannin, or in Ugaritic, tannanu, is variously translated: (1) sea monster

(Genesis 1:21; Psalms 148:7), (2) sea dragon (Isaiah 27:1), and (3) serpent (Exodus 7:9,

10, 12; Deuteronomy 32:33; Psalms 91:13). The Ugaritic word, tannanu, described the

Canaanite (mythological) sea monster. The tannin was created by God on the fifth day,

when God made all animals in the sea and air (Genesis 1:21-22). The KJV and RSV

renders this word as “whale,” while the Greek version of the Old Testmaent rendered the

word as ta khth ta megala or the great sea monster (khtos, meaning “sea monster”; this

word in Classical Greek could refer to any of the great creatures of the sea, including the

whale).

In Isaiah 51:9-10, the prophet speaks of God as the One Who “cut off Rahab” and

“pierced the dragon” or Tannin. God created them and He controls them.

The word “serpent” in Exodus 7:9-10 (when Moses’ rod turns into a serpent) isnot the normal word (nachash) for serpent, but in fact the word tannin. Some suggest that

a small crocodile, an enormous lizard, or even a water-monitor is what Moses is

describing in Exodus chapter seven.



Leviathan

The third “creature” we want to examine is simply transliterated “leviathan.”

This word is found six times in scripture (Job 3:8; 41:1; Psalms 74:14; 104:26; Isaiah

27:1, mentioned twice). God’s lengthy discussion with Job about the Leviathan in Job

chapter 41 has led to some disagreement about what type of animal is spoken of here.

Some commentators argue that Leviathan is a mythological creature, while others depict

him as a crocodile, dolphin, or even a whale. In Isaiah 27:1, the prophet twice refers to

this Leviathan (the LXX renders the Hebrew word dra&kwn) as a serpent or nachash.

Isaiah also seems to be making a connection between the Leviathan and Tannin in Isaiah

51:9-10. In the Septuagint, or LXX (the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek

in the second century B.C.), the text reads, “canst thou draw out the dragon?” (Axeis de

drakonta) Apparently, God is asking if this creature can be captured with ropes and a

hook, expecting the response of ‘no you cannot.’ Some see the reference here to perhaps

a crocodile or some animal kin to it (others argue that Behemoth is a crocodile and

Leviathan a whale). The ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, mentions the ancient

practice of bating a hook in order to catch crocodiles (the Egyptians were known for this).

Since the practice of bating and catching crocodiles is a widely known practice

throughout the Ancient Near East, one could argue that Job is describing some creature

which man is incapable of capturing (Thus ruling out crocodiles, as we know them today.

However, the ancestor of the modern day crocodile is gigantic in size. Our family were

able to see a mammoth skeleton of this ancient reptile at a museum some time back and

estimate the crocodile to be approximately 30 feet in length).



Rahab

The fourth term is the Hebrew noun, Rahab (bhr), which occurs six times in the

Old Testament (Job 9:13; 26:12; Psalms 87:4; 89:10; Isaiah 30:7; 51:9). The reference is

perhaps to some ancient serpent or “primordial dragon.”

The passages in Job, Psalms 89:10, and Isaiah 51:9 seem to indicate some beast that God

subdues and is under His control. On the other hand, Psalm 87:4 and Isaiah 30:7

combined depict Egypt as being like the creature Rahab. The Canaanite religion says that

Yahewh subdued these creatures (i.e., Leviathan, Rahab, and Tannin) “at the dawn of

creation.” These creatures which are “related only allusively in the O.T. (Job 7:12; 9:13;

26:12-13; Psalms 74:13-14; 89:9-10; Isaiah 27:1; 30:7; 51:9-10), is more clearly

articulated in the Babylonian Epic of Creations, where the gods who rebelled against the

sovereignty of Anu are indeed thrust by their conqueror, Marduk, into nether caverns.”

In Mesopotamian religion, these “contumacious spirits” are known as the “bound gods

(ilani sabuti, or kamuti) and were sometimes identified as “devils” (asakke).”

