Leviathan and Behemoth

July 25, 2020 (Saturday)

 

“And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.” [Genesis 1:20 – 23 ESV]

 

On day five, God created the living creatures in the sea and the creatures that fly. On days 1 – 3 God is separating things. On days 4 – 6, God is filling the earth with plants and creatures. The image of “waters swarm with swarms” gives the impression the seas were immediately full. The image of “great sea creatures” means large in size. This covers the kinds of huge sea creatures now believed to be extinct. Again notice they reproduce after their “kinds.”

 

The word translated “birds” here is the generic word for “flying.” This would include bats, birds, and other flying creatures. Keep an eye on the expression “living creatures.” I’ll get back to it.

 

On day six creation continues, “And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” [Genesis 1:25 – 25 ESV]

 

The creation story takes a twist here. Notice land animals are NOT created out of nothing. The text states “let the earth bring forth.” Why did God chose to create them out of the land rather out of nothing? The answer may be that humanity was crated out of the earth as well. There seems to be a connection between humanity and land creatures.

 

Three categories of land animals are created. “Livestock” would be domesticate-able animals. “Creeping things” probably covers reptiles and amphibians. “Beasts” would describe everything else. 

In Job 40 records the existence of a large land creature called “behemoth” while Job 41 records the existence of a large sea creature called “leviathan.” Technically the Genesis account covers creatures we think of as “dinosaurs” and other massive extinct creatures. Demonstrating the shifting perspective of history, the KJV and its puritan rival the Geneva Bible theorized (before the discovery of dinosaurs) the behemoth was an elephant.

 

Remember the “living creatures” phrase? I’ll pick that up next time.