Texts in Conversation
Romans lists human, bird, animal, and reptile images when describing idolatry, matching the sequence in Deuteronomy and its warning against making idols of created beings. Both use paired terms for image and likeness and share the same categories of creatures, indicating that Paul’s wording reflects the Deuteronomic prohibition.
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Deuteronomy 4:16
Hebrew Bible
14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land that you are about to enter and possess. 15 Be very careful, then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 16 I say this so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female, 17 any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, 18 anything that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters under the earth.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Romans 1:23
New Testament
21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.
Date: 55-58 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Paul does mention the “reptile” elsewhere in the brief creature list associated with idolatry in Romans 1:23 (compare 1 Corinthians 8–11:1): “. . . they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images (εἰκών) in the likeness (ὁμοιώματι) of mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things (ἑρπετῶν).” While here alluding to Psalm 106:20, Paul also echoes Deuteronomy 4:15–19, with “image” and “likeness” occurring in parallel, along with the terrestrial creatures listed there. Fitzmyer suggests this likely accounts for Paul’s awkward syntax there. See Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Romans, AB 33 (New York: Double Day, 1993), 283 ... With Deuteronomy 4:15–19 as an essential part of the background of Romans 1:23, crucial neglected connections can be made with the language of 1 Corinthians 15:39–49 ..."
Burnett, David A.
A Neglected Deuteronomic Scriptural Matrix for the Nature of the Resurrection Body in 1 Corinthians 15:39–42
(pp. 187-212) Fortress Academic, 2019
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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