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Bible Dictionaries
Beast
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or Besides the ordinary use of this word — such as distinguishing all animals from man, Exodus 9:10; Psalm 36:6; and as specifying quadrupeds from fowls and creeping things, Genesis 8:19 — the word is used symbolically for:
a. the ignorance of man, Psalm 73:22; and for his acting as an irrational creature, that is, without conscience before God. The word is beir, translated 'brutish' in Psalm 94:8; Jeremiah 10:8,14,21; Jeremiah 51:17 .
b. Great worldly powers, cheyva, θηρίον, having different characters according to the symbolic creature specified, but signifying in each case the absence of all moral connection with God: used by Daniel for the four great kingdoms, Daniel 7:3-23; and in Revelation 13:1 to Revelation 20:10 for the revived Roman empire and for the Antichrist.
c. God's executive powers in creation and providence, ζῶον, unhappily translated 'beasts' in the A.V. in Revelation 4:6-9 , etc., where it should be 'living creatures,' as in Ezekiel. See LIVING CREATURES.
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Beast'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/b/beast.html. 1897.
