Three different "beast" names occur in the book of Job. They are Behemoth, Leviathan, and Rahab (not to be confused with the name of the Jericho woman: her name is spelled differently in the Hebrew, and would have been better transliterated Rachab). By tracing these names in a concordance, it becomes clear that the Sprit does not intend us to think of literal beasts at all. Rather, the book of Job contains probably the earliest use of mighty serpents as a metaphor for the rebelliousness of man. This metaphor occurs within two of Job’s speeches, plus it forms the pinnacle of God’s message to Job. This ancient usage lays the foundation for other Biblical use of the imagery, which finds its culmination in the mighty dragon of Revelation: a mighty force in the world, set up in direct opposition to the will of God.

To the heathens of the ancient world, Rahab was a mythical sea-monster, slain by Baal in the primordial choas. Biblically though, Rahab is used consistently to refer to Egypt, a monster in the sea of the nations. The name Rahab literally means storm or arrogance and, unfortunately, the KJV typically translates the name away, using the common noun pride or the proud, though the margin sometimes makes reference to the original. The name occurs just six times in the Hebrew. They are as follows (NIV)

The message is crystal clear. The Egypt beast, pierced by God in the destruction at the Red Sea, is worthless as a means of protection despite her boasts of strength. In the future, however, Rahab Egypt will acknowledge God, along with Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Cush (this is a list of nations, including Rahab). Thus Job’s use of Rahab has been matched by later uses in the Psalms and Isaiah. The parallels between Job 26 and Is 51 are particularly striking.

Here’s one interesting implication: Job knew of the destruction of the power of Egypt in the Red Sea. When combined with other evidence, we have to conclude that the events of the book occurred at about the same time as Israel’s wandering in the wilderness.

The name Leviathan indicates a wreathed or coiling animal, i.e. a serpent. Apart from the occurrence in Job 41, Leviathan occurs in four other passages. They are as follows (NIV).

The use of Leviathan is not as obvious as Rahab was. Psalm 74 makes it clear that Egypt is intended, whereas Isaiah 26 uses Leviathan to indicate Babylon in its immediate fulfilment. In the future fulfilment, we can expect Leviathan to represent the national power(s) that God will overcome when Israel is finally given eternal peace. The principle is clear, however. Leviathan is the mighty beast among the nations, whatever its particular form at any moment of history.

Job 3 takes this further in an interesting way. Here Leviathan seems to refer to the constellation of the dragon (around the star draco). There is a suggestion, popularised by ???, that the earliest origin of the signs of the zodiac was God’s instruction of the gospel in the heavens. If this is correct, then the dragon Leviathan is again the symbol of man’s pride and rebelliousness against God.

Behemoth is simply a plural form of the very common word behemah, a dumb beast. Most uses of behemoth are in this form, as a plural word used to indicate many beasts, cattle for instance. Sometimes, however, behemoth is used in a singular context, and here the plural seems to indicate greatness and power (a similar pattern holds with the word Elohim—sometimes it means the mighty ones (in plural) but when it occurs in a singluar context it means the great mighty one, that is God himself). Because of the element of interpretation, it is hard to be sure we have been exhaustive in capturing these uses of behemoth as some judgement about the context is required, but the following all seem to be uses in this form.

The Psalm is especially powerful. Without a doubt it uses behemoth in a singular context. David is confessing that when he coveted the success of the godless, he became as the proud end rebellious beast of mankind. But when he entered the sanctuary of God he remembered how fleeting they were for all their pomp and glory.

In the light of what we’ve seen so far, it should be clear that when God talks to Job about Behemoth and Leviathan he is not simply introducing two more animals. Some commentators, assuming that this is exactly what God is doing, criticize God’s second speech. Either they describe it as the greatest non sequiter of the book.—how does God get from talking about pride, judgment and wickedness (40:14), to talking about two more creatures??—or they claim that God’s speech gradually peters out. And so it does, if the real meaning behind these beasts is not understood.

When the general Biblical use of these words is accepted, suddenly God’s second address becomes a stunning treatise on salvation and on judgement. Here he lays the foundation for much of the symbology that occupies the later prophets. Let’s see this in some detail.

In his first address, God challenges Job with the magnitude of the natural creation. From the stars to the ostrich, what does Job know about anything? What power or strength does he have to change anything? And by this awesome challenge, Job is humbled. He is ashamed. He concedes his unworthiness. But God is not done. The natural creation is only part of God’s work. What about his greater work of salvation and judgement? This is what Job must now realise.

God starts his second address with plain speaking:

Put this now into the context of the beasts. We might paraphrase it as follows: "Job," God says, "if you can bring true justice to the world, then you also have the power to save yourself. But consider what the challenge is. Just consider what a mighty beast I made when I made you…." In the creation of mankind, the dragon of rebellion was also formed. And so the whole of God’s address is a masterful collage of symbols and metaphors later picked up and used throughout Scripture.

The following (unfinished) verse by verse commentary contains some of these links.

One final conclusion: there is no need to see Behemoth and Leviathan as distinct creatures. Rather, the coiling serpent is the mighty beast. Job 40:19 and Is 26:21 suggest this, and there is sufficient commonality between them to drive home the identity. The start of Job 41 can be read as bringing a personal challenge to Job as to whether he is able to snare the beast.

God’s challenge to us all, then, is first to be awed by the natural creation and our insignificance within it, and secondly to realise the magnitude of the task he has in bringing rightoues judgement on the rebelliousness of mankind. We can no more challenge his judgement, that we can move Orion from its place in the heavens.