LIVING CREATURE

liv'-ing kre'-tur: (1) (nephesh chayyah, or nephesh hachayyah (nephesh, "breath" or "living things"; chayyah, "living"; compare Arabic nefs, "breath," chaiy, "living")): In the account of the creation this term is used of aquatic animals (Genesis 1:21), of mammals (Genesis 1:24) and of any animals whatsoever (Genesis 2:19).

(2) ([chayyoth], plural of chayyah): The name of the "living creatures" of Ezekiel 1:5-25, which had wings and the faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle; compare Ezekiel 10. (3) (zoon, "living thing," "animal"): The four "living creatures" (the King James Version "beasts") of Revelation 4:6, etc., the first like a lion, the second like a calf, the third having a face as of a man, and the fourth like an eagle, having each six wings.

See CREATURE , LIVING CREATURE .

Alfred Ely Day

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.