Meaning of ANIMALS

Animals, both wild and domestic, appear frequently in the pages of the Bible.

There were pure and impure animals and they were known by the detailed classifications of the law of Moses and which each Israelite certainly knew well.

Livestock, especially, were a part of daily life for the Hebrew people. Before the invention of currency, wealth was measured by the number of herds owned.

Abraham had so many flocks that he got into difficulties with his relative Lot over control of the pasture (Gen. 16:6).

Already when the people of God were established in the land of Canaan, each family had a portion of land in which to graze their animals. A righteous man cared about “the life of his animals” (Proverbs 12:10).

Moses makes a simple classification of animals into four categories, based solely on their system of locomotion:

(a) Quadrupeds: All terrestrial quadrupeds, except those whose legs do not give them enough height and they appear to crawl, such as the lizard and the crocodile.

(b) Birds: All animals that have wings, including winged insects.

(c) Fish: How many animals swim in the water, including cetaceans.

(d) Reptiles: All reptiles and animals that, without being reptiles, appear to crawl, such as mice, moles, etc.