Beasts of the Field The Revealing Natural History of Animals in the Bible

About this book

Did the whale swallow Jonah, or could the culprit have been a great white shark? What kind of animals were Leviathan and Behemoth? What sort of lions confronted Daniel in the Den and from where did they originate? What were gledes, cankerworms, pygargs, ossifrages and palmerworms? Did the great plagues of Egypt really happen? Why are animals classified as 'clean' or 'unclean'? Why are mythical beasts, such as unicorns, satyrs and cockatrices, mentioned in the Bible? How much of the Supernatural has crept into English translations? This unique book answers all of these questions, and poses others about the birds, bees and beasts that inhabit the extraordinarily varied landscape of the Levant. An original take on natural history as well as an introduction to Bible stories, 'Beasts of the Field' is a crossover title that sheds light on two subjects that are of immense importance and interest.

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Biography

Award-winning wildlife filmmaker, author and biologist Michael Bright examines what was written in the Bible about wild and domesticated animals, and, in separating fact from fiction, discovers that some of the ancient Bible writers were remarkably good field naturalists. A senior producer with the BBC's world-renowned Natural History Unit, Michael Bright has written numerous books on wildlife. He lives in Bishopston, Bristol.