Ziz- Hebrew/Jewish CreatureCreature · Beast"Beast of the Sky"
Also known as: Renanim, Sekwi, and זיז
Description
Colossal primordial bird whose wings block out the sun and whose ankles rest on the earth, counterpart to Behemoth (land) and Leviathan (sea). At the end of days, the righteous will feast upon its flesh.
Mythology & Lore
The Beast of the Sky
Behemoth rules the land, Leviathan the sea, and Ziz the sky. Created on the fifth day, Ziz is so vast that its feet rest on the earth while its head reaches the clouds. When it spreads its wings, the sun disappears. But the darkness is not hostile: Ziz's wings protect the earth from the southern winds that would otherwise scorch it.
Inconceivable Scale
The waters of the sea reach only to Ziz's ankles. An egg that once fell from its nest flooded sixty cities and broke three hundred cedars.
The Talmud (Bava Batra 73b) records a tradition in which Rabbah bar bar Chana describes a bird standing in water that reached only to its ankles, while its head reached to heaven. A voice warned the travelers not to think the water was shallow. A carpenter's axe had fallen into that water seven years before and had not yet reached the bottom.
The Messianic Banquet
Jewish tradition describes a feast at the end of days when the righteous will dine on the flesh of Leviathan, Behemoth, and Ziz. The three creatures that ruled the three realms of creation become nourishment for those who endured. The Talmud (Bava Batra 75a) describes God preparing Leviathan for the feast; Ziz and Behemoth join in related midrashic traditions. What the righteous could never conquer, they receive as a gift.
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