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Behemoth

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A colossal, land-dwelling beast in the Book of Job, symbolizing untameable earthly power and divine sovereignty; in poetry, it represents the sublime, the monstrous, or creation's awe-inspiring magnitude.

Detailed Definition
In Job, Behemoth embodies untamable strength, feeding among reeds while human beings remain unable to master it. The creature is less a simple monster than a reminder that creation exceeds human categories and control. Poets use Behemoth to give bodily form to overwhelming appetite, geological time, or the strange dignity of forces that terrify us precisely because they do not exist for our purposes.
Example
Example in poetry:
Behemoth appears in Job as a gigantic creature whose strength humbles human pride.; A poet could use Behemoth to represent untamable nature: “The Behemoth stirred beneath the river reeds.”; The name can enlarge an ordinary animal into a mythic presence in a poem.; “No bridle fit the Behemoth of the storm” uses the term as a metaphor for overwhelming force.
Additional Notes
Behemoth is a primeval land creature described in Job 40:15–24, portrayed with extraordinary strength and a tail compared poetically with a cedar. Its identity is debated; it may be a stylized hippopotamus, a mythic creature, or a symbol of untamable creation. It is paired with Leviathan.
Also Known As
Behemot 'potamus
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