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 several.

For example, some of the best descriptions of dinosaurs are found in one of the oldest books in the Bible, the book of Job. In Job chapters 40 and 41, we find him involved in a conversation with God. In this conversation, God points to two creatures who were contemporaries with Job. Listen to how God describes them.

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)

The first creature is simply called Behemoth, which means “a large quadruped,” which can refer to any creature with four legs. Today, the word behemoth can be applied to the largest animal in that region – the hippopotamus, also known as the “Nile-horse,” but that is not the animal described in this passage. Why not? Listen again to God’s description.

Behemoth is “the chief of the ways of God,” which is to say, the largest of them. The men of Job’s day probably had a specific name for this creature in their language, but for our sake, God used a name that was descriptive of the kind of animal He was referring to. From the book of Job we learn that this creature ate grass and plants of the field, had a strong back, large belly, and a tail the size of a tree. Every large animal of today, such as the Elephant, Hippo, rhino, ox, etc, has a very small, tiny tail.  Not this creature; it’s tail is compared to the largest, strongest tree of that area – the “Cedrus libani,” also known as the “Cedar of Lebanon.”  The Cedar can grow to heights of  130 feet (40 meters), and  were a prized wood due to its strength and sturdiness as a building material. The people of Job’s day would not have confused the tail of a hippo or elephant with a cedar tree.

This creature also drank large quantities of water, drawing up huge amounts of the Jordan river into its mouth. Behemoth looked at the river as insignificant, and easily crushed through man-made snares or traps just with his nose. There can be no argument here, this is a large beast. But the next creature God describes is even more fearsome.

LEVIATHAN:

“Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? {2} Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? {3} Will he make many supplications [appeals or pleas] unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? {4} Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? {5} Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? {6} Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? {7} Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? {8} Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. {9} Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? {10} None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? {11} Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. {12} I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. {13} Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle? {14} Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. {15} His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. {16} One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. {17} They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered [spread apart or separated]. {18} By his sneezing a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. {19} Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. {20} Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. {21} His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. {22} In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him. {23} The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. {24} His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. {25} When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings [his crushing force] they purify themselves [repent of their actions against him]. {26} The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. {27} He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. {28} The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. {29} Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. {30} Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire [his sharp claws pierce the ground beneath him]. {31} He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment [the waters are greatly stirred up by his movements]. {32} He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary [grey - because of all the dirt and silt that is stirred up when he passes through]. {33} Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. {34} He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.” (Job 41, KJV)

Leviathan is another descriptive word which means, “serpent,” and is the same name used today for the constellation of the dragon. This was one of the creatures inferred by legends and stories of fire breathing dragons. Many societies, all of whom are widely separated from each other, tell stories of fire-breathing dragons. Why did they all focus on this ability of dragons? Here, the Bible teaches us that it was because this was a natural ability of creatures such as Leviathan. For this reason alone we must not dismiss fire breathing as a fabrication of myth. After all, 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? God invoked a godly fear in Job, when He said in vs. 10, “None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?” If the men of Job’s day dared not stir up the wrath of Leviathan, how much more fearful should they be to stir up the wrath of God who calls Himself a “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

Other books of the Bible refer to Leviathan as well. For example, Leviathan is also likened to Satan, because Satan came out of the serpentine dragon in the Garden of Eden.

“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)

As time moved on, the weapons of humanity grew more potent than those wielded in the days of Job. Because of this, the creature who once was invulnerable in the days of Job, eventually was hunted by men.

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

“Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.” (Psalms 74:14, KJV)

The word “dragon” appears 21 times in the Old Testament alone and is the word by which most dinosaurs would be best described. The English word “dragon” comes from the Hebrew word “tanniyn” (tan-neen’), and means “a marine or land monster,” which can be used to describe everything from a modern day animal such as a crocodile to an extinct dinosaur of old.

So consider the context in which the word tanniyn, or dragon, is found in scripture, and pay attention to how it’s described. 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, snakes are not always inferred by the term “dragon.” Consider the following verse and its context:

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

This verse is expressing the strength of God, wherein God is so strong that He can divide the sea and crush the heads of dragons. We are impressed with strength that can divide an ocean, but if the word “dragon,” as used here, only refers to a common snake or other reptile, it robs the examples of their intended emphasis. The awesome strength required to divide the sea would be an absurd overkill when used to kill a snake or reptile. Clearly God is referring to a large dragon before whom men tremble. 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, Isaiah 51:9).

