Crucifiction

Dragons are mentioned all throughout the Book of Revelation, in addition to Deuteronomy 32:33, Isaiah 34:13, and 43:20

Unicorns are found in Numbers 23:22, 24:8, Isaiah 34:7, and many other verses.

Cockatrices are mentioned in Isaiah 11:8, 14:29, and 59:5.

Are these obviously mythological animals found elsewhere in ancient Jewish tradition, or are they only found in those books of the Bible?

Anat

I disagree with the translation of r'em as unicorn. Numbers 23:22 in Hebrew reads "el motziam mimitzraim - k'toafot r'em lo" JPS translates: "God who brought them forth out of Egypt is for them like the lofty horns of the wild-ox." Note that toafot=horns is a plural form. I can't be certain about the identification, but nowadays the word r'em is used for the oryx.

Anat

I'll provide the JPS translations for the sources quoted for 'cockatrice':
Isaiah 11:8 "And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den."
Isaiah 14:29 "Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be a flying serpent. "
Isaiah 59: "They hatch basilisks' eggs, and weave the spider's web; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper."

Just plain reptiles, though the 'serafim' in 14:29 do fly.

I think all those names of mythical creatures must have gotten into the translations when those were done by people unfamiliar with desert fauna.

Anat

OK, I checked the Hebrew Bible references given for 'dragons'. Deuteronomy has 'taninim' which might be mythological sea dragons (they appear in Ugaritic creation myths) or serpents, as JPS translates (or crocodiles in modern Hebrew). But the isaiah references have 'tanim' which are jackals. It's supposed to be the description of a desolate place, and the animals listed are such that might find shelter in ruins.

Chili

I think Isaiah knew the manners of born again Christians-become-desert dwellers that are looking for a sign from God. They will force the rest of the world to follow their ways and have spectacular shows to prove their authority wherein they still speak and act like flying dragons. There is more on this in Rev.14.

spin

On the unicorn, the Hebrew word is R)M which is translated into Greek in Num 23:22 as monokerwtos, which would be literally "unicorn", though the Vulgate gives "rinocerotis", which would be a rationalization of the Greek. However the Hebrew in rabbinical literature seems to mean "wild-ox".


spin

Eldarion Lathria

Could a dragon be a monitor lizard formerly found in Palestine? Or is merely the Babylonian sirrush renamed?

Eldarion Lathria

exile

Dinosaurs, of course :angel:

lpetrich

While we are on the subject of fabulous Biblical beasts, let's not forget about the two biggest: Behemoth (Job 40:15-24) and Leviathan (Job 3:8, 41:1, Psalms 74:14, 104:26, Isaiah 27:1).

Behemoth is described as some large grazer that lives near water; seems to me to be a hippopotamus.

Leviathan seems more like some legendary sea monster.

Danhalen

my understanding of those and the serpent found in genesis is that they are stolen from the babylonians. babylonian chaos serpents or dragons. don't know how accurate that assessment is though.