Animals, general

The Hebrew word behemah carries a broad spectrum of meanings, including all of the divisions in this chapter: animal in general, domestic animal, animal that is ridden, and wild animal. This word occurs some 190 times. A few representative references have been given for this word in each category; for the most part the context will give an indication of which meaning is appropriate.

The words chay, chayah and cheva in Hebrew and zōon in Greek are derived from a root meaning “life,” “to be alive". They can refer to any type of living creature. In some contexts the reference is to human beings in others to animals or to creatures that live in the water and in still others to all living creatures. However the reference is always to some form of animal life rather than to plants. In a few contexts the word chay functions as an adjective for example living “live” or “alive.” While the word chay does not indicate any specific animal it will usually be possible to tell from the context which animal is intended. However in some references in Genesis, Ezekiel, and Revelation there are no clues as to what kinds of animals or beings are meant. All we know is that they were alive. The words tetrapodos and quadrupes literally “four-footed” indicate animals in a general sense especially referring to mammals as opposed to snakes birds and other living creatures.