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Literary notes about behemoth (AI summary)

Literary usage of “behemoth” spans a remarkable range—from its origins as a colossal, divinely created creature that “eate[s] grass as an ox” [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] to a metaphor for overwhelming power or unwieldy institutions, as seen when it is used to describe massive business entities or formidable opponents [6, 7, 8, 9]. Some authors employ it humorously or satirically, transforming the term into a playful nickname or exaggerating physical size and clumsiness in vivid narrative scenes [10, 11, 12]. At the same time, it often appears alongside legendary creatures like Leviathan to evoke a sense of apocalyptic grandeur and mythic struggle [13, 14, 15], underscoring its enduring role as a symbol for anything vast, majestic, or daunting in literature.
  1. Behemoth was also a beast of the plains; he was the largest beast which Jehovah made to dwell upon the dry land of the earth.
    — from The Secret of the Creation by Howard D. Pollyen
  2. Job Chapter 40 Of the power of God in the behemoth and the leviathan.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  3. Now this word only occurs once in the whole of the Scriptures, i.e. in Job xl. 15: "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee," &
    — from Bible Animals; Being a Description of Every Living Creature Mentioned in the Scripture, from the Ape to the Coral. by J. G. (John George) Wood
  4. Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
    — from The Bible, King James version, Book 18: Job by Anonymous
  5. Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass like an ox.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  6. But even by Net standards this was indeed a behemoth, and much more importantly, the bandwidth defenders worried about the precedent being set here.
    — from NetWorld! What People Are Really Doing on the Internet and What It Means to You by David H. Rothman
  7. Take this same Business Behemoth and set him down in Paris or Rome or Naples.
    — from In Pastures New by George Ade
  8. Under the jack-light he looked a regular behemoth.
    — from Camp and Trail: A Story of the Maine Woods by Isabel Hornibrook
  9. But, if so, it is a Behemoth of diamonds.
    — from The Door in the Wall, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
  10. This behemoth was compelled to seat himself on a small inverted saucer and row for dear life with a pair of toothpicks.
    — from The Dozen from Lakerim by Rupert Hughes
  11. A short distance behind Sport came the behemoth, lumbering, careening and snorting, but making very rapid progress.
    — from Sube Cane by Bellamy Partridge
  12. "But I had no idea," she said, "that she was such a behemoth.
    — from Bessie's Fortune: A Novel by Mary Jane Holmes
  13. o’erhead The crack of doom, the supports of the world Are snapped like reeds beneath Behemoth’s tread.
    — from Winona, a Dakota Legend; and Other Poems by E. L. (Eli Lundy) Huggins
  14. Really it is Behemoth and Leviathan he was called to deal with.
    — from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway
  15. 204.—The Trinity, in Combat with Behemoth and Leviathan.
    — from Archaic England An Essay in Deciphering Prehistory from Megalithic Monuments, Earthworks, Customs, Coins, Place-names, and Faerie Superstitions by Harold Bayley

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