Evangelion

Who cares what the hell it is? It's just a dirty great big animal of some sort. Sheesh.

Oh, and IMHO, it's a hippo.

Evangelion

Ooops, now you're making the mistake of appealing to the English translation.

Such a shame, since you already did so well with the Hebrew before...

Viti

Tanniyn is the Hebrew word which translates as dragon according the the concordance I used and r'em translates as unicorn. Are these incorrect?

Evangelion

Firstly, which concordance are you using?

Secondly, you'd be better off using a lexicon.

Thirdly, just give me a few minutes to get my stuff off the shelf, and I'll be right with you.

Viti

1. Strong's
2. What is that?
3. I am very new to this, so I expet to be wrong. I just thought Magus claiming it wasn't a Hebrew word sounded iffy...I googled it and found the info in 5 seconds...why couldn't he?

Evangelion

First, the "unicorn."

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia:

• Unicorn
  
  u'-ni-korn (re'em (Num_23:22; Num_24:8; Deu_33:17; Job_39:9-10; Psa_22:21; Psa_29:6; Psa_92:10; Isa_34:7)):
  
  "Unicorn" occurs in the King James Version in the passages cited, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "wild-ox" (which see).

From the same source:

• Wild Ox (re'em):
  
  
  The word "unicorn" occurs in the King James Version in Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Job 39:9,10; Psalms 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isaiah 34:7 (the King James Version margin "rhinoceros").
  
  The Revised Version (British and American) has everywhere "wild-ox" (margin "ox-antelope," Numbers 23:22). The Septuagint has monokeros, "one-horned," except in Isaiah 34:7, where we find hoi hadroi, "the large ones," "the bulky ones." In this passage also the Septuagint has hoi krioi, "the rams," instead of English Versions of the Bible "bullocks."
  
  Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) has rhinoceros in Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Job 39:9,10; and unicornis in Psalms 22:21 (21:22); 29:6 (28:6); 92:10 (91:11); Isaiah 34:7.
  
  As stated in the articles on ANTELOPE and CATTLE, re'em and te'o (Deuteronomy 14:5; Isaiah 51:20) may both be the Arabian oryx (Oryx beatrix), of which the common vernacular name means "wild-ox." It may be presumed that "ox-antelope" of Numbers 23:22 the Revised Version margin is meant to indicate this animal, which is swift and fierce, and has a pair of very long, sharp and nearly straight horns.
  
  The writer feels, however, that more consideration should be given to the view of Tristram (Natural History of the Bible) that re'em is the urus or aurochs, the primitive Bos taurus, which seems to be depicted in Assyrian monuments and referred to as remu (BDB).
  
  The etymology of re'em is uncertain, but the word may be from a root signifying "to rise" or "to be high." At any rate, there is no etymological warrant for the assumption that it was a one-horned creature.
  
  The Arabic raim, is used of a light-colored gazelle. The great strength and fierceness implied in most of the references suit the wild-ox better than the oryx. On the other hand, Edom (Isaiah 34:7) was adjacent to the present home of the oryx, while there is no reason to suppose that the wild-ox came nearer than Northern Assyria.
  
  There is possibly a reference to the long horns of the oryx in "But my horn hast thou exalted like the horn of the wild-ox" (Psalms 92:10). For te'o, The Septuagint has orux, in Deuteronomy 14:5 (but seutlion hemiephthon, "half-boiled beet" (!) in Isaiah 51:20). Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) has oryx in both passages.
  
  While we admit that both re'em and te'o may be the oryx, it is perhaps best to follow the Revised Version margin, rendering re'em "wild-ox."
  
  The rendering of "antelope" (Revised Version) for te'o is defensible, but "oryx" would be better, because the oryx is the only antelope that could possibly be meant, it and the gazelle (tsebhi), already mentioned in Deuteronomy 14:5, being the only antelopes known to occur in Palestine and Arabia. In Isaiah 34:7 it seems to be implied that the re'em might be used in sacrifice.
  
  
  Figurative:
  
  The wild-ox is used as a symbol of the strength of Israel: "He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox". (Numbers 23:22; 24:8). In the blessing of the children of Israel by Moses it is said of Joseph:
  
  "And his horns are the horns of the wild-ox:
  
  With them he shall push the peoples all of them,
  
  even the ends of the earth" (Deuteronomy 33:17).
  
  The Psalmist (Psalms 29:5,6) in describing the power of Yahweh says:
  
  "Yea, Yahweh breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
  
  He maketh them also to skip like a calf;
  
  Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox."
  
  Again, in praise for Yahweh's goodness (Psalms 92:10):
  
  "But my horn hast thou exalted like the horn of the wildox."
  
  In Job 39:9-12 the subduing and training of the wild-ox are cited among the things beyond man's power and understanding.
  
  See ANTELOPE; CATTLE.

Finally, from the Israeli Defence Force, we have this:

• Boeing-707 (Hebrew nickname: 'Re'em' (Oryx) )
  
  Source.

Evangelion

Ouch. Strong's is horribly out of date. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (also old, but definitely superior) is more reliable.

A reference book which is very similar in purpose to a concordance. But where a concordance shows (a) the definition of the word, and (b) every single occurrance of that word in Scripture, a lexicon only provides the definition (and perhaps one or two examples of its use.)

No worries.

That depends entirely on what it is he's referring to. If he refers to the word "unicorn", he's right. "Unicorn" is not a Hebrew word at all. It is, in fact, a Latin word.

No idea.

I don't speak for the other Christians here. I only speak for myself.

Viti

No, I originally was refering to Behemoth....then I brought up the Unicorn and Dragon examples I found while researching Behemoth

Evangelion

Now for the "dragon." Here we have the Hebrew word tannin, which is actually quite flexible. It possesses a variety of meanings, all of which are defined by the context (as is the case with so many ancient Hebrew words.)

Easton's Bible Dictionary says:

• Dragon
  
  (1.) Heb. tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job_30:29; Psa_44:19; Isa_13:22; Isa_34:13; Isa_43:20; Jer_10:22; Mic_1:8; Mal_1:3); probably, as translated in the Revised Version, the jackal (q.v.).
  
  (2.) Heb. tannin. Some great sea monster (Jer_51:34). In Isa_51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Gen_1:21 (Heb. plural tanninim) the Authorized Version renders "whales," and the Revised Version "sea monsters." It is rendered "serpent" in Exo_7:9. It is used figuratively in Psa_74:13; Eze_29:3.
  
  In the New Testament the word "dragon" is found only in Rev_12:3-4, Rev_12:7, Rev_12:9, Rev_12:16-17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of "Satan." (See WHALE.)

Nave's Topical Bible says:

• Dragon
  
  A poisonous serpent
  Deu_32:33;
  
  A serpent or the desert
  Psa_91:13; Isa_34:13; Jer_9:11; Jer_51:37; Mal_1:3;
  
  Of the sea
  Psa_74:13; Isa_27:1;
  
  A wolf
  Mic_1:8;
  
  Interpreted as whale, in
  Gen_1:21; Job_7:12;
  
  Serpent
  Exo_7:9;
  
  A term applied
  To Pharaoh
  Isa_51:9;
  
  To Satan
  Rev_20:2;
  
  Symbolical
  Eze_29:3; Eze_32:2; Rev_32:12; Rev_32:13; Rev_16:13;

Finally the ISBE, for which see here. (The entry is too large to be copy/pasted. It's easier to provide a link.)

Hope this helps.

Evangelion

OK, well behemoth is most definitely a Hebrew word.

The plural ending (-oth) is a dead giveaway. (If singular, it would be -im.)