In God’s Image

Bereishit 1:26-28

What feature distinguishes humankind from the rest of Creation?: Human beings were uniquely created “in God’s image” ( בצְּלֶםֶ אלֱהִֹים , beTzelem Elohim). What does this mean? Countless suggestions have been offered and some of them will be discussed in this unit.

Based on the flow of the biblical text, biblical scholar Professor Nahum Sarna (1923–2005) notes that “verse 26 establishes an evident connection between resemblance to God and sovereignty over the earth’s resources, though it is not made clear whether man has the power over nature as a result of his being like God or whether that power constitutes the very essence of the similarity.” 

What powers enable humankind to reign supreme? 

• Intellect

• the ability to communicate

• free will

• self-awareness

• consciousness of the existence of others

• conscience

• responsibility

• self-control

• potential for spirituality/holiness

All of these are normally included in an understanding of the concept of tzelem Elohim.

The infinite value of human life: But perhaps the Torah wishes to convey something further as well. In Bereshit 9:6 it is written, “Whoever sheds the blood of a human being will have their blood shed by [other] human beings, for humankind was fashioned in the image of God.” Here, tzelem Elohim is the basis for declaring murder as the consummate crime. Thus, this term also reflects the infinite value of human life.

The purpose of humanity’s existence: What connection is there between humankind’s being fashioned beTzelem Elohim, and the purpose of its existence? Understanding humankind’s unique task on earth, as per this biblical text, may offer an explanation. The Torah states that the first human beings were told to master and rule the earth and all its inhabitants. This requirement can best be understood against the backdrop of humankind’s position in relation to the rest of Creation. If other forces in the Creation were more powerful than humans, or if the first human did not have the capacity to dominate the world (as Elohim is seen to dominate the world), then God could hardly assign them the task of mastering and ruling the earth as it would be beyond their capacity. Thus, according to Bereshit 1, humankind is blessed with the ability and the capacity (and the responsibility) to dominate and control its surroundings, and this would be the explanation of what it means to be created “in God’s image.”

Other possible understandings of what it means to be created in the image of God are raised by the authors of the next three texts.

Maimonides (Rambam), Moreh Nevukhim (Guide for the Perplexed) 1:1

Being in the ‘image of God’ is a unique intellectual quality: Elsewhere (Mishneh Torah, Foundations of Torah 1:8–9), Rambam proposes that the Tanakh uses expressions referring to physical traits to describe God because humans need such language. Humans cannot conceptualize that which their minds have never seen, in the same way that a blind person from birth cannot understand what color means. However, the expressions are to be understood metaphorically. Here, too, Rambam contends that God does not have a figure and therefore the concept of being created in God’s image cannot be taken to mean God’s shape or form. Rambam argues further that the Hebrew word tzelem must mean “that which constitutes the essence of a thing.” Well, what is the essence of God? For Rambam, likely being guided by Aristotle, the essence of God is God’s intellect. If humans are to be modeled on God in any way, for Rambam it must be that humans are modeled after the quality of the intellect, and so saying that humans are made “in God’s image” must be understood to reflect humans’ intellectual perception – their ability to think and process information in a way superior to that of any other creation. This is what makes humans unique and bearers of a divine quality.

The etymology of the word tzelem:Rambam’s assessment of the meaning of the Hebrew tzelem derives from his linguistic analysis of the term along with another term used by the Tanakh, to’ar ( תּאֹרַ ; for example, see Bereshit 39:6). For Rambam, this latter word is used by the Tanakh to describe the physical qualities of an object. For this reason, he assumes that tzelem must refer to some other characteristic of the object being described, and he concludes that tzelem refers to “that which constitutes the essence of a thing.” Rambam’s definition of tzelem can be contrasted with that of Rashi who sees tzelem as more of a physical aspect of the thing (Rashi to Bereshit 1:27).

Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, Bereshit 1:27, In the Image of God

Approach 1 – intellectual: Plaut contemplates three ways of defining how it is that humans can be formed in God’s image. The first approach is that of Rambam as Plaut takes note of the “unique intellectual capacity” of the individual human being, as Rambam saw the tzelem Elohim of the person in light of the humans’ “intellectual perception.” Plaut differs from Rambam, though, in that Plaut takes the idea of being created in the image of God as a poetic utterance, a literary figure of speech used to convey how the biblical author stands in awe of humankind, while for Rambam, the phrase tzelem Elohim speaks of a philosophical truth.

Approach 2 – moral potential: Plaut’s second way to understand what it means to be created in the image of God is reminiscent of how the Rabbis in the Talmud (Sotah 14a) explain what it means to “walk after God” (Devarim 13:5). For them, people “follow God” by behaving as God does – by clothing the naked, consoling mourners, burying the dead, etc. In this second approach, Plaut takes the idea of being created in the tzelem Elohim in similar fashion – being created in the tzelem Elohim means that people have the ability to act in a morally responsible manner and to show love, mercy, justice, etc. 

Approach 3 – potential for holiness: Plaut, however, adds yet a third way to understand the biblical comparison of humanity to the divine, this being that humans carry within them the potential for holiness. In several different verses in the Torah, God is said to be holy (Vayikra 11:44; 19:2; 21:8, and more). When God created humankind, according to the narrative in Bereshit 2, “the LORD God formed the human from the dust of the earth. [God] blew into [the human] nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living being.” No other element of Creation had God’s breath injected in it. God’s breath, in Plaut’s view, imbued adam, the human being, not only with life, but also with holiness.

In the Torah’s call for the Israelites to be holy, the language used is always “you shall be holy” קְדוֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ) , kedoshim tihyu), never “you are holy” ( אַתֶּם קְדוֹשִׁים , atem kedoshim). In this sense, one may argue that just as humanity has a potential for morality, so too does it have a potential for holiness. In receiving the breath of God, humans figuratively carry a part of God in them. But they do not become like God. Humanity is left with the potential to be holy, partly replicating God’s holiness, which is absolute. Perhaps the knowledge that humans have the potential to be holy encourages them to behave in such a way as to bring them closer to their goal.

The holiness of humankind is the source of human dignity: But Plaut adds, however, another definition for holiness and that is to say that holiness is a mark of human dignity. Understood in this way, each individual human being bears a certain dignity that all others should see as the mark of God in that person and thus accord him respect. This dignity, this type of holiness, unlike the other type, is always the possession of the person and is not something that a person needs to acquire. (But it is something a person can lose!) 

Rabbi Lawrence Troster, In the Image: Peshat

Humanity as a reminder to creation of the existence of God: Analyzing the word צֶלםֶ (tzelem) through the lens of linguistics, Troster expands on the concepts raised in the previous text (Rabbi Plaut). Not only are humans to be God’s co-workers, doing God’s work on earth, they are the ones to spread God’s presence to all corners of the world, being a constant reminder to all of Creation that there is a God and that God is present, even if not in physical form, just as photos, statues, and other images of the rulers of the land are meant to remind people of their dominion.

Linguistic analysis of the word tzelem:Troster derives his understanding of the Hebrew tzelem by using a linguistic technique that analyzes cognate words. Cognate words are words, often in different but related languages, that seem to have derived from the same root. The method of studying cognate words assumes that if a word has a known definition in one language, that definition could be applied to its cognate in the other language, allowing for the word to be understood in the second language. This method can be used to raise possible understandings of Hebrew words in the Tanakh whose meanings are uncertain. In applying this method, one should be wary of its primary pitfall, however, as pointed out by biblical scholar and linguist Dr. Joel Manuel Hoffman – words may be cognates, but they can still have different usages in different languages. As an example, take the Hebrew word לחֶֶם (lechem) that means bread, while the Arabic لحم (lachm) means meat. Thus, relating the definition of tzelem to that of tzalmu should be done with caution.

Maimonides (Rambam), Moreh Nevukhim (Guide for the Perplexed) 1:1