Chapter Five
Reality vs. the Bible
Fatal Flaw #4: The Bible is Filled with Magic, Mythical Creatures and Other Elements of Fantasy
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams
Do you believe dragons are real? Do you believe that mortal humans can cast magical spells? Would you believe that God once made a public speech to the entire nation of Judea? The people who wrote the Bible did.
The Bible is filled with examples of fantastic creatures, sorcery and mysticism. Yet, when we survey God’s Creation, we see a predictable universe, devoid of supernatural upheaval. So how could the author of the Bible be our Creator when the book has such an outdated, superstitious view?
This chapter has compiled some of the most outrageous examples of fantasy in the Bible and arranged them into three categories:
1. Mythological Beings
Mythical creatures are found throughout the Bible. Even the progressive New Oxford translation of the Bible failed to eliminate all the references to these beings. If they truly existed at the time the Bible was written, how come we don’t see any today?
Giants
Giants are featured numerous times in the Bible:
Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days…
Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight
Deutronomy 3:11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. [2]
Joshua 18:16 ... which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom...
Amos 2:9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars…
So why have anthropologists failed to uncover any remains of these giant civilizations?
The Squared-Cubed Rule: 
As you square the size, you cube the mass. The reason is simple: we exist in three physical dimensions, length, width and depth. As you increase the size of a being, that is its measurements in length and width, there’s also a proportional increase in depth.
This is rule of physics makes it impossible for giants to exist. The more you increase human mass, the more taxing it becomes to the muscle and bone structure that must support it. Human style legs would be inadequate to support our weight if we were two to three times as tall. Giants may make for interesting fantasy story telling but they’re completely unrealistic.
Dragons and Similar Monsters
Most of the biblical references to dragons, unicorns and cockatrices were lost with the New Oxford translation. This updated version seems to have gone to great lengths to rigorously edit out the mythical beasts that fill the King James Version and replace them with worldly analogs like adders, serpents, jackals and wild oxen. However, a few examples of fantastic monsters still remain. Either they were overlooked by the New Oxford translators or the verses couldn’t be honestly translated any other way (bold emphasis added):
Psalms 74:13-14 thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan [3] in pieces...
Psalms 89:10 Thou hast broken Rahab [4] in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
Isaiah 14:29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Isaiah 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.
Isaiah 30:6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
“Flying fiery serpents”? Even using the “dinosaur” apology, there aren’t any dinosaurs that fit that description.
Other Mythical Creatures Edited Out in Modern Translations
The King James Version of the Bible features more examples of dragons as well as other fantastic beings like fauns and cockatrices. [5] More recent translations use worldly animals instead. For example, in the place of “unicorn”, the translated verse might use the term “wild ox”.
Here are the verses in the King James Bible that feature mythical beings which were corrected by the New Revised Standard Version.
(KJV) Numbers 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn. [6]
(NRSV) Numbers 23:22 God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them. [7]
(KJV) Deuteronomy 32:33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
(NRSV) Deuteronomy 32:33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps. [8]
(KJV) Deuteronomy 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns:...
(NRSV) Deuteronomy 33:17 A firstborn bull- majesty is his! His horns are like the horns of a wild ox… [9](KJV) Job 39:9-12 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee?
(NRSV) Job 39:9-12 Is the wild ox willing to serve you? [10]
(KJV) Isaiah 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
(NRSV) Isaiah 11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. [11]
(KJV) Isaiah 14:29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice
(NRSV) Isaiah 14:29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the root of the snake will come forth an adder [12]
(KJV) Isaiah 34:7 And the unicorns shall come down with them...
(NRSV) Isaiah 34:7 Wild oxen shall fall with them… [13]
(KJV) Isaiah 43:20 The beast of the field shall honour me (the LORD), the dragons and the owls.
(NRSV) Isaiah 43:20 The wild animals honor me (the Lord), the jackals and the ostriches; [14]
(KJV) Isaiah 59:5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper
(NRSV) Isaiah 59:5 They hatch adder’s eggs, and weave the spider’s web; whoever eats their eggs dies, and the crushed egg hatches out a viper. [15]
(KJV) Jeremiah 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
(NRSV) Jeremiah 9:11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals; and I will make the towns of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. [16]
(KJV) Jeremiah 51:37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons...
