Behemoth (mythology)

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Behemoth and Leviathan (detail shows Behemoth), lithograph by William Blake

Behemoth ( Hebrew בהמות Bəhēmôth , Behemot , B'hemot : "animals", "monster"; Arabic بهيموث Bahīmūth or بهموت Bahamūt ) is the name of a monster from the Tanach . In some traditions it is represented as a land creature, the counterpart to the sea monster Leviathan and the (non-biblical) bird Ziz .

Name and shape

Presumably בהבות bəhēmôth is the plural form of בהמה bəhēmāh , which means "animal" in Hebrew ; it was therefore a " pluralis excellentiae " to underline the size and importance of the mighty monster by doubling a noun . Behemoth bears the features of various animals, especially the hippopotamus , but also the elephant , the water buffalo and a goat . The idea of ​​a hippopotamus -like monster was possibly influenced by the ancient Egyptian god Seth , whose attribute the hippopotamus was considered to be.

Biblical sources

According to Job 40:19, Behemoth - like its counterpart Leviathan - was created “as the first of the works of God”. He also gave him "his sword".

A detailed description can be found in Hi 40.15–24  LUT , the only explicit mention in the Bible. There his power and strength serve as a symbol for the fruitlessness of Job's rebellion against his fate.

“See there, the Behemoth [...] it eats grass like an ox. [...] his strength is in his loins and his capacity in the tendons of his stomach. Its tail stretches like a cedar tree; the tendons of his thighs are tightly woven. His bones are like tubes of iron; his bones are like iron rods. [...] He likes to lie in the shade, in the pipe and hidden in the mud. The bushes cover it with its shadow and the brook willows surround it. See, he swallows the river in himself and does not take it seriously; it seems that he wants to scoop out the Jordan with his mouth. [...] Do you catch him in front of his eyes and pierce his nose with ropes? "

- Luther translation from 1534

Some other translations of the same passage from Job, however , render Behemoth with "hippopotamus".

Extra-biblical sources

Apocrypha

From these biblical traditions, the Apocrypha draws the motif of Behemoth as a male mythical creature, which together with its female counterpart Leviathan is sent by God to chastise people ( 1. Hen 59,7ff. ). While the latter rolls on the bottom of the sea, Behemoth rules the desert. In the end, both victims will be saved by God's grace (1 Hen 60: 7).

Talmud

After a usually for Thanksgiving presented hymn called Akdamut or the Talmud -Traktat Bava Bathra however, it comes to the battle of Armageddon at the end of times for a fight behemoths with its counterpart Leviathan who seeks to impale his opponent with his horns, while Leviathan by beats the land monster with its fins. Finally the Lord will kill them both with his mighty sword and give the flesh of the two monsters together with that of the bird Ziz for food to the righteous.

Demonological literature

In later times, Behemoth was associated with the devil . According to Collin de Plancy and Anton LaVey, for example, he is considered a stupid and voracious demon and is therefore supposed to work as the “cupbearer and cellar master of hell”.

Impact history

The mythical monster inspired Thomas Hobbes to use the title of a philosophical work, Behemoth, or the long Parliament , which deals with the English Civil War . Franz Neumann also ties in with the local understanding of Behemoth with his structural analysis of National Socialism of the same name, Behemoth. Structure and Practice of National Socialism 1933–1944 , at.

The figure of the Behemoth was processed literarily in many ways. It appears in the following works:

In addition, Behemoth has a Polish metal band , the album 3: Flight of the Behemoth by the group Sunn O))) , an excavator , a high-tech bicycle and beings from the video games or video game series Master of Magic , Final Fantasy , Fallout , Savage and Savage 2 , Heroes of Newerth , Heroes of Might and Magic , Guild Wars 2 , Runescape , Horizon Zero Dawn and in the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 there is a swarm of Tyranids called Behemoth. In the series The Expanse , the flagship of the Outer Planets Alliance (OPA) is also called Behemoth.

See also

literature

  • BF Batto: Art. Behemoth. In: K. van der Toorn; B. Becking; Pieter W. van der Horst (ed.): Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Leiden, Boston, Cologne, 2 1999, ISBN 9-00-411119-0 , pp. 165-169.
  • Norbert Borrmann: Lexicon of monsters, ghosts and demons. Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-233-4 .
  • Fred Hartmann: The Secret of Leviathan. Schwengeler, 2005, ISBN 978-3-85666-374-2 .

Web links

Commons : Behemoth  - collection of images, videos and audio files