BEAST. Although retained widely in RSV this word is almost obsolete when used in a general sense, and in this respect it can be compared with the word “fowl.” Beast is still found in several combinations, e.g., “beast wagon,” the truck used as living quarters for circus animals on the move; the expression “beast of burden” is current. Otherwise it is virtually confined to literary and metaphorical usage. A cruel or uncouth man is a beast and his behavior beastly. Beast is the older word, derived from Old French and it was in general use when the basic tr. was made leading up to the KJV. The newer “animal” was beginning to appear in writings, but was not generally known before the end of the 16th cent. Lack of uniformity in tr. (KJV and RSV) raises similar problems to those discussed under Animal. In OT the RSV generally follows KJV. Two frequent words are mostly tr. beast, viz. בְּהֵמָה, H989, (beast) and חַיָּה֒, H2651, (living creature). But בְּהֵמָה, H989, is elsewhere often tr. “cattle.” חַיָּה֒, H2651, is tr. “beast” ninety-six times and in other passages used thirty-five times tr. in ten different ways. Heb. בְּעִיר, H1248, (“beast,” “brute”) is usually tr. “beast,” but occasionally “cattle”; KJV and RSV are not uniform.

In OT usage it is hard to differentiate clearly between בְּהֵמָה, H989, and חַיָּה֒, H2651; e.g. in the same ch. and almost identical contexts both are used for clean animals. Leviticus 11:2 KJV, “the beasts which ye shall eat” (חַיָּה֒, H2651); v. 39 “any beast of which ye may eat” (בְּהֵמָה, H989). In v. 47 חַיָּה֒, H2651, is used for both clean and unclean animals. In many contexts בְּהֵמָה, H989, is wider in meaning than בְּהֵמָה, H989, but cf. Leviticus 11:2 (RSV) “These are the living things (chaiyāh) which you may eat among all the beasts (behēmāh) that are on the earth.”

In NT the RSV accords more closely with the Gr. ζῶον, which KJV renders “beast” throughout, is tr. “animal” in Hebrews 13:11, etc., and “living creature” in Revelation 4ff., which is helpful. Both KJV and RSV retain the tr. “beast” for κτῆνος, G3229, (beast of burden) and θηρίον, G2563, (wild beast); RSV thus makes a clear distinction between the four living creatures on the one hand, and the beast of Revelation 11:7 and all literal passages on the other.

The biological aspect of the word creature should be discussed briefly, for RSV uses it in literal contexts much more widely than earlier VSS. In KJV it is found sparingly in OT. Heb. H5883, נֶ֫פֶשׁ (most frequently tr. “soul”) is tr. “living creature” nine times and “creature” once (Gen and Lev). In all cases the use is lit. Heb. חַיָּה֒, H2651, (basic meaning “living,” but variously tr. in many passages, usually lit.) is fifteen times tr. “living creature” in Ezekiel in a wholly fig. sense. RSV tr. as above but also at least ten other Heb. words which KJV renders “moving creature,” “beast of the field,” “flesh,” “people,” “living thing,” etc. In fact, the first six occurences of creature in Genesis (RSV) represent six different Heb. words. Except for some obviously prophetic passages in OT and NT, creature is used in KJV and RSV in a purely literal sense. Unfortunately, in current Eng. creature has several different senses; strictly it means anything created, both animate and inanimate; often it is regarded as synonymous with animal; sometimes used for members of the animal world as opposed to man, and in U.S. esp. for cattle. On all counts this word as used in RSV has its disadvantages. In most literal contexts the more precise words “animal” and “cattle” are preferred.