Steward's Portion

QUESTION: Why aren’t dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?

I ’VE BEEN ASKED this question on several occasions.  My response is always the same.  I explain that the Bible was translated into English long before the word “dinosaur” was coined in 1841.  So if you look for the word, “Dinosaur” you won’t find it.  But if you look for a description of dinosaurs, you’ll find at least two.

For example, some of the best descriptions of dinosaurs are found in the oldest book in the Bible, the book of Job.  The book of Job was probably written around 2000 B.C., which was approximately 4000 years ago.  Although the exact date is unknown, Probe Ministries offers compelling evidence that suggests Job lived around the time of the Patriarchs, such as Abraham.

Job lived in the land of Uz, near Edom, which extended both southwest and southeast of the Dead Sea. This area is mostly a desert today.  But in Job’s era, dinosaurs roamed the land.

THE PURPOSE FOR GOD’S DESCRIPTION:

In Job chapters 40 and 41, we find Job involved in a conversation with God.  In this conversation, God points to two contemporary creatures with whom Job was familiar: Behemoth, and Leviathan.

Now, as a reader, you may have already come to your own conclusions about whether the Bible is true or not.  That is not the argument we are discussing here. The issue is what the Bible itself is teaching.  Does the Bible speak about dinosaurs?  Does it teach that they existed as contemporaries with mankind?  Within that discussion, men’s opinions are irrelevant.  The Bible either speaks of them or it doesn’t.  And that is what we are discussing.

So before we even begin, we need to become familiar with the context in which these descriptions are found.

Disaster and tragedy have befallen Job.  But they are not accidental.  It was all brought upon Job by Satan himself.  And to make matter’s worse, God allowed it to happen.  This puts Job in a difficult position.  He is struggling with anger, hurt, and offense.  And perhaps worst of all from a human perspective, he is ignorant of the motivations and intent behind what has happened.

So Job begins to call God into question, and steps out of humility and into accusation.  So God replies with a rebuke.

Here’s is the text just prior to God’s description of the Behemoth.

Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?  (9)  Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?  (10)  Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.  (11)  Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.  (12)  Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.  (13)  Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.  (14)  Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.  (Job 40:8-14, KJV)

Enter God’s descriptions of the Behemoth and Leviathan.  God proceeds to produce examples of creatures beyond the strength of man to illustrate that even those mortal creatures that stand before Job are beyond his strength to rebuke.  So after considering the Behemoth and the Leviathin, Job says this:

Then Job replied to the LORD:  {^2} “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.  ^{3} You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’  Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

^{4} “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’  ^{5} My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. ^{6} Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”  (Job 42:1-6, NIV)

This sets the stage for our discussion of Behemoth and Leviathan.  God’s purpose in His descriptions is to challenge the pride of Job that was emerging in his prayers.  The message is humility in the face of something far greater than yourself.  Within this context, it is textually absurd and contradictory to assert that the creatures God is describing are those that man has humbled.  To assume such foolishness is to render God’s whole point meaningless.

Now consider what Job considered.  Listen closely to God’s own testimony.

BEHEMOTH:

“Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. {16} Lo now, his strength is in his loins [the waist or small of the back], and his force is in the navel of his belly. {17} He moveth his tail like a cedar [cedar tree]: the sinews [thong] of his stones [a testicle] are wrapped together. {18} His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. {19} He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. {20} Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. {21} He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. {22} The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. {23} Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan [the Jordan river] into his mouth. {24} He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.”  (Job 40:15-24, KJV)

Right from the beginning, within the first sentence of God’s description, we learn that God is not speaking in mythological hyperbole.  He is not referencing the fantasy of any culture.  In fact, the Behemoth is no more fictional than Job, because God declared that the Behemoth was that “which I made along with you” (Job 40:1, NIV).  This creature lived as a contemporary of Job.

The Behemoth ate grass, like Oxen.  However, unlike the Ox or the Hippo, it’s strength was found primarily in the muscles of it’s belly.

What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly!  (Job 40:16, NIV)

The word translated as “loins” is the Hebrew word môthen (mo’-then), which means, “to be slender, properly the waist or small of the back.”  So the “GOD’S WORD” translation of the bible renders the passage this way:

Look at the strength in its back muscles, the power in its stomach muscles.  (Job 40:16, GOD’S WORD Translation)

Then we come to it’s tail.

