# H1823 - demuth **Strong's:** [H1823](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1823/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** dem-ooth' **Part of speech:** feminine noun (from H1819 *damah*, "to be like, resemble") **Frequency:** ~25 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible **LXX equivalent:** ὁμοίωσις (*homoiōsis*, "likeness") in [Genesis 1:26](/codex/genesis-1-26/) and [Genesis 5:1](/codex/genesis-5-1/); elsewhere εἰκών, ὁμοίωμα ## Semantic range (Brown-Driver-Briggs) 1. **Likeness, similitude, resemblance**, the abstract noun naming a relation of similarity. Less concrete than *tselem* (a representational form/image); more relational ("X is like Y"). 2. **Pattern, model**, what something is patterned after ([2 Kings 16:10](/codex/2-kings-16-10/), Ahaz sends a *demuth* of the altar he saw in Damascus). 3. **The thing-resembled-as-perceived**, used in theophanic / visionary literature (Ezekiel) for what the prophet *sees* but can describe only as "like a likeness of." ## Theological force *Demuth* is the constant pairing-partner of [H6754 - tselem](/codex/h6754-tselem/) in the imago Dei texts, and is the technical OT word for **theophanic / apocalyptic resemblance-language**, the lexeme prophets use when they have to describe what they have seen of God without committing to direct ontological claims about the divine essence. ### Function 1, pair with *tselem* in the imago Dei The two lexemes occur together in three constitutive texts: - **[Genesis 1.26](/codex/genesis-1-26/)**, *naʿaseh adam bə-tsalmēnu ki-dmutēnu*, "let us make humanity in our *tselem*, according to our *demuth*" - **[Genesis 5:1-3](/codex/genesis-5-1-3/)**, God made humanity *bi-dmuth* God; Seth was begotten *bi-dmuth* Adam *kə-tsalmo* - **[Ezekiel 1:5](/codex/ezekiel-1-5/), [26](/codex/ezekiel-1-26/), [28](/codex/ezekiel-1-28/)**, the four living creatures' *demuth* of human form; the *demuth* of a throne; the *demuth* of human form upon the throne; the *demuth* of YHWH's *kavod* The [Genesis 1:26](/codex/genesis-1-26/) *bə-tsalmēnu / ki-dmutēnu* pairing is **synonymous parallelism** in Hebrew poetic-legal style, the two prepositional phrases refer to the same divine intention, not two discrete categories. This is decisive for the proper exegesis: the patristic image / likeness distinction (Irenaeus's "image-retained vs. likeness-lost") reads dogmatic content into a Hebrew literary parallelism. Modern Hebrew exegesis (Westermann, Wenham, Sailhamer) consistently reads the two lexemes as mutually-glossing rather than referencing two distinct endowments. That said, the lexemes are not perfectly identical: - *tselem* leans toward concrete representational form (statue, carved image, the human as visible representative) - *demuth* leans toward abstract relational similarity (resemblance, pattern, likeness) In [Genesis 1:26](/codex/genesis-1-26/) the pair captures both registers at once: humans are *tselem-elohim* (concretely representative, the visible / functional manifestation of divine rule in the earth-domain) and *demuth-elohim* (relationally similar, patterned after God in the structure of agency, communion, moral capacity). ### Function 2, apocalyptic / theophanic resemblance-language *Demuth* is the prophet's vocabulary for describing visionary glimpses of God. [Ezekiel 1](/codex/ezekiel-1/) is the locus classicus, the noun appears six times in chapter 1 alone: - 1:5, *demuth* of four living creatures (*chayot*) - 1:10, *demuth* of their faces (each had four) - 1:13, *demuth* of the living creatures, like burning coals - 1:16, *demuth* of the wheels - 1:22, over the heads of the *chayot* a *demuth* of an expanse - 1:26, over the expanse a *demuth* of a throne; on the *demuth* of the throne, a *demuth* of human form (*demuth kə-marʾeh adam*) - 1:28, *hu marʾeh demuth kəvod-YHWH*, "this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of YHWH" The recursive *demuth*-of-*demuth* construction is theologically deliberate. Ezekiel does not say he saw YHWH; he says he saw *the appearance of the likeness of the glory of YHWH*. The mediating term *demuth* preserves divine transcendence while licensing controlled prophetic disclosure: the prophet does see, but what he sees is mediated through resemblance, not through direct identification. This same construction appears in: - **[Ezekiel 8:2](/codex/ezekiel-8-2/)**, "a *demuth kə-marʾeh* of fire / of a man", another mediated theophany - **[Ezekiel 10:1](/codex/ezekiel-10-1/), [10](/codex/ezekiel-10-10/), [21-22](/codex/ezekiel-10-21-22/)**, repeated *demuth*-language in the temple-vision - **[Daniel 10:16](/codex/daniel-10-16/)**, *kidmuth bənē adam*, "like the *demuth* of human sons", Daniel describes the figure who touches him The "Son of Man" tradition of [Daniel 7:13](/codex/daniel-7-13/) (Aramaic *kə-bar enash*, "like a son of man") inherits this *demuth*-vocabulary: an apocalyptic figure described by resemblance-language that is precisely *like* a human but not *just* a human, the very ambiguity Christ's "Son of Man" self-designation exploits. ### Function 3, Christological convergence Paul's use of [G3667 - homoioma](/codex/g3667-homoioma/) (the Greek lexeme that overlaps the *demuth* range) in [Romans 8:3](/codex/romans-8-3/), *en homoiōmati sarkos hamartias* ("in the *homoiōma* of sinful flesh"), and [Philippians 2:7](/codex/philippians-2-7/), *en homoiōmati anthrōpōn genomenos* ("having become in the *homoiōma* of men"), preserves the controlled-resemblance register: Christ shares humanity *in genuine likeness* without sharing every feature (sin, in [Romans 8:3](/codex/romans-8-3/)). The resemblance-grammar of *demuth* / *homoiōma* lets Paul affirm full incarnation without affirming sinful identification. Conversely [Hebrews 7:15](/codex/hebrews-7-15/), *kata tēn homoiotēta Melchisedek* ("after the *homoiotēs* of Melchizedek"), uses cognate vocabulary to argue Christ's priesthood is patterned-after but *exceeds* the Melchizedek priesthood. ## Notable verses - **[Genesis 1.26](/codex/genesis-1-26/)**, *ki-dmutēnu*, paired with *bə-tsalmēnu* - **[Genesis 5:1-3](/codex/genesis-5-1-3/)**, *bi-dmuth elohim* (1) and *bi-dmuth* Adam *kə-tsalmo* (3) - **[2 Kings 16:10](/codex/2-kings-16-10/)**, *demuth ha-mizbēach* (likeness of the altar), Ahaz sends a model - **[Isaiah 40:18](/codex/isaiah-40-18/)**, *u-mah-demuth taʿarkhu lo*, "to whom will you compare God? what *demuth* will you set up against Him?", the prophet's anti-idolatry challenge - **[Ezekiel 1:26-28](/codex/ezekiel-1-26-28/)**, the *demuth* of human form upon the throne; the *marʾeh demuth kəvod-YHWH* - **[Ezekiel 10:1](/codex/ezekiel-10-1/), [21-22](/codex/ezekiel-10-21-22/)**, temple-vision *demuth* repetitions - **[Ezekiel 23:15](/codex/ezekiel-23-15/)**, used negatively for Babylonian idol-imagery - **[Daniel 10:16](/codex/daniel-10-16/)**, *kidmuth bənē adam* ## Patristic / scholarly note The patristic image / likeness distinction (Irenaeus, *Against Heresies* IV.16.2; V.6.1, c. AD 180), image as constitutive endowment retained after the Fall, likeness as dynamic Spirit-conformity lost and to-be-restored, was made possible by the LXX's choice of *eikōn* for *tselem* and *homoiōsis* for *demuth*, which gave the Greek-fathers two distinct lexemes to allocate. Modern Hebrew scholarship (Westermann, *[Genesis 1](/codex/genesis-1/)-11*, 1984; Wenham, *[Genesis 1](/codex/genesis-1/)-15* WBC, 1987; