Below are ten quotations from the King James Version of the Bible
concerning humans' relationships with animals. In addition to these
brief passages, it should be noted that throughout the Bible, in both
the Old Testament and the New, we find the metaphor of the Lord as a
shepherd, and mankind as His sheep.
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Genesis 1:28
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth."
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Exodus 23:12
"Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt
rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest."
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Deuteronomy 22:4
"Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way,
and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up
again."
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Job 12:7-10
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of
the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall
teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who
knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all
mankind."
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Psalms 8:4-9
"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that
thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the
angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to
have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things
under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth
through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy
name in all the earth!"
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Proverbs 12:10
"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender
mercies of the wicked are cruel."
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Proverbs 27:23
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds."
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Isaiah 66:3-4
"He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a
lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as
if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed
an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul
delighteth in their abominations."
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Ezekiel 4:2-4
"Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye
clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not
the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye
healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was
broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away,
neither have ye sought that which was lost."
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1 Corinthians 9:9-10
"For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the
mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for
oxen?
Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this
is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that
thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope."
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I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear, please
request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before
you rate my answer.
Best wishes,
pinkfreud |
Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
15 Mar 2004 15:10 PST
Rena,
Surprisingly, the Bible says very little about the treatment of animals.
Proverbs 12:10 is generally viewed as the most explicit injunction
against animal cruelty:
"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender
mercies of the wicked are cruel."
I interpret this as meaning that good men respect the animals who are
under their domain, but wicked men are cruel even in their attempts at
kindness. Perhaps an example of this would be a former neighbor of
mine who kept his dog in the backyard on a short chain. The poor
creature didn't have any shelter from the elements, and got no
exercise, since he couldn't walk more than a few feet before the chain
halted him. I spoke with the dog's owner about this, and the owner
said that this was for the dog's own good, since he might leap the
fence and be stuck by a car if he were left unchained. My neighbor's
"tender mercies," his supposed kindness to his pet, were, in fact,
creating ill health and suffering in the animal. The tender mercies of
the wicked are cruel.
Regarding 1 Corinthians 9:9-10...
"For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the
mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for
oxen?
Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this
is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that
thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope."
In this passage, the Apostle Paul is likening hard-working oxen to
ministers of the Gospel.
"For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth
out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward. (I Tim.
5:18).
Paul was affirming the special office of pastors. He was an apostle,
he told the Corinthians. He was therefore worthy of financial support,
which he would not accept. He explained his position by invoking
Deuteronomy 25:4.
Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a
vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock,
and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man?
or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of
Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the
corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our
sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth
should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be
partaker of his hope (I Cor. 9:7-10)."
http://www.hisglory.us/articles/muzzled_oxen_by_gary_north.htm
For the purpose of your essay, I think the citation of Proverbs 12:10
is about the best you can do. The other scriptures that I cited above
concern the necessity of taking good care of animals, but regarding
the keeping of animals as pets, or the exploitation of animals in
shows, circuses, and zoos, the Bible doesn't speak to these issues at
all. Keep in mind that the Bible endorses the slaughtering of animals
for food, and makes numerous references to the herding of domestic
sheep and the use of draft animals such as oxen, horses, and asses.
Although it's evident that we are expected to be kind to our draft
animals, the use of animals in this way is by no means condemned.
The term often applied to man's dominion over the animals is
"stewardship." You can find many interesting articles and essays on
the subject by using the search string "bible" "stewardship"
"animals":
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=bible+stewardship+animals
~pinkfreud
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