Ben C Smith

What do you think the following terms refer to? Are they the fabulous beast named in some translations? Or are they mundane animals (if so, which ones?)?

Thanks in advance.

1. Unicorn (ראם): Psalm 21.22, but see Deuteronomy 33.17 for the same creature with two horns. Is this an aurochs, perhaps?
2. Basilisk (שרף): Isaiah 14.29; 30.6; but the thing seems to fly.
3. Basilisk or cockatrice (צפע): Proverbs 23.32; Isaiah 11.8; 14.29.
4. Dipsa (צמאון): Deuteronomy 8.15. Is this just thirsty ground? Did the Greek LXX rendering διψα lead to the medieval bestiary entry dipsa (via the Vulgate, of course), a thirst-inducing serpent?
5. Dragon (תן or ת�*ין): Job 30.29 et alia.
6. Faun (אי) or satyr (שעיר): Jeremiah 50.39 et alia; Isaiah 34.14.
7. Griffin (פרס): Leviticus 11.3 et alia.
8. Lilith or lamia (לילית): Isaiah 34.14.
9. Phoenix (חול): Job 29.18. I shall multiply my days as the sand, or as the phoenix? (The Greek LXX reads φοινιξ, which can be the color purple, a palm tree, or the fabulous bird of fire.)

Also, of course, consider the famous leviathan and the behemoth (Job 41).

Ben.

Acetylhexene

Don't forget those people with the wings, "Angels" and all various sub-species and offshoots.

nanaimo

Here I was hoping you meant fabulous.

Ben C Smith

Yes, well, I doubt very many people question whether the Bible mentions divine messengers called angels and creatures like seraphim and cherubim.

I was mainly interested in the creatures that modern translations shy away from (satyrs, unicorns, and the like).

Ben.

Yellum Notnef

And don't forget that fabulous creature the bible calls Jesus whom many today recognize as mythical. :devil1:

makerowner

I've got a book called Exotic Zoology (or via: amazon.co.uk) that explains the case for identifying the "unicorn" with the aurochs, but I'm going to bed soon, so I'll look it up tomorrow. I think has to do with bas-reliefs showing a profile of a two-horned animal looking one-horned, but it's been a while since I've read it.

Keith&Co.

I thought i read that those are individuals. Monsters or fallen angels. Or monstrous fallen angels.

aa5874

Yeah, he was truly fabulous. Ghost-Man (Jesus), the real beast. This creature could alter his specific gravity, his body weight, at will. He could walk on water or float in clouds.

John Kesler

The Anchor Bible Dictionary, volume 2, pages 138-139, article: Demons, states that, "the use of the term demon in relation to the OT is problematic," but it acknowledges that Lilith (Isaiah 34:14) and Azazel (Leviticus 16) are "[g]enerally accepted as two specific demons referred to in the OT."

These are chaos monsters. See my post here.

mojuang

These could not be mundane but figments of human imagination.Can we also attribute fact to the existence of say mermaids? which phylum shall we put them in?The bible is full of this shit.Dont forget the quran with its craziest beasts straight out of arabian nights:devil1: