Biblical Kind
(C)Copyright 2008 by Carl Drews
Updated: May 6, 2008
Contents:
Abstract
Method
Bible Verses That Contain "Kind"
Other Relevant Bible Verses
Conclusion
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Implications
Genesis 1 uses the Hebrew word "miyn" to describe the created types of plants and animals. Hebrew "miyn" (Strong's Concordance #4327) is usually translated into English as "kind." Biblical "kind" refers to some category of living things, but at what level of classification? The author examines the Biblical usage of "miyn" in context and concludes that the Hebrew word refers to a recognizable species.
When analyzing the meaning of Biblical words, it is important to read them in context of the original passage. It is also important to examine all the occurrences of the word, to be sure that all possible meanings are included in the analysis. One-verse interpretation can often lead the modern Bible reader astray.
Modern English has many more words than ancient Hebrew. There is usually not a one-to-one correspondence between Hebrew words and their English equivalent, because translators use different English words to capture the intent of the original Hebrew. The key step is to locate the Strong's Concordance number for the word under study. You may find the number by a) looking up the English word in a Hebrew-English dictionary, and b) verifying that the Hebrew word does indeed occur in the passage(s) you are studying.
In the case of Biblical "kinds" the Strong's Concordance number is Hebrew 04327, or simply H4327. The Hebrew word "miyn" is pronounced "meen". The Blue Letter Bible has a very useful on-line lexicon at the following location:
http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H4327
The Outline of Biblical Usage states a definition for H4327:
1) kind, sometimes a species (usually of animals)
This definition is some scholar's understanding of the Biblical meaning of the word "miyn". Although we could simply take the scholar's word for it, when the meaning is important we should verify the supplied definition ourselves. No human authority is higher than the Biblical text. That's why we look up all the verses in context. Below the word's definition this particular entry has a curious paragraph without any explanation:
Goups [sic] of living organisms belong in the same created "kind" if they have descended from the same ancestral gene pool. This does not preclude new species because this represents a partitioning of the original gene pool. Information is lost or conserved—not gained. A new species could arise when a population is isolated and inbreeding occurs. By this definition a new species is not a new "kind" but a further partitioning of an existing "kind".
(Collected on the Internet - April 20, 2008.)
I am familiar with the Bible, and when I first read this paragraph I thought to myself, "I don't remember reading anything in the Bible about partitioning of gene pools, or information lost and gained! Where does the Bible say all that? I want to know book, chapter, and verse! Where is this paragraph coming from?" Here is a perfect example where we must examine the Bible verses ourselves to verify the interpretation in the mystery paragraph. The Blue Letter Bible entry states that H4327 occurs 31 times in the Old Testament. The large number is good, because we need a comprehensive pool of usages to determine all possible shades of meaning for this word.
The Blue Letter Bible lists 31 occurrences of the Hebrew word "kind", as follows. The numbers are Strong's Concordance numbers.
Gen 1:11 And God 0430 said 0559 , Let the earth 0776 bring forth 01876 grass 01877, the herb 06212 yielding 02232 seed 02233, [and] the fruit 06529 tree 06086 yielding 06213 fruit 06529 after his kind 04327, whose 0834 seed 02233 [is] in itself, upon the earth 0776: and it was so.
Gen 1:12 And the earth 0776 brought forth 03318 grass 01877, [and] herb 06212 yielding 02232 seed 02233 after his kind 04327, and the tree 06086 yielding 06213 fruit 06529, whose seed 02233 [was] in itself, after his kind 04327: and God 0430 saw 07200 that [it was] good 02896.
Gen 1:21 And God 0430 created 01254 great 01419 whales 08577, and every living 02416 creature 05315 that moveth 07430 , which the waters 04325 brought forth abundantly 08317 , after their kind 04327, and every winged 03671 fowl 05775 after his kind 04327: and God 0430 saw 07200 that [it was] good 02896.
Gen 1:24 And God 0430 said 0559 , Let the earth 0776 bring forth 03318 the living 02416 creature 05315 after his kind 04327, cattle 0929, and creeping thing 07431, and beast 02416 of the earth 0776 after his kind 04327: and it was so.
Gen 1:25 And God 0430 made 06213 the beast 02416 of the earth 0776 after his kind 04327, and cattle 0929 after their kind 04327, and every thing that creepeth 07431 upon the earth 0127 after his kind 04327: and God 0430 saw 07200 that [it was] good 02896.
Gen 6:20 Of fowls 05775 after their kind 04327, and of cattle 0929 after their kind 04327, of every creeping thing 07431 of the earth 0127 after his kind 04327, two 08147 of every [sort] shall come 0935 unto thee, to keep [them] alive 02421 .
Gen 7:14 They 01992, and every beast 02416 after his kind 04327, and all the cattle 0929 after their kind 04327, and every creeping thing 07431 that creepeth 07430 upon the earth 0776 after his kind 04327, and every fowl 05775 after his kind 04327, every bird 06833 of every sort 03671.
Lev 11:14 And the vulture 01676, and the kite 0344 after his kind 04327;
Lev 11:15 Every raven 06158 after his kind 04327;
Lev 11:16 And the owl 01323 03284, and the night hawk 08464, and the cuckow 07828, and the hawk 05322 after his kind 04327,
Lev 11:19 And the stork 02624, the heron 0601 after her kind 04327, and the lapwing 01744, and the bat 05847.
Lev 11:22 [Even] these of them ye may eat 0398 ; the locust 0697 after his kind 04327, and the bald locust 05556 after his kind 04327, and the beetle 02728 after his kind 04327, and the grasshopper 02284 after his kind 04327.
Lev 11:29 These also [shall be] unclean 02931 unto you among the creeping things 08318 that creep 08317 upon the earth 0776; the weasel 02467, and the mouse 05909, and the tortoise 06632 after his kind 04327,
Deu 14:13 And the glede 07201, and the kite 0344, and the vulture 01772 after his kind 04327,
Deu 14:14 And every raven 06158 after his kind 04327,
Deu 14:15 And the owl 01323 03284, and the night hawk 08464, and the cuckow 07828, and the hawk 05322 after his kind 04327,
Deu 14:18 And the stork 02624, and the heron 0601 after her kind 04327, and the lapwing 01744, and the bat 05847.
Eze 47:10 And it shall come to pass, [that] the fishers 01728 shall stand 05975 05975 upon it from Engedi 05872 even unto Eneglaim 05882; they shall be a [place] to spread forth 04894 nets 02764; their fish 01710 shall be according to their kinds 04327, as the fish 01710 of the great 01419 sea 03220, exceeding 03966 many 07227.
The verses in Genesis 1 are familiar to most people who have studied this problem. The first usage of "kind" in verse 24 is either a generality or a plural: "the living creature after his kind". Either "living creature" is a general single kind, or there are many different kinds of living creatures. Perhaps the word "kind" should be plural there: "after his [many] kinds". Verses 24-25 go on to list three more particular kinds: cattle, creeping things, and beasts. These are all living creatures. Thus we can already refute the assertion in the mystery paragraph; partitioning and sub-dividing the taxonomy does indeed represent a new Biblical "kind".
The Flood story in Genesis 6-7 uses categories similar to Genesis 1.
The verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy are very instructive. Notice how specific are the different "kinds" listed there. Jumping insects that can fly are different kinds (Leviticus 11:22):
In Ezekiel 47 the word "miyn" is translated here in the plural: kinds.
In Genesis 2:19-20 Adam gives names to all the animals. The simplicity of this process implies that identification is done by simple recognition. The different kinds of animals are distinguished by Adam as a layman; the Bible does not describe here any more complicated taxonomy.
Genesis 8:6-8 states that Noah took with him onto the Ark a raven and a dove. Although the word "kind" is not used here, the two birds clearly have different names. They are recognizably distinct. Noah did not take a single pair of generic proto-birds with him onto the Ark, from which all modern birds are descended. Genesis 8:6-8 strongly implies that the raven and the dove were two different kinds of birds while they were on the Ark.
