Sandokiri
anonymous attributes
Are there mention of dinosaurs in the Bible? Yes.
The word "dinosaur" was not invented until 1840's. So what word does the Bible use to refer to dinosaurs? They called them dragons.
A dragon is a reptile.
Let's take a look at the references to dragons that we have.
The word translated dragon in KJV is tannyn; this is used in a variety of ways, including:
-As a type of sea creature (Genesis 1)
-As a serpent (Exodus 7, Aaron's sticks-to-snakes duel with the sorcerers)
-As a poisonous serpent (Deuteronomy 32)
-As some creature poetically paired with owls (occurs in Job 30, and in Isaiah 34) and capable of dwelling in ruined lands
-As the same creature as Leviathan (Isaiah 27 and Psalm 74)
-As a symbol of Egypt (though the previous references to Leviathan also refer to Egypt.)
So tannyn most likely refers to venomous snakes, and particularly those that are aquatic. It is also possible that the oarfish - a serpent-like fish species - is being identified in some cases (for example, as the "whales" (tannyn) in Genesis 1.)
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In the KJV we have the word "unicorn" What is a unicorn in the bible? The KJV Bible was translated in the year 1611, lets see what a dictionary of that time says about "UNICORN" ...
The Monoceros is an extincted one horned rhinoceros, hence "Mono-" mean "one" "Mono-ceros"
Actually, the Hebrew term is re'em, which is normally understood to be the aurochs; its name was rendered as
monokerws (or, in genitive, as monokerwtos,) for which unicorn is a literal translation.
The Assryians had such a beast in their mythology, as a combination of aurochs and lion; and Pliny described monoceros as having a horse's body, a stag's head, a boar's tail, elephant feet, and one black horn; this is where "unicorn = one-horned horse" came from.
The extinct rhino is most likely
elasmotherium; there are other megarhinos, but elasmotherium is known to have lived within human prehistory, having faded out early into the upper Palaeolithic period (spanning from about 50kya to the invention of agriculture around 9500 years ago.) There is no animal actually designated monoceros, though.
We do have legends stemming from probable observations of these megarhinos, eg in China (from Mongolia) with the qi-lin.
Not to mention this.
Job 40:15-24
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength [is] in his loins, and his force [is] in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
18 His bones [are as] strong pieces of brass; his bones [are] like bars of iron.
19 He [is] the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make hissword to approach [unto him].
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him [with] their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, [and] hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: [his] nose pierceth through snares.
The entire description given in these verses fit certain types of dinosaurs very well. "He moveth his tail like a cedar:"
This verse alone should be enough to put the whole issue to rest as to whether or not God is describing a dinosaur to Job in this verse. Keep in mind, God is talking to Job about a living animal, that Job is familiar with. What land creatures do we know of today that have tails the size of a cedar tree? Before that question can be answered, it must first be determined how big a cedar tree is. We obtained information on this from two different sources.
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The biblical unicorn was a real animal, but not as we think of it today as in Greek mythology. The Bible refers to the unicorn in the context of familiar animals, such as peacocks, lambs, lions, bullocks, goats, donkeys, horses, dogs, eagles, and calves Job 39:9–12.1 In Job 38–41, God reminded Job of the characteristics of a variety of impressive animals He had created, showing Job that God was far above man in power and strength.
Job had to be familiar with the animals on God’s list for the illustration to be effective. God points out in Job 39:9–12 that the unicorn, "whose strength is great" and "is useless for agricultural work, refusing to serve man or "harrow (plow) the valley" This visual aid gave Job a glimpse of God’s greatness. An imaginary fantasy animal would have defeated the purpose of God’s illustration.
rhinoceros and narwhal are defiantly possibilities, but which one doesn't matter, Point in fact, it was not referring to a mythical beast. The Bible describes unicorns skipping like calves in Psalm 29:6, traveling like bullocks, and bleeding when they die (Isaiah 34:7). The presence of a very strong horn on this powerful, independent-minded creature is intended to make readers think of strength.
The absence of these animals in todays world should not cause us to doubt its past existence. Think of the dodo bird. It does not exist today, but we do not doubt that it existed in the past.
The elasmotherium, an extinct giant rhinoceros, provides another possibility for the unicorn’s identity. The elasmotherium’s 33-inch-long skull has a huge bony protuberance on the frontal bone consistent with the support structure for a massive horn. The biblical unicorn could have been the elasmotherium.
And of course there is your idea. Assyrian archaeology provides one other possible. The biblical unicorn could have been an aurochs a kind of wild ox known to the Assyrians as rimu. The aurochs’s horns were symmetrical and often appeared as one in profile, as can be seen on Ashurnasirpal II’s palace relief and Esarhaddon’s stone prism. Fighting rimu was a popular sport for Assyrian kings. On a broken obelisk, for instance, Tiglath-Pileser I boasted of slaying them in the Lebanese mountains.
Extinct since about 1627, aurochs, Bos primigenius, were huge bovine creatures. Julius Caesar described them in his Gallic Wars as,
" . . . a little below the elephant in size, and of the appearance, color, and shape of a bull. Their strength and speed are extraordinary; they spare neither man nor wild beast which they have espied(Which goes with the biblical account that it cannot be tamed). . . . Not even when taken very young can they be rendered familiar to men and tamed. The size, shape, and appearance of their horns differ much from the horns of our oxen. These they anxiously seek after, and bind at the tips with silver, and use as cups at their most sumptuous entertainments."
