Strata: The Bible in the News

Some visitors to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science—especially those with guides provided by Biblically Correct Tours—learn about “behemoth” and “leviathan,” two great beasts so memorably portrayed in Job 40–41. They are told that “either or both creatures were probably dinosaurs” (specifically, according to another news report, a brontosaurus and a plesiosaur). Apparently, these dinosaurs were created on the Sixth Day, along with all the other land creatures, only to suffer extinction during the Flood (too large for the ark?). And all of this took place thousands (not billions) of years ago—as reported in the Denver Post, among other newspapers.

Clearly the popular media are not the best (re)source for a judicious explication of Biblical criticism. They do excel, however, in applying such Biblical terms to a seemingly endless array of contexts.

In the world of fine dining, we find both leviathan—as in “Bubba the Leviathan Lobster to Live on” in the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium—and behemoth—as in “Behemoth hamburger [weighing in at 1 pound] puts up a fight” at California’s Hazel Restaurant.