(NRSV) Jeremiah 51:37 And Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, a den of jackals… [17](KJV) Malachi 1:3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness
(NRSV) Malachi 1:3 And I hated Esau; I have made his hill country a desolation and his heritage a desert for jackals. [18]
So for the Fundamentalist Christians who believe the King James Version is the most accurate translation of “God’s Word”, do you believe in unicorns?
“Our Bible talks all about unicorns. People were seeing them everywhere before they got extinctinated [sic]. Now we have fundamentalist brothers and sisters who are afraid to offend scientists and they’re changing the words of scripture and creating new translations of the Bible and removing the words that God himself put in there. …(it) makes me want to smack a brother
or sister over the head with a ten pound King James Bible when I see them editing the Word of God.” [19]
-Pastor Deacon Fred, Landover Baptist Church,
The Landover Baptist Church is intended as satire on Fundamentalist Christianity and yet most of what they write and say is scripturally sound. In their parody church, they profess to believe in the entire Bible instead of limiting themselves to cherry picked passages. The point of this cited sermon is clear: to believe the Bible is the Word of God is to believe that all of these fanciful creatures at one time existed.
2. Magic in the Bible
There are numerous examples of sorcery, divination and voodoo in the Bible. In some cases, these alleged supernatural events are performed either by God directly or by the faithful calling upon the power of God. Such examples are not flagged in this chapter, since God may well be able to grant such powers. However, in many cases in the Bible, ordinary humans, some of whom are hostile to the biblical concept of god, are still able to work magic without divine assistance. Why don’t we see examples of such wizardry today?
Yahweh, thinking that wizards and mediums are real, commands us not to use them:
Leviticus 19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them…
There are examples of mediums (or those who can conjure and speak with spirits) in the Bible. The most notable example is the story of how Saul seeks out such a conjuress that he may talk to the deceased prophet, Samuel:
First Samuel 28:8-15: And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? …
In the Bible, some people can talk to “spirits”. Others, like Noah, have a “Dr. Doolittle” type ability to talk to animals.
Genesis 8:8-11 Also he (Noah) sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
That was one well-trained dove!
Joseph (of the Technicolor Coat, not the step-father of Jesus) had a phenomenal ability to tell the future by reading and interpreting dreams. His story is told from chapter 37 to chapter 50 of Genesis. There are numerous examples of him using this power over the course of these chapters. Perhaps the most famous example is where he assists the Egyptian pharaoh.
Genesis 41:15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
The Pharaoh describes this dream in verses 16-24.
Genesis 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Joseph interprets the dreams and offers advice in verses 26-36. He predicts seven years of bountiful harvest and seven years of famine. These predictions all come true as the story unfolds.
Of course, we understand today that dreams are created by our subconscious mind, formed from our thoughts, fears and desires. That’s not how the authors of Genesis saw it. They believed that God might be talking to us in our dreams, telling us through symbolic messages what awaits us in the future and what we can do.
It’s a curious aspect of mythology that the gods (of whatever religion) never come out and say what we need to hear when they visit us in our dreams. They always speak in riddles and metaphors for some odd reason. Yahweh is no different. He could have just said, “Pharaoh, you'll have seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.” However, the gods don’t work that way. How convenient for the soothsayers.
Perhaps Joseph inherited his divination powers from Jacob, who also had a magical ability to alter the genetic makeup of lambs using a strange ritual of striped rods:
Genesis 30:37-39 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pilled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
Evangelical Christians say that natural evolution makes no sense to them but they accept this alchemical ritual to create new breeds of lamb?
In another famous passage of the Bible, the biblical god teaches Moses and Aaron how to turn a stick into a snake. Fair enough. Perhaps God does have the power to accomplish such feats and empower others to do so as well. However, the Bible also says there are sorcerers who, without the aid of God, are able to do the same thing:
Exodus 7:11-12 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
So, we can see from these verses that mortal humans can work magic by their “secret arts” but sorcery is more powerful when it comes from God. Perhaps that follows but why don’t we see any human beings who can cast spells today?
Later, Moses performs another trick with Yahweh’s help and turns a river into blood. Again the Pharaoh’s sorcerers perform the same feat. [20] One can only assume people knew how to perform such transmutations back then.
