Behemoth and Leviathan (Job 40-41)

God then asks Job about two creatures that God made, the behemoth and the leviathan. What are these creatures? Are they real? Natural, spiritual? Extinct or extant? Are the descriptions metaphorical? My personal bias is that they are spiritual creatures because. I'll explain why. I'll admit this whole area is pretty cloudy.

Job 40-41 Behemoth and Leviathan

Let's start with the descriptions:

Behemoth (40:15-24)

Attributes of an extant natural creature: eats grass, powerful muscles, tail as strong as cedar, stands in water, lives in the Jordan river

Based on this, one might conclude it is a hippo or elephant. One might say that it is a dinosaur but it seems to be an extant creature as the language is in the present tense.

Metaphorical description/ attributes of a super-creature: these if taken literally, are not any creature in the natural world:

Bones of bronze, limbs of iron (not "as iron") - this creature is made of metal

Only God can threaten it - every animal on earth can be hunted by humans, even in Job's day

Cannot be caught or harnessed (ring through the nose)

The behemoth is nebulous and if one allows for some metaphorical license, it could reasonably be an elephant. However, the Leviathan is much harder to identify in the natural world. Both of these creatures are explained together, so I think they should be grouped together.

Leviathan (41:1-34)

Physical attributes:

Enormous strength, limbs, graceful form

Powerful jaws

Terrible teeth

Scales arranged in rows of a shield

Based on this, it would seem like a crocodile.

However, the metaphorical attributes seem to undercut the crocodile theory. I think the metaphorical attributes should not be dismissed too easily as they are central to the dialogue. It is these that actually make the creature impressive.

1. God asks Job if he or others can do these things. If it were a physical creatures, then the answer would be "yes, God. I can."

Catch it with a hook

Put a spike through its jaw

Make it a pet like a bird (probably not a crocodile, but at least can be captured alive)

Sell or buy it in shops

Hurt or hunt it with spears

2. Other super-creature attributes

Cannot be caught

Lightning, fire, and smoke come from mouth and nostrils

Flesh cannot be penetrated

Cannot be stopped by clubs, a sword, arrow, javelin, or any weapon made of iron or bronze

Also, the book of Psalms (74:14) says this creature has multiple heads.

Finally, I think these creatures must be considered in the overall point of Job. Yes, chapters 38-39 contain a litany of the natural world to showcase the power and majesty of God. But what began Job? What was the rest of the book about? Job 1-2 were dialogues in the spiritual world and Job 3-37 were back and forth arguments about why bad things happen and God's majesty.

Here, I think these chapters return to the questions posed in the rest of the book. God's demonstrating that there are spiritual forces, good and evil, that are far more complicated than Job can understand, nor hope to control on his own. However, God can subdue them. Just as God can limit Satan, God can harness and control these other spiritual creatures as well.

So, why do bad things happen? Because these things are running amuck, which ties us back to the very beginning of Job.