Fire breathing dragons

Retrobyter said:

Shalom, Boaz.


Doesn't ANYONE consult with a Hebrew dictionary for a Hebrew word?! The word behemowt, is the plural of behemah, which means "animal" in Hebrew. "Behemowt" is said to be "livestock." Here are the entries in Webster's NewWorld Hebrew Dictionary (p. 39):

behemah / -ot nf animal. (It's spelled bet-hei-mem-hei.)
behemot nf pl livestock. (It's spelled bet-hei-mem-vav-tav.)

It's a very generic word in Hebrew, but it's a word for a docile, livestock-kind of animal. Some have said that the word could refer to the water-ox or to the hippopotomus or to the elephant; however, none of these creatures adequately fulfills the description of what God was talking about in the book of `Iyov (Job):

Job 40:15-24
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones 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 into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
KJV

Here's the Hebrew transliterated:

Iyov 40:15-24
15 Hineeh naa’ bheemowt asher `aasiytiy `imaakh chaatsiyr kabaaqaar yo’kheel:
16 Hineeh naa’ kochow bmaatnaayv v’onow bishriyreey biTnow:
17 Yachpots znaaVow kmow aarez giydeey pachadaayv ysoraaguw:
18 `Atsaamaayv afiyqeey nchuwshaah graamaayv kimTiyl barzel:
19 Huw’ ree’shiyt darkheey Eel haa`osow yageesh charbow:
20 Kiy buwl haariym yis’uw low vkhaal chayat hasaadeh ysachaquw shaam:
21 Tachat tse’eliym yishkaaV bceeter qaaneh uwVitsaah:
22 Ycukuhuw tse’eliym tsilalow ycubuwhuw `arVeey naachal:
23 Heen ya`ashoq naahaar lo’ yachpowz yiVTach kiy yaagiyach Yardeen el piyhuw:
24 B`eeynaayv yiqaachenuw bmowqshiym yinqaaV aaf:
JPS Hebrew-English TANAKH

Again, many in the Institute for Creation Research believe this description to be that of a diplodocus or an apatosaurus (once together called a "brontosaurus," although technically there's no such thing as a "brontosaur"). The balance of its weight is found in its rear hips - its "loins." Its fundamental strength is found in its abdominal muscles. It has a huge tail as a counterweight, much larger than those of a water ox, a hippopotamus, or an elephant that it could indeed "swing like a cedar." It would have to gulp down huge amounts of water to flush the food it eats to its stomach. And, God Himself said, "Huw' ree'shiyt darkheey Eel." "He's first-in-rank of-the-roads/ways of-God." His bones are said to be like "tubes of brass" and his vertebrae like "forgings of iron." They don't break very easily!

Verse 23 says that he doesn't spook or run away in fear. He is confident that he can gush forth a descending river - a Jordan - with his mouth! What a defense! We have no known animal like that today. So, what is it? We really know so little about the creatures we call "dinosaurs." Oh, we know about their bone-structure; we know about external things like how they laid their eggs and what they ate from coprolite, but we don't really know what their skin/scales were like! We don't know the shapes of their muscles and fatty tissue! We don't even know about their cartilage! All of that decayed before fossilization! We can only guess from the bone structure what shape of muscles would be attached! Even bones aren't actually found; all we have are casts and fossils-rock and mineral deposited where the bones used to be! When we ASSUME that they are reptilian from the bone structure, with a few exceptions, we can only GUESS what their skin and scales were like based on MODERN reptiles, but we don't truly KNOW, unless the fossils have somehow captured that information!

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