In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus tells of the coming judgment of the nations, and likens this event to a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats. A shepherd easily recognizes the difference between sheep and goats. This parable implies that livestock are not all the same Biblical "kind", but are recognized as distinct kinds of animals.
The Hebrew word for "kind" in the Bible can be very specific. Although "miyn" (Strong's Concordance H4327) may sometimes refer to a broad class of animals, it certainly also refers to animals at nearly the species level of classification. There is no Biblical support for the assertion that genetic information cannot be gained, nor for any "change barrier" that restricts how far a "kind" may evolve.
The Biblical usage of "kind" refers to a recognizable species; recognizable to people living among them. People naturally identify plants and animals at roughly the species level (Gould, Stephen Jay, 1980. A quahog is a quahog. In The Panda's Thumb, Norton, New York.). The passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy confirm this level. I include the adjective "recognizable" in my definition to allow that trained biologists may sometimes identify separate species that are not obvious to the layman. Biblical "kind" falls between Genus and species, and represents the level of naming used by people familiar with the plants and animals of interest.
The Biblical usage of "kind" is close to the scientific usage of "species". Species is defined scientifically as reproductive isolation; organisms are of the same species if they can interbreed successfully, and are of different species if they cannot. The Biblical phrase "after their kind" implies reproductive isolation. In the case of fossils, where the reproductive test cannot be conducted, different species are distinguished by morphology (physical characteristics). If two fossils look different enough, they are classified as different species. A panel of scientists may judge the differences in morphology. This practice also matches the Biblical usage, where different organisms are identified by how they look. If two populations can be reliably distinguished, then they are different Biblical "kinds".
Figure 3. Two different Biblical kinds:
(B) Australopithecus africanus, STS 5, 2.6 My; and (N) Homo sapiens sapiens, modern.
Reprinted by permission from Dr. Douglas Theobald.
(Images (C) 2000 Smithsonian Institution.)
Figure 4. Macroevolution between two different Biblical kinds.
Smoothly transitional fossils from ancient Australopithecus africanus to modern Homo sapiens.
Image A is a modern chimpanzee for comparison.
For more information, see Douglas Theobald's article.
The Bible does not state any bounds on the variations that may be produced by mutation plus natural selection. Genetic information may be added by a gene duplication followed by a point mutation. However, Genesis 1 does imply that a creature always produces more offspring of the same kind. So how is it that macroevolution can produce entirely new kinds and be consistent with the Biblical text?
The answer is that according to standard evolutionary theory, the child is always the same species as the parent. By any test of speciation (reproduction or morphology), the parent and the child are the same species. It is only after a large number of generations that we notice a substantial change in the Biblical "kind". The text in Genesis 1 is obviously a short summary of God's magnificent creation, and we should not expect it to cover exhaustively the biological changes that occur over longer periods than a human lifetime.
The definition of Biblical "kind" usually comes up in discussions of microevolution vs. macroevolution. Many creationists profess to accept microevolution but not macroevolution. Many creationists accept speciation, but quickly assert that the new species is still the same Biblical kind. "It's still a finch." "It's still a snail." "It's still a bacteria." They suggest that there is some Biblical "kind" beyond which microevolution cannot reach. I have tried to solicit a testable definition of "kind" from several creationists, but have not received any coherent response. So I have searched the Bible myself! This article summarizes my findings. A Biblical "kind" is a recognizable species. The two endpoints of Figures 2 and 4 are recognizably different.
Furthermore, Biblical macroevolution is close to the scientific definition of macroevolution. A new Biblical "kind" emerges when reproductive isolation newly separates two child populations. A new Biblical "kind" has emerged when an observant layperson can reliably tell them apart. And I am not surprised by this finding, for I believe that God's Word and God's Creation are in harmony.
Carl Drews
April 20, 2008
