Mermaids in the Book of Job (Commentary on Job, part 21)

The next section introduces some interesting and somewhat odd bits of folklore. The Armenian համբարու, 'mermaid' translates σειρήν or 'siren.'

He became a brother of mermaids and a sister of ostriches (30:29)

"Others translate ‘mermaids’ as ‘sirens.’ It is known about the mermaid that it is an aquatic animal that is a fish from the waist down and has the form of a maiden from the waist up. It has such a sweet voice that those who hear it become petrified. The siren is either a sweet-voiced bird that loves solitude or an anthropomorphic demon. Some say that the ostrich is a wild donkey because it resembles one, and when it flies out it comes to rest in a field. And when the sun sets wild animals and reptiles annoy it."

By Wolfgang Sauber (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons and [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons