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Besides the ordinary use of this word — such as distinguishing all animals from man, Ex. 9: 10; Ps. 36: 6; and as specifying quadrupeds from fowls and creeping things, Gen. 8: 19 — the word is used symbolically for:
a . the ignorance of man, Ps. 73: 22; and for his acting as an irrational creature, that is, without conscience before God. The word is beir, translated 'brutish' in Ps. 94: 8; Jer. 10: 8, 14, 21; Jer. 51: 17.
b. Great worldly powers, cheyva, θηρίον, 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, Dan. 7: 3-23; and in Rev. 13: 1 to Rev. 20: 10 for the revived Roman empire and for the Antichrist.
c. God's executive powers in creation and providence, ζῶον, unhappily translated 'beasts' in the A.V. in Rev. 4: 6-9, etc., where it should be 'living creatures,' as in Ezekiel. See LIVING CREATURES.