There are also examples of bizarre voodoo-style rituals in the Bible, one of which is said to cure leprosy:
Leviticus 14:1-7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
Has your wife been cheating on you? These days, you might hire a private detective. Moses apparently had a more metaphysical method a suspicious husband might use to find out the truth:
Numbers 5:15-28 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord: And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar: And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
These two passages of the Bible cited above seem reminiscent of another famous passage in classic literature:
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1, Line 10-11 Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble. [21]
This is not to compare the Bible to Shakespeare. Had Shakespeare written the Bible, it would still be fictional but it might at least be well written with artistic value.
Faith Healing
See Chapter 4, Section 1 to read about how the Bible has no understanding of modern medicine. The Bible says that illness is caused by demonic possession. Faith and exorcism are the recommended cures. Today, there are those who suffer and die for want of medical care because they follow the Bible’s teachings and turn to faith as the primary means to cure their ailments.
3. Yahweh Talks to People?
Throughout the Old Testament, Yahweh spoke to the main characters in the stories as easily as we may speak to one another. To quote every passage where “the Lord spoke unto…” would almost require reprinting the entire Old Testament. For the sake of brevity, here are a few samples:
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man (Adam), saying…
Genesis 4:9 And the Lord said unto Cain…
Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah…
Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram… (Later in Gen 17:5 Yahweh renames him Abraham).
Exodus 6:1 Then the Lord said unto Moses…
Leviticus 15:1 And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Joshua 1:1… the Lord spake unto Joshua…
Judges 6:25 And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him (Gideon)…
First Samuel 3:4 That the Lord called Samuel…
Second Samuel 2:1 And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.First Kings 6:11 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,
First Kings 16:1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,
First Kings 18:1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year…
Job 38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Isaiah 7:3 Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, …
Jeremiah 1:4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me (Jeremiah), saying…
Ezekiel 2:1 And he (the Lord) said unto me (Ezekiel), Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.…
Hosea 1:1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea…Joel 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Micah 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite…
Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi…
Zechariah 1:1 …came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah…
At one point, Yahweh spoke to Moses through a burning bush [22] but apparently didn’t require such a pyrotechnic display. There was certainly no mention of one each time we read, “the Lord said to Moses…” or any other prophet. Indeed, the Bible makes it clear that “the Lord” casually spoke to these people much the same way as friends speak to each other:
Exodus 33:11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend…
Yahweh, the Public Speaker
At some points in the Bible, Yahweh speaks directly to all the people of Israel (apparently addressing the whole nation at once):
Judges 1:1-2 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
Judges 10:11 And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
Two Questions:
- If these accounts are true, then why doesn’t God speak to anyone today?
- If Yahweh wants to convert the whole planet, why not make a public speech to the U.N.? He apparently wasn’t shy about public speaking back then.
Other Activities of Yahweh
It’s important to note that the biblical god is not treated in the stories of the Old Testament merely as a cause for the characters in each story. Neither is he a plot device that guides their destinies from a mysterious background. Yahweh is an anthropomorphic character. He walks, talks and interacts. The concept of a god that is a purely spiritual being, who exists as an omnipotent, omnipresent, omnibenevolent force in the universe that watches over everything, did not come into being until the New Testament.
Some of Yahweh’s activities in the Old Testament include:
Yahweh Drops by Abraham’s Place for Lunch
Genesis 18:1-5 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
“Nuts! The Lord makes a surprise visit to my house and I’m fresh out of nectar and ambrosia. I hate it when this happens!”
Yahweh Wrestles with Jacob and Lose
Genesis 32:24-28 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Well, at least Yahweh is a good sport when he loses.
Yahweh Goes Around Killing People Who Anger Him
Genesis 38:7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.
Genesis 38:10 And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.
Perhaps it’s fortunate for freethinkers that Yahweh has given up the practice.
At one point in the Bible, Yahweh tries to kill Moses for some poorly explained reason. Apparently, he was angry that Moses’ son wasn’t circumcised. Some quick thinking and impromptu surgery by Moses’ wife saves the day.
