Dinosaurs and the Bible?
The word dinosaur doesn't exist in the Bible. For that matter, neither do the words automobile or computer exist in the Scriptures. The words used are great sea monsters, beasts of the earth, behemoth and leviathan. This word dinosaur was first coined in 1842 by creationist Sir Richard Owen who was the first superintendent of the British Museum. So the word dinosaur is a recent name for a land animal that is probably extinct or maybe some relatives still exist today in other forms.
“Great sea monsters (hataninim)” is a category of large sea dwelling creatures used with the word hag'dolim meaning large monster (Genesis 1). These hataninim in verse 21 are larger than any other fish or whale. When you see the words in English, “beasts of the earth" as they were created in Genesis 1, it is B’hemoth in Hebrew in the book of Job and they are considered larger than the cattle and other land creatures such as elephants, rhinos or hippos, etc. (Job 40). Not all "dinosaurs" discovered in the fossil record are very large so not all are B'hemoth. “Leviathan (Liv’yathan)” is a type of sea-dwelling fire breathing dragon (Job 41). A large fish in Hebrew is dag gadol from Jonah 1:17. Dag gadol, some suggest, could have been a form of Liv’yathan larger than a whale.
The term "great sea monsters" is found in Genesis 1:21:
Verse 21
vayib’ra’ ‘Elohim ‘eth-hataninim hag’dolim
v’eth kal-nephesh hachayah haromeseth ‘asher shar’tsu hamayim l’minehem
v’eth kal-`oph kanaph l’minehu. vayar’ ‘Elohim ki-tov.
Elohim created the great sea monsters
and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind,
and every winged bird after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was good
Beasts of the earth are found in Genesis 1:24 and 25:
Verse 24
vayo’mer ‘Elohim totse’ ha’arets nephesh chayah
l’minah b’hemah varemes v’chay’tho-’erets l’minah vay’hiy-ken.
Then Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures
after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
Verse 25
vaya`as ‘Elohim ‘eth-chayath ha’arets l’minah v’eth-hab’hemah l’minah
v’eth kal-remes ha’adamah l’minehu vayar’ ‘Elohim ki-tov.
Elohim made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind,
and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was good.
Pay particular attention to the word l'minah or its variations in Hebrew in these verses from Genesis 1:21-25. Every single living thing, whether fish, bird or land dwelling animal and creeping thing is created after its kind (l'minah). The word species does not exist anywhere in the Bible! The word is kind and is unique to each category or type of living thing created by Elohim Jesus. Nothing from one kind ever evolved into a living thing from another kind as we are taught in our schools or see in the media as macroevolution - where everything is species.
The atrocity of it all is that we, as humans, are put in that same category as species. You will not find anywhere in the the Scriptures that say we are created after its or our kind. We are unique and created in the Image and Likeness of Elohim and no other created living thing shares that with us (Genesis 1:26-27). Additionally note in Genesis verses 21 and 25 above that Elohim saw that it was good. When man was created, suddenly everything about creation became very good (Genesis 1:31). Do you suppose that the whole purpose of Creation was just for us? Elohim took six literal days to create everything and He could have done it instantly if He had wanted to.That is how Powerful our God is! The Hebrew for day is yom and is followed by a number that identifies it for each day of Creation. Click on this link for the Hebrew and you will see how yom is used in Genesis 1.
Behemoth (B’hemoth) comes from several Scripture areas particularly from Job 40:15-24:
Job 40:15-24
15 “Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 “He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?
Note verse 17 of Job 40. What kind of animal alive today has a tail like a cedar? No elephant, rhino, etc looks anything similar to what is described in Job 40 except for a type of large dinosaur discovered in the fossil record. The rest of verse 17 and 18 are interesting as well. Verse 24 explains the difficulty of capturing or taming this animal.
Leviathan (Liv’yathan) comes from several sources and is found in Job, Chapter 41:
Job 41
41 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for your servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle—you will not do it again!
9 Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who would come near him with a bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
15 His back is made of rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh stick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
24 His heart is hard as a stone,
hard as the lower millstone.
25 When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
for him sling stones are turned to stubble.
29 Clubs are counted as stubble;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 He makes the deep boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth there is not his like,
a creature without fear.
34 He sees everything that is high;
he is king over all the sons of pride.”
A fire breathing dragon? I thought that was a myth or tale included in children's stories or in the movies? Here it is right in Job 41 verses 18-21. They actually existed. By careful reading of all chapter 41, you see the enormity and size of this beast. He is also very difficult to kill, capture or tame.
Job could have lived around the time of Abraham. God was telling Job all about the large beasts He created that sound like dinosaurs or dragons called B’hemoth and leviathan. So, could dinosaurs have been on the earth during Job’s time? - (Abraham, also?). Check out the page titled "Dinosaurs and Man Together?"
Leviathan is also one of the great sea monsters as found in this verse from Isaiah:
Isaiah 27:1
27 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Psalm 74 is interesting. Both sea monster names hataninim) and leviathan (Liv’yathan) are mentioned in verses 13 and 14.