He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.   (Job 40:17, KJV)

There is some question as to the best way to translate this passage.  The point of confusion has to do with the phrase, “moveth his tail like a ceder.”

The word “moveth” in Hebrew is chaphet, and is most predominantly used when speaking of men and God to mean: “to incline, be favorable, to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with.”  However, it can also be used to mean: “to move, bend down, to curve,” and is, in fact, only translated that way once, here in the book of Job.

The Hebrew word translated into English as “tail” is the word zânâb (zaw-nawb’), and means exactly that, “tail.”  It’s from the root word zânab (zaw-nab’) which mean’s “to wag.”

Thus many translators have rendered the passage to speak of the creature’s literal tail and it’s likeness to the swaying movement of a ceder tree.  This could certainly be the meaning of the passage.

Others contend that the word “tail” is used figuratively as a phallic euphemism.  Thus the passage is thereby understood to imply that the creature’s reproductive organ is comparable to a ceder tree when it erects, or “moves” in the sense of pleasure, and then adds that even it’s testicles (stones) are tightly wrapped or woven together in strength.  This too, could certainly be the implied meaning of the passage.  It best joins together the two halves of the verse.

To the modern mind, this might seem offensive and vulgar.  As a result, some may refuse to believe that God would reference the Behemoth’s genitals as a feature of strength.  The fact of the matter is that God has long used the male reproductive organ as a symbol of male strength.  The mark of God’s covenant with Israel was circumcision (Genesis 17:10-14).  Why?  Because it’s through the male organ that the strength of life is transferred.  It’s a symbol for God’s creative power, and ultimately, it pictures Christ.  Christ would receive the cut (seen in circumcision) that made God’s covenant with mankind possible.  As such, men with injuries to their “symbol” of covenant power were not allowed to become priests or participate in their duties (Deuteronomy 23:1).  And any women who reached out to harm a man in this area, even when fighting for the purpose of saving the life of her husband, was to have her hand cut off (Deuteronomy 25:11-12).  This illustrated the seriousness of the symbol in God’s eyes.  It’s also why He may have pointed to this symbol of power and life in the Behemoth in order to illustrate it’s reflection of God’s own power of creation.

So the Behemoth’s ‘tail,” literal or figurative, is comparable not merely to a tree, but to a Cedar.  Cedar’s are the tallest trees in the region.  They were also used to build with because of their strength.  Thus, whether we are speaking of it’s size, or it’s strength, we are speaking of something above and beyond that possessed by other animals of creation.

It’s bones are compared to tubes of bronze, and it’s limbs to rods of iron.

In fact, so great is this creature that God even goes so far as to say that the Behemoth is the “chief of the ways of God.”

He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.  (Job 40:19, KJV)

The Hebrew word for “chief” is rê’shiyth (ray-sheeth’), which means “the first in order or rank.”  In other words, within the animal kingdom, this creature is the greatest example of God’s expression of power and might.  God’s ways are neither weak nor feeble, and this great creature stands as the chief of all God’s created examples of strength.

To crown this point, God claims that only He can approach it with the sword.   If men could kill the Behemoth with swords and spears, it ceases to be an example of God’s might.  Thus, the Behemoth is only threatened by the might of God.  Against it no man can bring the sword.

That eliminates the hippopotamus, and even the elephant, both of which are hunted by men.

It grazes upon the hills, lays in the shade of the trees, and even rests in the reeds of the river.  But listen to what God says about the river.

In the King James Version, it speaks of the massive amounts of water it is able to drink up.

Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. (Job 40:23, KJV)

The word “hasteth” means “hurry away.”  In other words, despite the entire river rushing against his mouth, he is confident that he can withstand it.  Drawing from another manuscript for its text, the New American Standard Version of the Bible reads this way:

If a river rages, he is not alarmed; he is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.  (Job 40:23, NASB)

Raging waters are not found at the shoreline, but in the depths of the river itself.  No hippo can stand against the Jordan river when it rages, because Hippos swim, and they would be carried away in the torrent, thus they would have cause for concern.  Thus, this is not a reference to those creatures that cautiously lap up water at the shoreline, but to a very large creature that can withstand the rushing torrents surging into it’s mouth without fear.  While an elephant might be able to wade out farther than a hippo, elephants do not let water rush into their mouths, instead they spray water into their mouths from their trunks.  Yet the Behemoth confidently lets raging waters surge into it’s mouth.

