Creeping Thing
What Are the "Creeping Things"?
The biblical category of "creeping thing" encompasses a wide range of small, often numerous creatures that move close to the ground. The primary Hebrew terms are remes (from the verb ramas, meaning "to creep" or "move about") and sherets (from sharats, meaning "to swarm" or "teem"). While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, sherets often emphasizes the prolific, swarming nature of these creatures. In the New Testament, the Greek word herpeton serves as the equivalent (Acts 10:12). This category is not strictly zoological but functional and phenomenological, grouping together creatures based on their movement and abundance.
Creeping Things in the Biblical Narrative
Creeping things appear at pivotal moments in the biblical story. They are part of God's good creation on the fifth and sixth days (Genesis 1:20-25). God creates them and declares them good, establishing them as part of the teeming life of the earth and seas. During the Flood narrative, creeping things are specifically included among the animals preserved in Noah's ark, highlighting that God's covenant preservation extends to even the smallest creatures (Genesis 6:20; 7:14, 21, 23).
Later, in the Law given to Israel, creeping things become a major category within the purity codes. Leviticus 11 provides extensive regulations, declaring most land-dwelling "creeping things" (sherets) unclean for food (Leviticus 11:41-44). A notable exception is made for certain types of locusts and grasshoppers (Leviticus 11:21-22). Winged creeping insects are also generally considered unclean (Leviticus 11:20-23). These laws served to set Israel apart and teach them to make distinctions between the clean and the unclean.
The concept reappears dramatically in the New Testament in Peter's vision in Acts 10. In a sheet lowered from heaven, Peter sees "all kinds of four-footed animals and creeping things of the earth and birds of the air" (Acts 10:12). When commanded to kill and eat, Peter protests, citing the Jewish dietary laws. God's response, "What God has made clean, do not call common" (Acts 10:15), uses the category of creeping things to symbolize the breaking down of barriers between Jews and Gentiles, declaring all people eligible for the gospel.
Theological and Symbolic Significance
Theologically, creeping things highlight the comprehensiveness of God's creation and covenant. Their inclusion in the ark signifies that God's concern and redemptive plans encompass all life, not just humanity or majestic animals. The dietary laws involving creeping things were less about hygiene and more about holiness—teaching Israel to exercise obedience and maintain symbolic separation by making daily, practical distinctions.
Peter's vision transforms the category's significance. The creeping things in the sheet become a metaphor for the Gentiles, whom traditional Jewish piety might have viewed as "unclean" or outside the covenant community. God's declaration that he has cleansed them illustrates a central New Testament theme: in Christ, the old barriers of purity and separation are abolished, and the gospel extends to all nations. The creation mandate to the creeping things to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:22) finds a spiritual parallel in the fruitful multiplication of the church from all peoples.
Cultural and Historical Context
In the ancient Near East, categories for animals were often based on habitat and locomotion (e.g., birds of the air, fish of the sea, creatures of the land) rather than modern biological taxonomy. The biblical category of "creeping thing" fits this pattern, focusing on how creatures moved and where they were encountered. Swarms of insects like locusts were a common and devastating reality in the agrarian societies of the biblical world, making their regulation and symbolic use highly relatable.
Archaeological evidence shows that dietary restrictions were not unique to Israel; other contemporary cultures had taboos against certain animals. However, Israel's system was uniquely comprehensive and tied explicitly to their identity as a holy people belonging to Yahweh. The vision in Acts 10 must be understood against this deep cultural backdrop of purity and separation, making its revolutionary message all the more striking to Peter and the early Jewish church.
Biblical Context
The term appears across the Pentateuch (Genesis, Leviticus, Deuteronomy), the Psalms, and the New Testament book of Acts. Key narratives include the Creation account (Genesis 1:24-25), the instructions for the animals on Noah's ark (Genesis 6-7), the detailed dietary laws in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, and Peter's transformative vision in Acts 10:9-16. It functions as a created category of life, a subject of covenantal preservation, a marker of ritual purity, and finally a symbol for the inclusion of the Gentiles in the gospel.
Theological Significance
Creeping things teach about the scope of God's creation and redemption—even the smallest creatures are under God's sovereign care and part of his good world. The purity laws surrounding them instructed Israel in holiness through daily obedience and the practice of making distinctions. Most profoundly, in the New Testament, they become a symbol of the radical inclusivity of the gospel. God's act of cleansing what was once declared unclean (Acts 10:15) demonstrates that salvation through Christ breaks down all human barriers, inviting people from every nation into the covenant community.
Historical Background
Ancient Near Eastern cultures commonly categorized animals by their mode of movement (walking, flying, swimming) and habitat. Israel's dietary laws, while sharing a cultural context of food taboos, were distinctive in their connection to theological identity and holiness (qadosh—set apart). The list of forbidden creeping things in Leviticus 11 includes many creatures (like rodents, lizards, and insects) that were sometimes consumed in neighboring cultures but were prohibited for Israel as part of their separation unto God.