What does the Bible say about dinosaurs?

Why would God create dinosaurs?

Some Christians claim that dinosaurs could not have existed because God would not create such creatures that could wreak havoc on human civilization. Huge quantities of archaeological evidence dissuade this argument, but we must also note the Bible mentions God created several other fierce animals.

For example, he created a fish big enough to swallow the prophet Jonah. While no one wants to get torn apart by a T-Rex, spending several days digesting in the belly of a sea creature doesn’t seem like a great way to go (Jonah 1:17).

Daniel came face to face with a pack of lions in a closed den (Daniel 6). Even though God chose to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not consume this prophet, in most cases lions are not calm in the face of their prey. In some ways, it might be worse to be torn apart by lions than by velociraptors.

Even though we don’t know the exact purpose God created them for, they roamed the earth and we cannot deny the evidence of that.

Are dinosaurs in the Bible?

Some scholars say yes, others no. This article takes the affirmative position.

Two examples in the Bible could possibly describe a dinosaur, or at least a dinosaur-like creature. Some theologians will argue that the author could have used hyperbole or metaphorical imagery, but if he chose to do so, he was choosing rather strange images to describe worldly creatures.

1. Behemoth (Job 40:15-24)

In Job, this creature is described as having a tail like a cedar and a herbivorous diet. He also said that this colossal beast had large bones like beams of bronze.

From the description of these verses, it appears that the passage indicates a diplodocus-like creature. Some commentators try to say that God had described a hippopotamus in this passage, but the description does not seem to add up. Hippos, for example, don’t have tails like cedars.

2. Leviathan (Job 41)

In the next chapter, another creature reported by some theologians was called a crocodile. However, once you hear the characteristics of the leviathan, it doesn’t seem to add up.

The leviathan appears to have armored skin that no hook can pierce. Like the mastodon, the author notes the powerful limbs that this animal possesses.

Psalm 104:26 indicates that the leviathan lived in water, which might explain why some people say it is a crocodile. And Isaiah 27:1 describes the leviathan as a twisted serpent.

These may line up with a crocodile, but Job (Job 41:18-19) seem to indicate that this creature literally breathed fire. Crocodiles and other similar reptiles are not known to breathe fire. This may indicate that a dragon-like species existed in Job’s time.

Is there archaeological evidence for the existence of Behemoth and Leviathan?

It should be borne in mind that paleontologists only discovered the first dinosaur in 1819. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, 10,000 species disappear every year. Researchers still haven’t discovered all the creatures that existed in other eras of history, perhaps including ones like Leviathan.

A lack of archaeological evidence does not conclude that such animals did not exist.

For example, 10 archaeological finds in 2018 alone strengthened evidence of events and people mentioned in Scripture. But before 2018, these historical events and people still existed, whether archaeological artifacts prove it or not.

Does it matter?

Yes and no.

It is important that we can see God’s fingerprints on all creation, including the dinosaur fossils we pass through museums. This is also significant in that while the animals mentioned in Job are in fact dinosaurs, humans and dinosaurs overlap in periods of existence.

However, overall, whether Job speaks of a diplodocus or a hippopotamus does not affect the major doctrinal issues of the Bible. It should be kept in mind that the Scriptures do not mention every animal that has ever existed. This does not mean that God did not participate in the creation of all living things just because they do not receive any specific remarks in the Bible.

Hope Bolinger is a literary agent with CYLE and a recent graduate of Taylor University’s Professional Writing Program. More than 350 of his works have appeared in various publications, ranging from Writer’s Digest to Keys for Kids. She has worked for various publishing companies, magazines, newspapers and literary agencies and has edited the work of authors such as Jerry B. Jenkins and Michelle Medlock Adams. His “Hope’s Hacks” column, tips and tricks for avoiding writers’ block, reaches more than 3,000 readers per week and is featured monthly on Cyle Young’s blog, which receives more than 63,000 hits per month. His modern Daniel, “Flamber,” (Illuminate YA) was just released, and they just contracted the sequel. Learn more about her here.

Photo credit: Unsplash / Samuel S Lara