No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away.  (Job 40:24, NLT)

If not even the raging waters of the Jordan river can overpower the Behemoth, nor can men overpower it with brute force, or tame it as one would a pet.

In light of the totality of these descriptions, there can be little doubt that this is the description of a dinosaur.  It cannot be a mythological or fictional creature because God claimed to have created it along with mankind.  It cannot be a hippo because it is the chief of God’s land swelling creatures, and can only be overcome by the sword of God, not men.  And it cannot be a elephant because they do not let rivers flow into their mouths.

God’s description of the Behemoth, however, is tame in comparison to His description of the chief of His seafaring creatures, the Leviathan of the deep.

LEVIATHAN:

1 “Can you catch Leviathan with a hook or put a noose around its jaw?
2 Can you tie it with a rope through the nose or pierce its jaw with a spike?
3 Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity?
4 Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life?
5 Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with?
6 Will merchants try to buy it to sell it in their shops?
7 Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?
8 If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows.  You won’t try that again!
9 No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.
10 And since no one dares to disturb it, who then can stand up to me?
11 Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.

12 “I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs and its enormous strength and graceful form.
13 Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor?
14 Who could pry open its jaws?  For its teeth are terrible!
15 Its scales are like rows of shields tightly sealed together.
16 They are so close together that no air can get between them.
17 Each scale sticks tight to the next.  They interlock and cannot be penetrated.

18 “When it sneezes, it flashes light!  Its eyes are like the red of dawn.
19 Lightning leaps from its mouth; flames of fire flash out.
20 Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.
21 Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.

22 “The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck strikes terror wherever it goes.
23 Its flesh is hard and firm and cannot be penetrated.
24 Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a millstone.
25 When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror.
26 No sword can stop it, no spear, dart, or javelin.
27 Iron is nothing but straw to that creature, and bronze is like rotten wood.
28 Arrows cannot make it flee.  Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass.

(Job 41, NLT)

While some people argue vehemently in the effort to reduce God’s example of strength (the Behemoth) to nothing more than a hippo, few even bother to associate God’s example of dominion (the Leviathan) with anything less than a mythological creature of fiction.  They are happy to assume that God went from reality to fantasy.  But is that the claim of the Bible?  Not at all.

Like the Behemoth, the Leviathan was a very real contemporary of Job.  God’s whole purpose in using the Leviathan as an example rested on men’s experience with the creature.  Hence, God asked Job a series of experiential questions, each contrasting the strength of man with the might of the Leviathan.

Lay your hand on him; remember the battle; you will not do it again!  (Job 41:8, NASB)

You cannot lay your hand on a fictional creature.  God was not suggesting that men engage in imagination in order to create memories of battle.  He was speaking to mankind’s personal experience with Leviathan.   God was making a point in this to Job.

Job was angry over his loss of children and earthly possessions.  God had taken everything away.  Why was this done?  Why would God take what belonged to Job?  In answer to Jobs pointed questioning, God invoked men’s fear of disturbing the Leviathan, and asked some questions of His own.

…Who then is able to stand against me?  ^{11} Who has a claim against me that I must pay?  Everything under heaven belongs to me.  (Job 41:10-11, NIV)

If the men of Job’s day dared not stir up the wrath of the fire-breathing Leviathan, how much more fearful should they be to stir up the wrath of God who calls Himself a “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

Are we really to believe that the Leviathan was a fire breathing dragon?

Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes.  {21} Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.  (Job 41:20-21, NLT)

According to the testimony of God, the answer is yes.

I’ve heard it asked, “Who would have thought that an electric eel or firefly was real if we had only heard of them as tales of creatures long extinct?”  I think that is a valid question.  We need to be careful that we do not fall into the pride of assumed knowledge.  Modern scientists fantasize about what they could learn from observing a living dinosaur.  Why?  Because they don’t know everything, and expect that they would discover a great many things through observation; things they might never have assumed from fossilized remains.  But to assume we know all that there is to know about the many kinds of dinosaurs that once existed is foolishness.  That includes denying that some were capable of breathing fire to some degree, especially when it is not known how this might have been accomplished.  To assume that there is only one way to breath fire is again, prideful ignorance.

DRAGONS IN SCRIPTURE

While we are familiar with many fanciful stories involving fictional dragons, those stories are derived from real world accounts of dinosaurs that lived alongside men, as in the days of Job.

