בהמות

Noun

 * 1) behemoth

Etymology
In form, it is a plural of, but in Job 40:15-24, the word is accompanied by verbs and adjectives in the singular (describing a big and powerful beast). This fact can be explained either be assuming a pluralis excellentiae, a method of expressing greatness by pluralizing a noun, or by assuming a word in the singular. The first approach is taken by the Septuagint and by the Targum (בעיריא), both translating the word as “beasts”. The second approach is taken by the Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 13:3), describing the בהמות as a great beast, and probably also by the Peshitta, transliterating the word rather than translating it: ܒܗܡܘܬ.

It has been suggested by modern scholars to be a loanword from Egyptian, an unattested word that would have meant “the ox of the water”, i.e. hippopotamus, from +  +  in a direct genitive construction; for the pronunciation, cf. the later Coptic descendants +  +.

The identification with the hippopotamus became common in languages such as Russian, and eventually made its way into Modern Hebrew.

Noun

 * 1) behemoth
 * 2) hippopotamus