Critical Introduction

The Bible is perhaps the most important and influential text in Western cultural history. It did not begin as a single book, but is instead something of a compilation of sources written by Jews and Christians in the ancient period. It is the foundational text of the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The earliest texts of Jewish scripture were written in Hebrew, likely beginning in the eighth century BCE. The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) was largely written by the mid-sixth century BCE. This formed the basis of the Christian Bible, wherein Jewish scripture is framed as the “Old Testament,” in contrast to the “New Testament,” a series of Christian writings surviving primarily in Greek. The earliest of these are the letters written by St. Paul in ca. 50–60 CE. The Gospels, the central texts of Christianity, purportedly written by Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written over the following half-century.

The Bible—Hebrew, Greek, later Latin translations, and other languages—is replete with monsters. There are numerous giants (Goliath, of course, but also the Nephilim and Anakim, among others), dragons, unicorns, basilisks, Behemoth, Leviathan, and the beasts of the Apocalypse. What they are called and how they are interpreted vary widely from language to language (many “jackals” in Hebrew texts were transformed into “dragons” in Latin translations), and culture to culture. By some theologians, these beings are seen as literal, tangible monsters; by others, they are seen as metaphors. However they are interpreted, their prevalence is certain.

Here, we present a collection of monsters drawn from Jewish and Christian biblical texts: the giant Nephilim, born of the sons of God and the daughters of humans; Goliath, the Philistine nemesis of King Saul and David; Behemoth and Leviathan, a pair of impressive monsters from the Book of Job; and some of the beasts of the Apocalypse, disordered and disturbing heralds of the end of time.

Reading Questions

How does the Bible encourage its readers to respond to monsters? What are any commonalities among these Biblical monsters?