Conclusion

Out of the four beasts one finds listed in the Old Testament, I would argue that the

last three (Tannin, Leviathan, and Rahab) are the most likely candidates of being the

textbook example of ancient ‘dinosaurs.’ If just one, two, or even three of these creatures

could be identified by modern paleontologists’, what happened to them? From the

Bible’s perspective, they more than likely died out in the flood (or in post deluvian

world). While some argue that Noah took dinosaurs on to the ark, that is a topic for



consideration at another time. Yet we ponder why dinosaurs no longer exist today?

One possibility (that you will never read in a science book) is an argument made

theologically. In the Bible references to Satan, scripture describes him as being like one

of these gigantic creatures. In Revelation 12:7-9, John describes the devil as “the

dragon” and “that old serpent” (dra&kwn and o!fij – the same terminology used in the

LXX version of Isaiah 27:1). Some see the connection here between the dragon of

Revelation and the Leviathan mentioned in the Old Testament. In fact, in Job 48:23 (in

the LXX translation), the text states that Tartarus is the abode of the Leviathan. Tartarus

is used in 2 Peter 2:4 to describe the subterranean abyss (which the Greeks believed to be

where Divine Punishment is dealt out) where the disobedient angels were sent. The idea

of the devil being called a serpent carries the reader all the way back to Genesis 3

(although the word there is nachash, not tannin). Yet when one considers the use of the

word Rahab, or ancient serpent, in the Old Testament (part of the disobedient demigods

who, according to the Canaanite religion, were cast into darkness at creation), the

evidence seems clear that the devil is characterized as one of these creatures we know of

today as dinosaurs. One could argue that the downfall of those “terrible lizards” is

comparable to the devil’s downfall and ultimately being cast out of heaven.

So, are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible? The answer to this question is (with a

bit of qualification) yes. While the word dinosaur is not found in scripture, the now

extinct creature is probably comparable to the Tannin, Leviathan, and Rahab (and

possibly Behemoth). While this does not necessarily ‘prove’ to scientists that the Bible

speaks of dinosaurs (for the Bible is not a science text book), yet I believe there is

sufficient evidence to show that the inspired writers did indeed know of these ancient



beasts and show that God did in fact create them along with every other animal life form

that roams the earth. The easy answer for the skeptic is to say, ‘O, the Biblical writers

were referring to mythological creatures that we today know never existed.’ The one

who believes God’s word says, to the critic, that God’s word is not inaccurate nor anti-

science, but that the Bible agrees with scientists’ (in part) that these ancient monsters did

indeed exist. We simply believe God created them (Genesis 1-2) and do not chock up

everything to so-called macro-evolution or Darwin’s theory of “natural selection.”



Works Cited

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1987.

George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. IV.

Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962.

Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, The Septuagint With Apocrypha: Greek and English.

Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1986.

T. Allen Cole, Exodus, An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament

Commentaries, D.J. Wiesman, Gen. Ed. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity

Press, 1973.

Dr. Duane T. Gish, The Amazing Story of Creation from Science and the Bible,

Illustrated by Earl and Bonnie Snellenberger. El Cajon, CA: Institute for

Creation Research, 1990.

Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged. Oxford: Claredon Press,1974

Dr. Duane T. Gish, The Amazing Story of Creation from science and the Bible,

illustrated by Earl and Bonnie Snellenberger (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation

Research, 1990), 67.

Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, The Septuagint With Apocrypha: Greek and English

(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1986, 87), 2. Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon,Abridged (Oxford: Claredon Press, 1974), 376.

T. Alan Cole, Exodus, An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old TestamentCommentaries, D.J. Wiesman, Gen. Ed. (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973),

88-89.

The LXX renders the Hebrew word Rahab as: (1) the dragon (dra&kwn) in Job 7:12;26:12-13; Psalm 74:13-14 (twice), & Isaiah 27:1 and (2) he is called the ‘sea monster’

(kh&th) in Job 9:13.

George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Dictionary Of The Bible, vol IV (Nashville:

Abingdon Press, 1962), s.v. “Sin,” by T.H. Gaster, pg. 227.

are dinosaurs mentioned in the bible

Documents