Dinosaurs have gone in and out of popularity in our culture, often depending on what movies are popular at the time. Dinosaurs fascinate us because they aren’t alive today, but we have evidence that they existed, primarily in the fossil record.
The word “dinosaur” is not in the Bible at all, but that word was developed in 1841 by Sir Richard Owen. It comes from the Greek words “deinos” (meaning terrible or monstrous) and “sauros” (meaning lizard). So there is no ancient Hebrew or Greek word that literally means dinosaur.
So are dinosaurs mentioned specifically in the Bible? One passage that is often pointed to for dinosaurs is Job 40-41. Job 40:15-24 references “behemoth.” The word “behemoth” is a literal transliteration from the Hebrew; that’s how the Hebrew word would be pronounced. Scholars disagree about its meaning; it could mean hippopotamus, or elephant, or a very large creature. The Hebrew word is very similar to the one used in Genesis 1:24-25 that’s often translated as “cattle” or “livestock.” But from the description in the book of Job, the Behemoth definitely sounds like how we would picture dinosaurs.
In Job 41, the Leviathan is another creature that we aren’t really sure what it is. Its description again makes it sound like how we would picture dinosaurs. Leviathan is also mentioned in Psalm 74:14, Psalm 104:25-26, and Isaiah 27:1.
So if these creatures were around in Biblical times, where are they now? The most likely explanation is that they were wiped out in the flood of Genesis 6-7. Other than the fossils that have been discovered, we have little way of knowing what animals were wiped out in that great flood approximately 4500 years ago. We know from the fossils that dinosaurs were once alive, so they were created by God, but the Bible is pretty quiet on the subject.
Fortunately, the issue of details surrounding dinosaurs is not a matter of life and death; our salvation is not dependent on dinosaurs but rather on our faith in Jesus and His saving death and resurrection on the cross for us. What we believe regarding dinosaurs is irrelevant on that matter, which is why it’s okay that the Bible doesn’t share much on that specific topic; it just doesn’t really matter.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
3 comments:
Nothing.
The flood as described in Genesis was not remotely an extinction event. Otherwise there would have been no ark I suggest. You can't pretend 'Noah's Flood' caused dinosaur extinction.
As you say for Christians this topic should not really matter very much.
The Bible says nothing about "dinosaurs" because the word had not been invented for hundreds of years. They are indeed described in Scripture, and were created on Day Six of creation week.
Post a Comment