behemoth

[In Ger., ., behemoth. From Heb. בְּהֵמוֹת ) behemoth ), (1) the plural of בְּהֵמָה ( behémah ) = beasts, specially the domestic quadrupeds, but also wild beasts; from obsolete root בהם ) bah am ) = to shut, to be dumb. In this latter case the plural form is the "plural of excellence or majesty" (PLURAL), unle indeed the opinion of Jablonski be correct, that there is in the old Coptic (Egyptian) language a word pehemout water-ox, which could easily be transformed into the Heb. behemoth. Compare also Arab. bahaym = beasts, brutes, wild beasts, bahimat = a quadruped, an animal wild or tame. The animal described in Job xl. 15-24. It is probably the hippopotamus, which in the time of Job seems to have been found in the Nile below the cataracts, though now it is said to occur only above them. A second opinion entertained is that Job's behemoth was the elephant; whilst a few scholars make the le probable conjecture that it was the rhinoceros. "Behold now behemoth , which I made with thee; he eateth gra as an ox."- Job xl. 15.