Biblica - Vol 93 (2012) Fox, Michael V., Behemoth and Leviathan (2012)

Scholarly consensus with regard to Behemoth and Leviathan in Job 40,15-24 and 40,25-41,26 emphasizes the evil and danger inherent in both. Behemoth is usually identified as the hippopotamus and Leviathan as the crocodile or a mythological dragon. The present article accepts the former identification but argues that Leviathan in the Theophany (as in Psalm 104,26) is based on the whale. The Theophany marginalizes the evil and dangers of the beasts. The author has left their hostility and violence in the background and has made them less aggressive and menacing, though still powerful, indomitable, and awesome.