A violent rotating wind column moves across the arid eastern plains. Sand obscures the horizon as the vortex tears through sparse scrub vegetation. A voice speaks from the center of this storm and demands a physical response from a human observer. The challenge ignores human moral arguments and points directly to the raw mechanics of the natural world.
This natural world centers on the region of Uz near the borders of Edom. The geographical focus quickly shifts westward to the dense river systems of the Levant. Authors writing this manuscript around 500 b.c. anchor their arguments in the familiar marshlands of the Jordan River valley. The Jordan drops roughly 3,000 feet in elevation as it runs south and creates thick vegetative cover along its banks.
Massive river creatures dominate the ecosystem within this vegetative cover. The manuscript describes a beast called Behemoth which shares anatomical traits with the hippopotamus. This animal consumes immense quantities of grass and rests under lotus plants and swamp willows. A mature hippopotamus weighs over 3,000 pounds and possesses leg bones resembling brass tubes. It stands firm and drinks directly from the rushing river currents.
Immense physical power ignores the arguments of fragile creatures and drinks the river dry.
The river currents crash against the beast while it remains perfectly still. The human observer watches this display of brute force and realizes his own physical insignificance. Deity uses this untamable creature to show that human demands hold no weight against the primal forces of the earth. He leaves the man in silence as the wind continues to howl across the plains.