Topical Bible: Creeping

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Topical Encyclopedia

In the Bible, the term "creeping" is often associated with creatures that move close to the ground, typically referring to reptiles, insects, and other small animals. The concept of creeping is introduced early in the Scriptures and carries various symbolic and literal meanings throughout the biblical narrative.

Creation and Classification

The first mention of creeping creatures is found in the account of creation in Genesis. On the sixth day, God created all living creatures, including those that creep upon the earth:

"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.' And it was so." (Genesis 1:24)

Here, creeping things are distinguished from livestock and beasts, indicating a separate category of creatures that inhabit the earth. This classification underscores the diversity of God's creation and His sovereign design in populating the earth with various forms of life.

Symbolism and Cleanliness

In the Mosaic Law, creeping creatures are often associated with ceremonial cleanliness and dietary laws. Leviticus 11 provides detailed instructions on which animals are considered clean and unclean, including specific references to creeping things:

"Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. Whatever moves on its belly, or walks on all fours, or has many feet, you are not to eat, for they are detestable." (Leviticus 11:41-42)

These laws served to set the Israelites apart from other nations and to instill a sense of holiness and obedience to God's commands. The distinction between clean and unclean animals, including creeping things, was a tangible expression of the Israelites' covenant relationship with God.

Judgment and Consequences

Creeping creatures also appear in contexts of judgment and consequences for disobedience. In Deuteronomy, God warns the Israelites of the curses that will befall them if they turn away from His commandments, including the presence of creeping things:

"You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them." (Deuteronomy 28:39)

This imagery of creeping creatures consuming the fruits of the land serves as a metaphor for the destructive consequences of sin and rebellion against God.

New Testament References

While the New Testament does not frequently mention creeping creatures, the concept is alluded to in discussions of purity and the fulfillment of the Law through Christ. In Acts 10, Peter receives a vision of a sheet containing all kinds of animals, including creeping things, symbolizing the removal of dietary restrictions and the inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant community:

"He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air." (Acts 10:11-12)

This vision signifies the breaking down of barriers and the extension of God's grace to all people, transcending the previous distinctions of clean and unclean.

Conclusion

Throughout the Bible, creeping creatures serve as a reminder of God's creative power, the importance of holiness, and the consequences of disobedience. They also illustrate the transformative work of Christ in reconciling all of creation to Himself.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Creep.

2. (a.) Crawling, or moving close to the ground.

3. (a.) Growing along, and clinging to, the ground, or to a wall, etc., by means of rootlets or tendrils.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

CREEPING THING

krep'-ing (remes, sherets; herpeton): Remes and sherets, with the root verbs ramas and sharats, are used without any sharp distinction for insects and other small creatures. Ramas means clearly "to creep," and is used even of the beasts of the forest (Psalm 104:20), while sharats is rather "to swarm." But in at least one passage (Leviticus 11:44), we have the noun, sherets, with the verb ramas; "with any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon the earth." The principal passages where these words occur are the accounts of the Creation and the Flood and the references to unclean animals in Leviticus and in the vision of Peter. In the last we have the word herpeton as the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew words (Acts 10:12). Winged creeping things (sherets ha-`oph, Leviticus 11:20), as well as the wingless, are unclean, but an exception is made in favor of the locusts, "which have legs above their feet, where-with to leap upon the earth."

See INSECTS; LOCUST.

Alfred Ely Day

Greek

2062. herpeton -- a creeping thing
... a creeping thing. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: herpeton Phonetic
Spelling: (her-pet-on') Short Definition: a creeping creature, reptile ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2062.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

7431. remes -- creeping things, moving things
... 7430, 7431. remes. 7432 . creeping things, moving things. Transliteration:
remes Phonetic Spelling: (reh'-mes) Short Definition: things. ...
/hebrew/7431.htm - 6k

8318. sherets -- swarmers, swarming things
... creeping thing, moving creature. From sharats; a swarm, ie Active mass of minute
animals -- creep(-ing thing), move(-ing creature). see HEBREW sharats. ...
/hebrew/8318.htm - 6k

2546. chomet -- (a kind of) lizard
... snail. From an unused root probably meaning, to lie low; a lizard (as creeping) --
snail. 2545, 2546. chomet. 2547 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/2546.htm - 5k

3218. yeleq -- (a kind of) locust
... Word Origin from an unused word Definition (a kind of) locust NASB Word Usage
creeping locust (5), locust (1), locusts (2), young locusts (1). ...
/hebrew/3218.htm - 6k

Library

The Six Days' Work Described.
... And God said, Let the waters bring forth the creeping things that have life, and
fowl flying over the earth in the firmament of heaven: and it was so. ...
/.../theophilus/theophilus to autolycus/chapter xi the six days work.htm

What the Ruler's Discrimination Should be Between Correction and ...
... So I went in and saw; and behold every similitude of creeping things, and abomination
of beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were pourtrayed upon ...
/.../leo/writings of leo the great/chapter x what the rulers.htm

The Carrion and the Vultures
... All round that dial the hand goes creeping, creeping, creeping slowly, but
when it comes to the appointed line, then the bell strikes. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/the carrion and the vultures.htm

The Parable of the Drag-Net.
... are good or bad lies not in the souls of the fishes, but is based on that which
the Word said with knowledge, "Let the waters bring forth creeping things with ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of matthew/11 the parable of the.htm

The Inconsistency of Image Worship. Arguments in Palliation. -1 ...
... but that of men and women and of creatures lower yet and of irrational nature, all
manner of birds, beasts both tame and wild, and creeping things, whatsoever ...
/.../select works and letters or athanasius/section 19 the inconsistency of.htm

