Today's Word "Behemoth"
Published in Vocabulary
behemoth \bee-HEE-mehth\ (noun) - An enormously large beast or other object.
"I leaped downward to the ground, hoping that the behemoth did not see me. I gently rested the palm of my hands onto the ground, feeling the life underneath." -- Derric Euperio, 'The Adventures of Ryushin'
Today's word is Hebrew behemoth, used in Job 40:15 and following: "Behold now, the behemoth, which I made as well as thee; He eateth grass as an ox." The form is the plural behema 'beast,' which has been traditionally assumed to refer to a hippopotamus. Linguists generally take it as the Egyptian word p-ehe-mau "water-ox," assimilated into Hebrew. Like the other huge beast of Hebrew literature, the sea serpent Leviathan, its exact origin is not clear.
Comments