") It seems certain contrast in which
ticular color, brown, gray, or blue, with a white veil 1>10tl- •» 3o '■> Plm" xxvllb 8)- over the head. Black has become their general color, I tnat an amphibious animal is meant from th and to their former habit is added a cap in the shape ' between vcr. lo, 20, 21, 22, and ver. 23, 24, of an inverted shell, with a long black tassel. The the argument seems to be, "Though he feedeth upon association made itself useful by receiving wretched ; grass," etc., like other animals, yet he liveth and de- females by mil- iiv the sick ' lighteth in the waters, and nets are set for him there and by educating °poor chil- as for fish' which h.v llis Sreat strength he pierces dren. . In Germany they were , through. (4.) The mention of his tail in vcr. 17 does therefore called *• ,ii!-v;>m, u. not agree with the elephant, nor can 1V\, as some have Like all the monastic orders, thought, signify the trunk of that animal; and (5.),
their community was invaded by great disorders, and the synod of Fritzlar in 1244 for- badc to receive any sister be- fore her fortieth j'ear of age. Many were also drawn into the heresies of the Frtttic, Hi, and the whole community had to atone for it by continued persecution, ('lenient V, on the council of Vienna, in 1311, decreed by two bulls the sup- pression of the Beguines and Beghards infected with here- sy ; but John XXII explain- ed these bulls as referring merely to the heretical Be- ghards and Beguines, and in- — 7?*~z=^-~~~£zj=r^- terfered in favor of the ortho- Leguine of Amsterdam, dox Beguines in Germany
though niEiia may be the plural "majestatis" of fTCll2, beast, yet it is probably an Egyptian word sig- nifying sea-ox, put into a Semitic form, and used as a singular.
The following is a close translation of the poetical passage in Job (xl, 15-24) describing the animal in question : Lo, now, Behemoth that I have made [alike] with thee! Grass like the [neat-] cattle will lie eat.
l.o! n,i\v, his strength [is] in his loins, Even hia force in [the] sinews of his belly. lie can curve hia tail [only] like a cedar; The tendons of his haunches must bo interlaced : llis bones [are as] tubes of copper, His frame like a welding of iron. //.- [is the] master.piece of « rod : llis .Maker [only] can supply his sword [i. e. tusl'.ei ]. 1'nr produce will (the] mountains be:ir lor lnia ; Even [though] ;ill [the] animals of the field may Fpors Beneath [the] lotuses will he lie, [there.
In [the] covert of [the] reedy marsh :
Lotuses shall entwine him his shade. Osier- of [the] brook shall enclose him.
BEHEMOTH 728
BEHISTUN
Ix>! [the] river may swell— he will not start;
He will be bold, although n .Ionian should rush to his mouth. In hi- [verv] f\v shoulil lout') takehirri. Through [the] snares would [his] nose pierce.
" But in some respects this description is more api.liral.Ii' to the elephant, while in others it is equally BO to both animals. Hence the term behemoth, taken intensively (for in some places it is admitted to desig- nate cattle in general), may he assumed to he a poeti- cal personification of the great Pachydermata, or even Herbivora, wherein the idea of hippopotamus is pre- dominant. This view accounts for the ascription to it of characters not truly applicable to one species; for instance, the tail is likened to a cedar (provided 33T really denotes the tail, which the context makes very doubtful ; see Zeddel, Beitr. z. Bill. Zoologle), which is only admissible in the case of the elephant; again, "the mountains bring him forth food;" "he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan," a river which elephants alone could reach; "his nose pierceth through snares," certainly more indicative of that animal's proboscis, with its extraordinary delicacy of scent and touch, ever cautiously applied, than of the obtuse perceptions of the river-horse. Finally, the elephant is far more dan- gerous as an enemy than the hippopotamus, which nu- merous pictorial sculptures on the monuments of Egypt represent as fearlessly speared by a single hunter stand- ing on his float of log and reeds. Yet, although the elephant is scarcely less fond of water, the description referring to manners, such as lying under the shade of willows, among reeds, in fens, etc., is more directly characteristic of the hippopotamus. The book of Job appears, from many internal indications, to have been written in Asia, and is full of knowledge, although that knowledge is not expressed according to the precise technicalities of modern science ; it offers pictures in magnificent outline, without condescending to minute and labored details. Considered in this light, the ex- pression in Psa. 1, 10, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle (behemoth) upon a thousand hills," acquires a grandeur and force far surpassing those furnished by the mere idea of cattle of various kinds. ]f, then, we take this plural noun in the sense here briefly indicated, we may, in like manner, con- sider the Leviathan (q. v.) its counterpart, a similar- ly generalized term, with the idea of crocodile most prominent ; and as this name indicates a twisting ani- mal, and, as appears from various texts, evidently in- cludes the great pythons, cetacea, and sharks of the