Essay
... let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that ...
/.../an essay on the mosaic account of the creation and fall of man/essay.htm

On the Work of the Fifth Day (One Article)
... Therefore the words, "Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life,
and the fowl that may fly over the earth," do not fittingly describe this ...
//christianbookshelf.org/aquinas/summa theologica/on the work of the 3.htm

Rom. I. 18
... Ver.23. "And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like
to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.". ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on acts and romans/homily iii rom i 18.htm

Faith (Preached Before the Queen at Windsor, December 5, 1865)
... righteous than he? And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping
things, which have no ruler over them? They take up ...
/.../the water of life and other sermons/sermon xiii faith preached before.htm

The Flood.
... In this ark God promised to preserve alive Noah and his family; and also two of
each of every living thing on the earth"animals, birds, and creeping things. ...
/.../anonymous/mother stories from the old testament/the flood.htm

Thesaurus

Creeping (43 Occurrences)
... tendrils. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. CREEPING THING. krep ... LOCUST. Alfred Ely
Day. Multi-Version Concordance Creeping (43 Occurrences). Acts ...
/c/creeping.htm - 21k

Swarming (19 Occurrences)
... Genesis 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both birds, and cattle,
and beasts, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every ...
/s/swarming.htm - 12k

Creepeth (17 Occurrences)
... let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that ...
/c/creepeth.htm - 12k

Creep (8 Occurrences)
... 5. (vt) To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn; as,
a creeping sycophant. ... 9. (n.) The act or process of creeping. 10. ...
/c/creep.htm - 10k

Creeps (13 Occurrences)
... them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and
over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that ...
/c/creeps.htm - 10k

Moves (30 Occurrences)
... Genesis 6:20 Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of
every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall ...
/m/moves.htm - 14k

Bird (65 Occurrences)
... (BBE). James 3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing
in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind. (WEB ...
/b/bird.htm - 28k

Insects (17 Occurrences)
... marginal notes, we find at least 23 names of insects or words referring to them:
ant, bald locust, bee, beetle, cankerworm, caterpillar, creeping thing, cricket ...
/i/insects.htm - 14k

Crawling (20 Occurrences)
... Acts 11:6 When I had looked intently at it, I considered, and saw the four-footed
animals of the earth, wild animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky. ...
/c/crawling.htm - 12k

Animals (224 Occurrences)
... Acts 11:6 When I had looked intently at it, I considered, and saw the four-footed
animals of the earth, wild animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky. ...
/a/animals.htm - 37k

Resources

Were fish and sea creatures also destroyed during the Flood (Genesis 6-8)? | GotQuestions.org

Why did God also destroy animals in the Flood (Genesis 6-8)? | GotQuestions.org

How did Noah fit all the animals on the Ark? | GotQuestions.org

Creeping: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Creeping (43 Occurrences)

Acts 10:12
Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Acts 11:6
When I had looked intently at it, I considered, and saw the four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Romans 1:23
and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

James 3:7
For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.
(WEB ASV DBY YLT)

Genesis 1:21
And God prepareth the great monsters, and every living creature that is creeping, which the waters have teemed with, after their kind, and every fowl with wing, after its kind, and God seeth that 'it is' good.
(YLT)

Genesis 1:24
God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;" and it was so.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 1:25
And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing of the ground after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
(DBY YLT)

Genesis 1:26
God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV n

Genesis 1:28
And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'
(YLT)

Genesis 1:30
and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which 'is' breath of life, every green herb 'is' for food:' and it is so.
(YLT)

Genesis 6:7
Yahweh said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 6:20
Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come to you, to keep them alive.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 7:8
of the clean beasts and of the beasts that 'are' not clean, and of the fowl, and of every thing that is creeping upon the ground,
(YLT)

Genesis 7:14
they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 7:21
All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Genesis 7:23
Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 8:16
every living thing that 'is' with thee, of all flesh, among fowl, and among cattle, and among every creeping thing which is creeping on the earth, bring out with thee;
(YLT)

Genesis 8:17
Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Genesis 8:19
Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Genesis 9:3
Every creeping thing that is alive, to you it is for food; as the green herb I have given to you the whole;
(YLT)

Leviticus 5:2
"'Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he shall be guilty.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Leviticus 11:20
All winged creeping things that go upon all fours are an abomination unto you.
(ASV)

Leviticus 11:21
Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have legs above their feet, with which to hop on the earth.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Leviticus 11:23
But all winged creeping things which have four feet, are an abomination to you.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Leviticus 11:29
"'These are they which are unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard,
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Leviticus 11:41
"'Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Leviticus 11:42
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Leviticus 11:43
You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled thereby.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

Leviticus 11:44
For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS YLT)

Leviticus 22:5
or whoever touches any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has;
(WEB KJV ASV WBS RSV)

Deuteronomy 4:18
a form of any creeping thing on the ground -- a form of any fish which 'is' in the waters under the earth;
(YLT)

Deuteronomy 14:19
All winged creeping things are unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS)

1 Kings 4:33
He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Psalms 104:25
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
(KJV JPS ASV WBS)

Psalms 148:10
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 8:10
So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 38:20
so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Hosea 2:18
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Joel 1:4
What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.
(See NAS)

Joel 2:25
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
(See NAS)

Nahum 3:15
There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust.
(See NAS)

Nahum 3:16
Let your traders be increased more than the stars of heaven:
(See NAS)

Habakkuk 1:14
and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Subtopics

Creeping

Creeping Thing

Creeping Things: A General Term for Animals

Creeping Things: Clean

Creeping Things: Unclean

Creeping Things: Uses of, in Idolatrous Worship

Related Terms

Swarming (19 Occurrences)

Creepeth (17 Occurrences)