Charles Darwin got it wrong! And unfortunately, large numbers of people get it wrong along with many Christians. I would not like to tell Jesus, the Creator (Colossians 1:16) I did not believe His Word (John 1:1-18). You can see how the son of the founder of the Institute for Creation Research views the problem by clicking here.
“Great sea monsters (hataninim)” is a category of large sea dwelling creatures used with the word hag'dolim meaning large monster (Genesis 1). These hataninim in verse 21 are larger than any other fish or whale. When you see the words in English, “beasts of the earth" as they were created in Genesis 1, it is B’hemoth in Hebrew in the book of Job and they are considered larger than the cattle and other land creatures such as elephants, rhinos or hippos, etc. (Job 40). Not all "dinosaurs" discovered in the fossil record are very large so not all are B'hemoth. “Leviathan (Liv’yathan)” is a type of sea-dwelling fire breathing dragon (Job 41). A large fish in Hebrew is dag gadol from Jonah 1:17. Dag gadol, some suggest, could have been a form of Liv’yathan larger than a whale.
The term "great sea monsters" is found in Genesis 1:21:
Verse 21
vayib’ra’ ‘Elohim ‘eth-hataninim hag’dolim
v’eth kal-nephesh hachayah haromeseth ‘asher shar’tsu hamayim l’minehem
v’eth kal-`oph kanaph l’minehu. vayar’ ‘Elohim ki-tov.
Elohim created the great sea monsters
and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind,
and every winged bird after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was good
Beasts of the earth are found in Genesis 1:24 and 25:
Verse 24
vayo’mer ‘Elohim totse’ ha’arets nephesh chayah
l’minah b’hemah varemes v’chay’tho-’erets l’minah vay’hiy-ken.
Then Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures
after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
Verse 25
vaya`as ‘Elohim ‘eth-chayath ha’arets l’minah v’eth-hab’hemah l’minah
v’eth kal-remes ha’adamah l’minehu vayar’ ‘Elohim ki-tov.
Elohim made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind,
and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and Elohim saw that it was good.
Pay particular attention to the word l'minah or its variations in Hebrew in these verses from Genesis 1:21-25. Every single living thing, whether fish, bird or land dwelling animal and creeping thing is created after its kind (l'minah). The word species does not exist anywhere in the Bible! The word is kind and is unique to each category or type of living thing created by Elohim Jesus. Nothing from one kind ever evolved into a living thing from another kind as we are taught in our schools or see in the media as macroevolution - where everything is species.
The atrocity of it all is that we, as humans, are put in that same category as species. You will not find anywhere in the the Scriptures that say we are created after its or our kind. We are unique and created in the Image and Likeness of Elohim and no other created living thing shares that with us (Genesis 1:26-27). Additionally note in Genesis verses 21 and 25 above that Elohim saw that it was good. When man was created, suddenly everything about creation became very good (Genesis 1:31). Do you suppose that the whole purpose of Creation was just for us? Elohim took six literal days to create everything and He could have done it instantly if He had wanted to.That is how Powerful our God is! The Hebrew for day is yom and is followed by a number that identifies it for each day of Creation. Click on this link for the Hebrew and you will see how yom is used in Genesis 1.
Behemoth (B’hemoth) comes from several Scripture areas particularly from Job 40:15-24:
Job 40:15-24
15 “Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 “He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?
Note verse 17 of Job 40. What kind of animal alive today has a tail like a cedar? No elephant, rhino, etc looks anything similar to what is described in Job 40 except for a type of large dinosaur discovered in the fossil record. The rest of verse 17 and 18 are interesting as well. Verse 24 explains the difficulty of capturing or taming this animal.
Leviathan (Liv’yathan) comes from several sources and is found in Job, Chapter 41:
Job 41
41 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for your servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle—you will not do it again!
9 Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who would come near him with a bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
15 His back is made of rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
20 Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh stick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
24 His heart is hard as a stone,
hard as the lower millstone.
25 When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
for him sling stones are turned to stubble.
29 Clubs are counted as stubble;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 He makes the deep boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth there is not his like,
a creature without fear.
34 He sees everything that is high;
he is king over all the sons of pride.”
A fire breathing dragon? I thought that was a myth or tale included in children's stories or in the movies? Here it is right in Job 41 verses 18-21. They actually existed. By careful reading of all chapter 41, you see the enormity and size of this beast. He is also very difficult to kill, capture or tame.
Job could have lived around the time of Abraham. God was telling Job all about the large beasts He created that sound like dinosaurs or dragons called B’hemoth and leviathan. So, could dinosaurs have been on the earth during Job’s time? - (Abraham, also?). Check out the page titled "Dinosaurs and Man Together?"
Leviathan is also one of the great sea monsters as found in this verse from Isaiah:
Isaiah 27:1
27 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Psalm 74 is interesting. Both sea monster names hataninim) and leviathan (Liv’yathan) are mentioned in verses 13 and 14.
Charles Darwin got it wrong! And unfortunately, large numbers of people get it wrong along with many Christians. I would not like to tell Jesus, the Creator (Colossians 1:16) I did not believe His Word (John 1:1-18). You can see how the son of the founder of the Institute for Creation Research views the problem by clicking here.