Page 105 - Through New Eyes

Birds and Beasts 99
pares Judah to a lion’s whelp, Issachar to a large-boned ass,
Dan to a serpent in the path, Naftali to a hind let loose, and
Benjamin to a wolf that raveneth. Balaam’s orations compare
Israel to a “people that riseth up as a lioness, and as a lion does
he raise himself up,” and David, in his moving eulogy, laments
Saul and Jonathan as being swifter than eagles and stronger
than lions. Shimei son of Gera, who curses David, is deemed a
“dead dog; and Hazael modestly refers to himself as a clog, one
clearly unworthy of greatness. (Genesis 49:9-27; Numbers
23:24; 24:9; 2 Samuel 1:23; 16:9; 2 Kings 8:13.)8

There is little need to expand on this point, however, since
the book of Proverbs is familiar to all readers. It is well known
that the Bible draws comparisons between human beings and
g
animals, and in particular regards. There is one special way in
which some animals represented human beings, and that was in
the sacrificial system. Only five animals were eligible for sacrifice
in Israel: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the dove, and the pigeon.
There were other animals that were clean, and might be eaten,
such as deer, gazelle, and chicken, but only these five might be
sacrificed (Genesis 15:9, and contrast Genesis 8:20; Leviticus
4:1-5:10; Deuteronomy 14:4-5).
Animak found their way into the imagery of the Temple
(though not of the Tabernacle). Twelve bronze bulls symbolizing
Israel supported the bronze sea in the Temple courtyard (1
Kings 7:25), and lions and oxen were engraved on the ten
bronze water chariots (1 Kings 7:29). The choice of lions and
oxen arises from the fact that they are the two animal faces of the
cherubim (Ezekiel 1:10; 41:18-19).

The Categories of the Animal World
Genesis 1 provides us with six categories of animals. In terms
of the wider world, there are (1) the winged fowl, (2) the great
monsters of land and sea, and (3) the fish of the sea. In terms of
the land, there are (4) the wild animals, (5) the creeping things,
and (6) the domestic animals (cattle).
The great monsters are occasionally mentioned in the Bible, some
of them by name: Leviathan, Rahab, Behemoth (Job 26:12-13;
40:15-24; 41:1-34; Psalm 91:13; 148: 7). From what the Bible says
about them, these are evidently what we today call dinosaurs. 10