The word “dragon” appears 21 times in the Old Testament alone, and is translated from the Hebrew word “tanniyn” (tan-neen’), which means “a marine or land monster.”  Because of this, the term “dragon” can be used to describe everything from a snake to an extinct dinosaur of old.

For example:

“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” (Psalms 91:13, KJV)

Here we find a reference that could easily refer to any modern day snake, especially since this verse uses a double statement – first speaking of “the lion and adder (snake),” and then repeating it again with different words such as “the young lion” and “the dragon.”

However, the term can also speak of very large creatures like Leviathan:

“Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.” (Psalms 74:13, KJV)

Just as it would take God Himself to divide the sea by pure strength, so would it take the strength of God to break the head of a dragon like Leviathan.

Many Satanically inspired stories, both of old and of present day Hollywood, often portray dragons as regal, wise, and powerful, to which men come for wisdom.  And alternately, there are many more depictions of dragons as evil, crafty, and terribly deceptive creatures.  Both depictions “tip their hat” to the original grand dragon whose mind was influenced with the wickedness of Satan.

Leviathan means “serpent.”  So consider, for a moment, that other great dragon of scripture, the Serpent of Eden.

God tells us that this particular Serpent possessed a clever intelligence that, today, is only associated with humanity.  This attribute of intelligence has caused much consternation among scholars.

The debate centers on the word “subtle.”  It’s translated from the Hebrew word aruwm (aw-room’), and means  “cunning: crafty, prudent, and subtle.”  When this description is combined with the serpent’s ability to talk, it implies an intellect far above what we observe in animals today, which is why some people have difficulty accepting the literal meaning of the text.  Must we assume, however, that no animal has ever been able to talk simply because none do today?

In scripture, intelligence is always equated with speech.  For example, when God elevated the intellect of a donkey, she spoke in protest to the prophet Balaam, and in fact spoke from her own experience with him (Numbers 22:22-34).  In contrast, when God judged the pride of king Nebuchadnezzar, his understanding was removed and he became as a dumb, speechless, animal grazing on grass in the fields (Daniel 4.31-34).

Our only knowledge of creation before corruption and judgment is found in Genesis.  Shall we ignore it’s teaching on the basis of what we have personally observed in today’s post-curse world?  Such an approach to scripture is manipulative and contrary to the instructive purpose of God’s word, especially when it describes a time and place expressly stated to be different from what we witness today.

So it was this dragon that Satan entered to deceive Eve.  When God judged Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, God declared that Jesus Christ would come out of Eve (as her “seed”) through her descendants, and thus be called the “Son of Man” (having come from man).  And in contrast, when Satan came out of the Serpent, he became the typological “seed” of the Serpent.  And as one who came out of a serpent, Satan was henceforth viewed as a typological serpent or dragon himself.

What was the name given to Satan as the seed of the Serpent of Eden?

The Great Red Dragon.

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”  (Revelation 12:3, KJV)

“…the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan…” (Revelation 20:2, KJV)

Leviathan is also likened to Satan on account of Satan’s typological title of Great Red Dragon:

“In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” (Isaiah 27:1, KJV)

In the Psalms, we read again of God’s might against the mighty Leviathan who’s silhouette is seen sailing with the ships on the sea:

“There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.”  (Psalms 104:26, KJV)

“It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. ^{14} It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.”  (Psalms 74:13-14, KJV)

In fact, one such dragon, or sea monster, became sufficiently well-known to the ancients to be given the special name “Rahab” (an epithet of Egypt).

Awake, awake, arm of the LORD, clothe yourself with strength!  Awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old.  Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through?  (Isaiah 51:9, NIV)

UNICORN:

The word translated as “unicorn” in the KJV Bible, is the Hebrew word pronounced “re-em”(reh-ame’, reh-ame’, rame, or rame).  Strongs Concordance defines the word as “From H7213; a wild bull (from its conspicuousness): – unicorn.”

Old illustrations from Mesopotamia depict one horned oxen, at least from the perspective of their profile.  These oxen were referred to as “rimu.” The Assyrians referred to the wild ox as “rumu” and also depicted from a side profile giving the appearance of possessing a single horn.  This could explain the origen of the word “unicorn.” But regardless, the Bible clearly describes Unicorns as having more than one horn.

His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.  (Deuteronomy 33:17, KJV)

Even Psalm 92:10, which mentions only one horn of the Unicorn, does not exclude the possibility of a second horn.