The Behemoth and Leviathan are not the only dinosaurs mentioned in scripture, however. Consider some other descriptions found in the Bible.

UNICORN:

The “unicorn,” mentioned nine times in the KJV Bible, is the Hebrew word “Re-em.” The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) translated it “Monokeros” (one-horn) which was used in Bibles until the 19th century when Akkadian and Ugaritic records were found that mentioned the “Re-em” being hunted like a wild ox. However, their early pictograph for the “Re-em” shows an animal head with three horns, like a Triceratops. In Psalm 92:10 the “Re-em” or unicorn has but one horn, while the language of Deuteronomy 33:17 implies two horns. Although most commentators and modern versions translate it as a bull or rhino, some have theorized that “Re-em” might be a Monoclonious (single horned dinosaur like Triceratops).

In Job 39:9-12 God asks, “Will the unicorn be willing to serve you, or abide by your crib? Can you bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after you? Wilt you trust him, because his strength is great?” This passage shows that the unicorn, whatever it was, could not be tamed or domesticated for use in farming, as could an ox. Dr. Roy Mackal’s explorations in the Congo brought back reports of a rare, single-horned animal called “Emela-ntouka” or “killer of elephants.” 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.)

FIERY FLYING SERPENTS:

Isaiah twice mentions the “fiery flying serpent” (Isaiah 14:29; 30:6). This most likely refers to a “leaping” venomous snake, perhaps similar to the Israeli saw-scale vipers who have been known to propel themselves off the ground as they strike. Their bite has also been compared to the “fiery” or burning pinch of “red hot pliers.” Snakes such as these could certainly be described as a fiery flying serpent.

However, some have speculated that this description also fits those given by classical authors describing pterosaur populations in Egypt and Arabia. Pterosaurs ranged in size and shape, so it would be difficult to identify which specific kind might have been inferred. So I offer this perspective simply as an interesting speculation. That said, Goertzen notes:

“The Hebrew word, m’opheph Jpvfm, is a polal participle; a form used only by Isaiah when describing the reptilian saraph. The polal indicates an intensive of the root pvf ooph that means to fly or flutter. The imperfect form of the polal is found in Genesis 1:20, ‘flying creatures that flutter to and fro’ and Isaiah 6:2 ‘seraphim’ (the same word as the reptiles here used for angelic creatures) that fly to and fro.’” (Goertzen, John, “The Bible and Pterosaurs,” 1998.)

This same word is employed in Numbers 21:6-9 to describe the poisonous reptiles that bit the murmuring Israelites. When the people begged Moses to petition God on their behalf to spare them from the serpents, God instructed Moses to craft a “fiery serpent” and set it upon a pole. Anyone who looked at this “serpent on a pole” after being bitten would be healed. This solution was an a prophetic picture of Christ on the cross. Jesus testified that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14) on the cross. So the pterosaur becoming a type of Christ (John 3:14) seems quite fitting. For example, the spread wings of the pterosaur on the top of the pole would form the image of a cross. This would also fit with the prophetic description of Christ who would “arise with healing in His wings” (Malachi 4:2, KJV). While this is clearly mere speculation, it warrants consideration given the fact that a plate found with Sennacherib’s booty at Calah (from the conquest of Palestine) depicts such a winged serpent on a pole that would seems to match the Nehushtan* or brazen saraph of Moses that had become a symbol of worship by Hezekiah’s reign (2 Kings 18:4).

*Nehushtan – of copper; a brazen thing a name of contempt given to the serpent Moses had made in the wilderness (Num. 21:8), and which Hezekiah destroyed because the children of Israel began to regard it as an idol and “burn incense to it.” The lapse of nearly one thousand years had invested the “brazen serpent” with a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, “Nehushtan,” a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass (2 Kings 18:4).

The phrase, “fiery flying serpent,” even matches some cryptozoological reports from New Guinea, which attribute to alleged living, present day pterosaurs, a bioluminescent capability like a firefly. However, as an example, the connection between the “fiery serpents” of Moses day, and pterosaurs, must be clearly understood to be speculation.

SOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY:

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.  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.