How Did Biblical Authors View the Natural World?

Although Hebrew has no word that encompasses the multiple meanings of English “nature,” the ancient Israelites experienced the natural world in many ways similar to our experiences. Nature was encountered in other living creatures, the materials from which they constructed their homes and produced their tools, and the processes by which they eked out their subsistence. Where the ancient Israelites differ from modern peoples is that they did not theorize about nature. Thus, the biblical authors refer to the many specific elements of nature—rocks, trees, dirt, animals, iron, rain—but not to an abstract category that encompasses all nonhuman aspects of the world. The closest Hebrew term to “nature” in this sense is ’erets, “earth” (and its poetic parallel tebel, “world”), which may include the living creatures and humans who inhabit it (Ps 24:1) and thus refers to the whole of creation apart from the heavens. But it is often also used for a specific land or territory of a people (Gen 12:1).

How did biblical authors view the processes of nature?

We use nature to refer to the forces that create and regulate the physical world. Using the biological sciences, for example, we can explain the growth of a seed and a fetus gestating in a woman’s womb as regular and universal natural processes. Similarly, we recognize thunderstorms and earthquakes as natural events. Through science, we have identified numerous natural explanations for the changes we see in the natural world.

For the ancient Israelites, much of this was attributed to God. A husband would have sex with his wife, but God was the one who opened (Gen 29:31; 30:22) or closed (Gen 16:2) the womb for procreation. A farmer plants the seed, but God brings the rain (Ps 65) and causes it to grow (Ps 104:14). Where we might see natural laws at work, the biblical authors saw the work of God.

Did the biblical authors distinguish humans from nature?

Ever since René Descartes distinguished mind from body, modern peoples have distinguished humans and nature. The resulting dualism has treated humans and nature as two ontologically distinct parts of the world. Although the biblical authors did not recognize the abstract category of nature, they distinguished humans from other living creatures. In the Priestly creation account, humans are created in God’s image (Gen 1:26–27; compare Ps 8) unlike all other creatures. In the Yahwist creation account, humans become “like God” when they eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:4–7, 22).

But the biblical authors were not dualists; humans are distinct from other living creatures, but all are material creations of God. In the Priestly account, humans are created on the sixth day along with all other land creatures. In the Yahwist account, humans are created out of dirt just like the land animals and birds (Gen 2:7, 19) and will return to dirt at death (Gen 3:19). Humans, other creatures, and the rest of the material world together make up the creation of God.