But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. (Psalms 92:10, KJV)

Of the Unicorn’s temperament, the Bible has this to say:

Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?  (10) Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?  (11) Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?  (12) Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?  (Job 39:9-12, KJV)

This sounds less like an Ox, and more like a Rhino.  But either way, the text does not require a dinosaur to be it’s focus.

On a side note, the Congo has had quite a few sightings of creatures that resemble dinosaurs, some of which appear to match the description of the Unicorn.

Of Dr Roy Mackal, it’s has been oft quoted:

Dr. Roy Mackal’s explorations in the Congo brought back reports of a rare, single-horned animal called “Emela-ntouka” or “killer of elephants.”  Those reports came from tribes who were more than familiar with what a Rhinoceros is, yet this was something different.  And in a recent expedition, pygmies in Cameroon identified the horned creature (there called “Ngoubou”) with a Ceratopsian dinosaur and claimed it could sport from one to four horns. In fact, modern researchers believe that the ceratopsian dinosaurs likely did use their great horn for combat (Dodson, Peter, The Horned Dinosaurs:A Natural History, 1996, p.123.) (Original source unknown)

Accounts of Dr. Roy Mackal are interesting and thought provoking to be sure.  But in the end, they cannot be cited as proof that the Unicorns mentioned in the Bible were dinosaurs.

FLYING SERPENTS:

Isaiah twice mentions the “fiery flying serpent” (Isaiah 30:6).  In that passage the Lord warns Israel against returning to Egypt, because it wold take them south where they would run into “the lion, the viper, and the fiery flying serpent.” The viper mentioned in this passage likely refers to the Desert Horned Viper.  But the “fiery flying serpent” is almost certainly a “leaping” venomous snake, known as the Israeli Saw-Scale Viper, which have been known to propel themselves off the ground as they strike.  Their bite has also been compared to the pinch of “red hot pliers.”  This would be a fitting description of a fiery flying serpent to be sure.

Support for this interpretation comes from the scriptures that speak of this creature.  When God commanded Moses to erect a brass version of the serpent on a pole to heal the people, they were in the Arava Valley.  The Arava Valley is full of rocky terrain, a perfect environment for the Israeli Saw-scale Viper.  More than this, the Saw-scale Viper has a slow acting venom which would give the people time to run to the erected cure Moses set up.  This snake still lives in that valley today.

However, some have speculated that descriptions of the fiery flying serpent also fit with classical authors describing Pterosaur populations in Egypt and Arabia.  While initially intriguing,  I have found such theories unsubstantiated.

CONCLUSION:

In every discussion of the Bible, critics always demand proof while at the same time poudly proclaiming the conclusions of their theories as fact.  It’s a contradiction they cannot see on account of their pride.  Yet proof is what they must be given, and proof is what every born-again believer has access to.

What proof is that?

Divine encounter.

Here’s the problem.  In every argument against the truthfulness of the scripture that I have heard, the proof against it is, literally, ignorance.  You will hear about what men do not know, and about what they have not seen, implying that if something was true, science would have revealed it to them by now.  You will never win an argument outside of the proof of a personal encounter with the very thing you are arguing over.  It’s the doubting Thomas syndrome.  Men must see to believe.

The solution?  Genuine faith, as opposed to blind faith.

Genuine faith is based on Divine encounter, whereas blind faith is based on guesswork (be it in the science of men, or religious belief).  In other words, if you want someone to believe the word of God, you must first provide them with an encounter.  When you encounter the living God, His testimony is proven along with His existence.  Apart from that, men (both religious and atheistic) can do nothing but reason and argue from the limitations of their own experience.  Nothing is proven apart from observation and experience, and that includes the existence of God and the theories of humanistic science.

Well was it said by the Psalmist:

Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  (Psalms 40:4, KJV)

There is nothing wrong with evidence, but evidence is not proof.  And no man can embrace God’s word apart from first embracing God Himself through encounter.

FURTHER REFERENCE:

If you’re interested in pursuing this topic further, and tackling greater questions about the Bible and dinosaurs, I encourage you to visit Dr. Brown’s website and browse his free book:

In The Beginning

For extra-biblical evidence, consider the ancient dinosaur depictions found all over the world.

Regardless of what you study, and where you found it, remember that the Bible is the sure record that God has provided us.  We must not ignore its revelations.