Lotus Plant

The identity of the tree or plant called tse’elim in Job as the habitat for the monster “Behemoth” has perplexed scholars for centuries, partly because the identity of the monster itself is unknown (see All Creatures Great and Small, Behemoth). Surprisingly, neither Zohary nor Hepper comment on tse’elim. Attempts to identify the beast and its botanical context are perhaps futile, since on the surface they are mutually contradictory. If the beast is indeed a hippopotamus or a crocodile, then the Lotus Thorn Ziziphus lotus is out of place, since it does not grow near water. If Ziziphus lotus is correct, then the animal is not a hippopotamus or a crocodile, even allowing that these animals do come out for a siesta in the shade of a tree on the riverbank. As Moldenke says, judging by the references to reeds and willows in the context, tse’elim could be plane trees or oleander shrubs. And they could, of course, be actual lotus plants (so RSV), which grow in streams and which are otherwise not referred to in Scripture.