Behemoth, from the book of Job, was a dinosaur

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Contents 1 Claim 2 Sources 3 Responses 3.1 Why the Argument is Irrelevant 3.2 Why the Passage is not about a Dinosaur 4 Fallacies contained in this claim 5 References 6 Related claims 7 Acknowledgments

Claim

Behemoth, from Job 40:15-24, was a dinosaur. Job 40:17 says, "His tail sways like a cedar." Such tails only existed on dinosaurs.

Sources

• Willis, Tom, 2000 (22 Apr.). Creationism (interview with Tom Willis), New Scientist [1].
• Willis, Tom, 1997 (Nov/Dec.). Dinosaurs -- Incredible New Evidence Of Their VERY Recent Life. The CSA News, [2].
• Steel, Allan K., 2001 (Aug). Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?, TJ 15(2):42–45 [3]

Responses

Why the Argument is Irrelevant

1. The (very remote) possibility of some dinosaur breeds surviving extinction does not invalidate evolutionary theory at all.
2. Even the existance of as yet unknown creatures does not invalidate evolutionary theory, as long as the species is genetically and morphologically consistent with the rest of the evolutionary record. Note that every time we do discover a new species, whether or not it fits into the record constitutes a test of common descent, and so far every new species fits the very specific pattern demanded.

Why the Passage is not about a Dinosaur

1. Like many descriptions in the Old Testament, the passage is written in a poetic idiom of Hebrew, leaving the meaning, even the exact translation of individual words, fairly ambiguous. There is also no reason to assume that the author of the text personally saw the creature being described and is describing an existing creature accurately: rumors and exagerrated/confused descriptions of actual creatures are quite common in antiquity.
2. However, even if the beast is being described accurately most academic scholars believe that it is very plausible that the passage is actually describing the beast's virility, not it's literal tail. The word "tail" as used in this verse is used as a euphemism for penis. Thus the verse can be translated as "He stiffens his penis like a pine." If this view is accurate, it could further indicate that Behemoth is meant to be a mammal, not a Dinosaur.
3. The passages on the Behemoth may also refer to its "navel," which is a physical structure where an umbilical cord would have been attached when he was in his mother's uterus. Dinosaurs, being egg-laying animals, did not have umbilical cords, and therefore did not have navels.
4. Another part of the passage mentions Behemoth to "eat grass like an ox." Throughout most of the sauropods' evolutionary history, they were wholly incapable of eating grass, especially since the vast majority of sauropod species predate the appearance of grass (at the very end of the Cretaceous). Of course, young-earth creationists don't believe that, so this will not work as a response. However, with their spoon-like teeth and rake-like jaws, sauropods were adapted to eating tree leaves and conifer needles in trees, and not easily able to crop grass growing on the ground.
5. Behemoth in the passage is also portrayed as an amphibious animal in high contrast to the actual sauropods, who are all terrestrial animals. In the traditional view, this passage closely describes the hippopotamus, a dangerous herbivorous animal that lives an amphibious life in swamps, lakes, and rivers of Africa. That the word "behemoth" is believed to be derived from the ancient Egyptian name for the hippopotamus, "pehemau," which literally translates as "water-ox," lends credence to this idea [4]
6. According to Jewish legend, Behemoth, along with the Leviathan, and the legendary bird, the Ziz, will be eaten by the Jewish people in a feast on Judgement. And as such, all three beasts are presumed to be kosher. According to kosher laws, a sauropod dinosaur would not be kosher, as sauropods were incapable of chewing cud, and did not have hooves.

Fallacies contained in this claim

• add fallacies

References

1. Mitchell, 1987. The Book of Job. North Point Press, San Francisco, CA. Cited in Pennock, Robert, Tower of Babel, p. 217.
2. The Genesis Panthesis website that has an article refuting the claim about Behemoth being a dinosaur [5]
3. The Truth About Behemoth

Related claims

• Man and dinosaurs coexisted
• Ica stones show humans and dinosaurs coexisted
• Dinosaur figurines from Acambaro show human/dino association
• Leviathan, from the book of Job, was a dinosaur
• Dragons were dinosaurs
• Some dinosaurs breathed fire

Acknowledgments