Beast's of The Bible


In this entry, I am focusing on beasts in the Bible, and by beasts, I mean kaiju-like gigantic creatures of possible prehistoric origin. I will not be discussing in depth the various beasts of the Apocalypse of St. John, otherwise known as the Book of Revelation, since it is generally believed these monsters are allegories for people or empires that have existed or will someday exist. I will also not be extensively covering unicorns, as tempting as that may be, because they are generally believed to be the extinct aurochs, which is a type of wild ox. Others speculate that the unicorn may be a reference to the rhinoceros and not a horse with a horn growing from its head. Nonetheless, I have included hyperlinks to the scripture verses on unicorns, and you can switch around translations for your own entertainment. The Revised Standard Version will reference unicorns as wild oxen, the Douay-Rheims Version will reference them as rhinoceros, and the King James Version as unicorns. Numbers 23:22, Numbers 24:8, Deuteronomy 33:17, Job 39, Psalm 22:21,Psalm 29:6, Psalm 93:10. 

The first creature is the Leviathan, which was a type of sea serpent or hydra that may have been completely allegorical, used to illustrate God's power and might, or perhaps an ancient prehistoric fish or reptile, or something entirely of its own. Both in the Bible and the Apocryphal Book of Enoch, God, or God in the flesh (the Messiah), kills Leviathan and feeds the Hebrews with its meat. Isaiah 27:1, Psalm 74:14. This could again be allegorical, referencing the future battle against Satan, the ancient serpent and dragon, who will be cast into Hell in the Book of Revelation, as Leviathan is described as a hydra in Psalm 74:14, and the Beast of the Apocalypse is described as a seven-headed chimeric dragon in the Book of Revelation. Likely it's both: that Leviathan was, or is, a giant primordial beast of the deep sea, but that its image is used to describe eschatological events in a visual medium to help the reader understand the concepts of the prophecy. This is especially true considering God describes Leviathan as an animal He has created to play in the sea, and other passages describe Leviathan's beastly might in Psalm 104:26, Job 3:8, and Job 41. Lastly a bit of Catholic/Orthodox Christian  trivia Psalm 104 is hymned during Vespers and the hours in prayer and I always enjoy and find it whimsical during Vespers service. 

Behemoth is the primordial counterpart of Leviathan as the Bibles land roaming Kaiju found in Job 40:15-24. Many have speculated as to what exactly Behemoth is? Some believe it to be a hippopotamus and that it's counterpart Leviathan is actually a crocodile. Others believe that Behemoth is a oxen probably an auroch or an that it is an elephant. 

The last beast I will cover is the most unknown because it may not be evidently obvious to the reader and was more obvious to those who lived in biblical times and knew the folklore and mythology of their age. Ziz is best described in the Apocryphal Book of Enoch as a phoenix-like bird, or almost like the Native American Thunderbird. Ziz completes the primordial trio of monsters, and in the Book of Enoch, God and the three monsters have an "all monsters attack" rampage, bringing about a proverbial Ragnarok, ending with God killing the beasts directly or through intermediaries such as the Messiah or angels. After the beasts are slain, the righteous enjoy a banquet in the heavens with God. While this story is not told in the canonical scriptures, it is, in part, mentioned through the slaying of Leviathan, and Ziz is mentioned in the Bible in 2 Chronicles 20:16, Psalm 50:11, and Psalm 80:13. Unfortunately the last two passages do not mention Ziz by name and the first passage only references a mountain pass named after Ziz. The actual original language of the Bible does mention zīz śāday but most translations don't reference Ziz directly and others mention fowl. 

Time will tell if in the End of Days we shall witness a monsters mash of epic proportions giving Legendary’s Monsterverse a run for it's money?


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