Beast.
Besides the ordinary use of this word — such as distinguishing all animals from man, Exodus 9:10; Psalms 36:6; and as specifying quadrupeds from fowls and creeping things, Genesis 8:19 — the word is used symbolically for:
a. the ignorance of man, Psalms 73:22; and for his acting as an irrational creature, that is, without conscience before God. The word is beir, translated 'brutish' in Psalms 94:8; Jeremiah 10:8, Jeremiah 1:10, Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 51:17.
b. Great worldly powers, cheyva, qhrion, having different characters according to the symbolic creature specified, but signifying in each case the absence of all moral connection with God: used by Daniel for the four great kingdoms, Daniel 7:3-23; and in Revelation 13:1 to Revelation 20:10 for the revived Roman empire and for the Antichrist.
c. God's executive powers in creation and providence, zwon, unhappily translated 'beasts' in the A.V. in Revelation 4:6-9, etc., where it should be 'living creatures,' as in Ezekiel. See LIVING CREATURES.