Letter 1

Hello Again:

I watched your dinosaur video and then went to my bible to look for dragons in Job and Malachi and I could not find any mention of them. The only place my concordance says the word Dragon is in Revelations. In Job 40 is the only place I saw anything and that sounds more like a dragon with fire from it's mouth etc.and not a dinosaur. Can you give me some verse numbers?

Thank You

Chris [from Rockland, ME]

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Hello, thank you for your question!  It’s our pleasure to assist wherever we can!

There is virtually no difference between the term dragon and the term dinosaur.  Remember that the word dinosaur was just invented in 1842.  Before this time if someone wanted to refer to one, then they had to use the term dragon.  Let me give an example of this:  The term ‘Iran’ just began to be used internationally in 1935.  Before this time if someone wanted to refer to that country, then they had to use the term ‘Persia’.  You can still use the term Persia today and people know you’re talking about Iran (Persian Gulf).  Also, you can still use the term dragon  today and people know you’re talking about a dinosaur. 

In the Bible the word dragon is used in many versions including the King James Version.  I will end this letter with a list of these verses.  Also, it’s important to note that one of the words for dragon in the Bible is the Hebrew word tannin.  In some English versions of the Bible, this word tannin is also translated as ‘jackal’, ‘serpent’ or just plain ‘monster’.    There are other words in the Bible like ‘behemoth’ and ‘leviathan’ that are also words for dinosaurs.

It’s amazing to me how some folks have tried to explain away these Biblical references.  Take for example Job’s description of Behemoth in Job 40:15-24:  Some have tried to say that this is an elephant or hippopotamus!  Did they skip verse 17 when they were reading?  (He moveth his tail like a cedar…)

We really hope that this information will help you in your study and sharing of God’s Word!   

Job 30:29  I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

Job 40:15-24  Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

Psa 74:13-14  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.  

Psa 148:7  Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

Isa 13:22  And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Isa 35:7  And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Isa 43:20  The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.

Jer 14:6  And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

Mic 1:8  Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

Mal 1:3  And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

See also:  Deut 32:33, Job 41, Psa 44:19, Psa 104:26, Neh 2:13, Isa 51:9, Jer 9:11, Jer 10:22, Jer 49:33, Jer 51:34-37, Eze 29:3, Rev 12:3,  

Grace and Peace,

Dan Shunk