Zoomorphic aspects of the image of God in the Bible

Certain animals mentioned in the Bible are invoked by inspired authors as symbols of God, His Son, or the Holy Spirit. They serve to visually represent demonstrations of God’s Power, Wisdom, and Providence in a symbolic and plastic manner. The authors, despite a clear tendency to anthropomorphize and transcendentalize, used familiarity with the appearance and behavior of animals like the lion, bear, panther, wolf, eagle, bull, lamb, pigeon, hen, and even serpent to portray God and His actions. The correct presentation of the zoomorphic aspects of the image of God on a theological level requires reference to various fields of knowledge. This approach allows a better understanding of the  ignificance of animals in everyday life and the culture of the inhabitants of ancient Israel. The research,  conducted on three levels—zoological, cultural, and biblical-theological—has demonstrated that literary motifs related to the aforementioned representatives of the faunal world are not only topoi that constitute the heritage of general human culture. Some of them are the biblical tradition’s unique contributions to this  culture, such as the symbolism of the lamb.