As a class within the created order, their variety reflects God's generous giving. He makes human beings their stewards, though they themselves come into the category of creatures.
Animals in their profusion
Genesis 1:24–25 See also Genesis 7:1–3, Genesis 7:13–16, Genesis 8:15–19; Psalm 50:9–11, Psalm 148:7–10; Isaiah 43:20; Ezekiel 36:11
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Animals as illustrated by their variety
Isaiah 11:6–8 See also Exodus 23:12 Ox, donkey; Exodus 25:3–5 Goat, sea cow; Leviticus 11:4–7 Rabbit, pig; Leviticus 11:29–30 Weasel, rat; Numbers 19:2 Heifer; Deuteronomy 14:4–5 Deer, gazelle, antelope; 1 Samuel 17:34–35 Sheep, bear, lion; Job 40:15–24 possibly the hippopotamus; Job 41:1–34 possibly the crocodile; Psalm 58:4 Snake; Psalm 105:30 Frog; Song of Solomon 2:15 Fox; Isaiah 13:21–22 Jackal, wild goat, hyena; Isaiah 51:8 Worm
The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.
Human beings within the animal creation
As part of creation
Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 3:18–21 See also Psalm 49:12
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.” For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other — they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile. All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?
Significantly different from the rest of creation
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Human beings as stewards of the animal kingdom
Psalm 8:6–8 See also Genesis 1:26–28, Genesis 2:19–20, Genesis 9:1–2; Hebrews 2:6–8; James 3:7–8
You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet: all sheep and oxen, and even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
Animals as the objects of divine, and therefore human, care
Genesis 9:8–10 See also Genesis 8:1; Exodus 9:4–6; 2 Kings 3:17; Job 5:23, Job 38:39–41, Job 39:1–30; Psalm 104:20–21; Proverbs 12:10, Proverbs 27:23; Joel 2:22; Jonah 4:11
Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, “Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that was with you — the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth— every living thing that came out of the ark.
Animals and Noah's ark
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.