Exodus 4:24-26 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
It’s left up to the imagination (1) how exactly Yahweh “tried” to kill Moses and failed, (2) how Moses’ wife, Zipporah, knew that Yahweh was angry over Moses’ son’s uncircumcised penis and (3) how there was time to perform such impromptu surgery. Exodus 4:24-26 is one of the most bizarre passages of the Bible (and there’s a lot of competition for that status).
It’s clear from these stories and many like them that the biblical god of the Old Testament is not the same being that people might imagine today when they think of God. The biblical god of the Old Testament was clearly an anthropomorphic being, much like the Pagan gods of other mythologies at the time. He walked, talked, ate lunch with Abraham and rested on the “seventh day” of the Genesis account of Creation.
Nature’s God and Divine Intervention
Does God play a role in the events all around us? We can’t be certain but, given what we can observe, there are three possibilities:
God is Dead: By this theory, the Creator set things in motion, provided as best as It could for us and, like all things in the universe, has since expired. Now it’s up to us to honor Its legacy and continue Its work by constructively building upon the foundation that we were given.
God is Busy: God is alive and out there somewhere but has moved on to larger and more important issues of Creation than our concerns. It has provided for us, like a gardener provides sunlight, soil and water for a seed in the hopes that the plant will grow on its own. The rest is up to us.
God is Hiding: God does watch over us and plays some role in the developments of our world but, for whatever reason, chooses to act in such subtle ways that we can’t perceive.
Bottom Line: The god portrayed in the Bible, a being that openly and overtly intervenes through such obviously supernatural events as angels visiting us, [23] rivers turning to blood, [24] talking donkeys [25] burning bushes, [26] and magic handkerchiefs that heal the sick [27] simply doesn’t exist. This is a self-evident point not to be disputed. If the biblical accounts are true, that the magic, the supernatural beings and the overt interventions from God were all real, why can we find no historical evidence to verify these claims and why has the universe become so supernaturally tranquil today?
Conclusion
The Bible is filled with mythical fantastic beings and magic of all kinds. It features a primitive concept of a physical, anthropomorphic god. As a source for “Truth” about how the universe actually works, it is no more credible than the mythologies of ancient Greece or Egypt.
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[1] Thomas Jefferson, “Writings”, Editor: Merrill D. Peterson, (New York: 1984), p 1469
[2] 9 cubits by 4 cubits is roughly 13.5 feet long and 6 feet wide. Assuming the bed’s size is any indication of King Og’s size (as the passage seems to imply) one can assume that the king was about twelve feet tall.
[3] A Leviathan is a great mythical sea monster.
[4] Rehab is the name of a great leviathan according to the notations in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition, New Revised Standard Edition, Editor Michael D. Coogan, (New York, 2001), Hebrew Bible, p 853
[5] A cockatrice is a draconic rooster that has the ability to turn its victims to stone by its deadly gaze. Fortunately, they don’t exist in the real world.
[6] This verse is repeated in Numbers 24:8
[7] New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition, New Revised Standard Edition, Editor Michael D. Coogan, (New York, 2001), p 221 Hebrew Bible
[8] Ibid, p 302 Hebrew Bible
[9] Ibid, p 306 Hebrew Bible
[10] Ibid, p 770 Hebrew Bible
[11] Ibid, p 995 Hebrew Bible
[12] Ibid, p 1000 Hebrew Bible
[13] Ibid, p 1024 Hebrew Bible
[14] Ibid, p 1038 Hebrew Bible
[15] Ibid, p 1060-1 Hebrew Bible
[16] Ibid, p 1093 Hebrew Bible
[17] Ibid, p 1163 Hebrew Bible
[18] Ibid, p 1372 Hebrew Bible
[19] Landover Baptist Church (an online satirical fundamentalist church), “60 Second Sermons with Pastor Deacon Fred”, Accessed at http://www.landoverbaptist.org/audio/pod/unicorns.mp3 on October 29, 2006
[20] See Exodus 7:17-22.
[21] William Shakespeare, “Macbeth”, Editor: George Lyman Kittredge, Revised by Irving Ribner, (Glenview, IL, 1967), Act IV, Scene 1, Line 10-11.
[22] See Exodus, all of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4:1-17
[23] See Luke 1:28
[24] See Exodus 7:20
[25] See Numbers 22:28
[26] See Exodus 3:2-6
[27] See Acts 19:11-12
