Taming the Beast: Human-Animal Encounters in the Bible

By Yossi Feintuch

Discover a compelling exploration of humanity's role as the Bible's supreme predator--the only species God describes as "prone to evil from youth" and notably not as "the Crown of Creation." Yet humans continue--today as in biblical times--to project their own unparalleled capacity for violence onto predatory animals.



Taming the Beast illustrates how the Bible seeks to restrain and redirect these human destructive tendencies, even as it highlights the collateral suffering that biblical animals endure because of human corruption. At the same time, the book uncovers the Bible's view of a fundamental kinship between humans and animals, showing how animal motherhood mirrors human experience and how animals often serve as moral and spiritual role models. It also examines humanity's irrational fear of wild animals and probes God's controversial post-flood permission to eat meat, despite the Bible's broader discouragement of making meat a dietary staple.



With innovative perspectives and fresh interpretations, Taming the Beast invites readers to reconsider iconic and biblical stories through a new lens to gain a deeper understanding of the Bible's animal world. Isaiah's daring vision of restored human-animal harmony--present from creation through the flood--provides a powerful and hopeful finale.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GRCVP6GN
• ISBN13: 9798385243983
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"