Behemoth

Behemoth is the name for a (non-existent) monster. First mentioned in the book of Job (40.15-24) in the Bible, Behemoth is one of God's created creatures, described as huge and strong. It is sometimes held to be the hippopotamus, although not all the description matches. According to Metzger and Coogan 2001, "it is more likely that it is a form of the primeval monster of chaos, defeated by Yahweh at the beginning of the process of creation". In current English, it is often used for any large, powerful, usually lumbering and clumsy, animal, in describing reality or in inventing a fantasy.

Behemoth should be pronounced 'be-HEE-moth' or 'bi-HEE-moth (IPA: /bə 'hiː mɒθ or bɪ 'hiː mɒθ/).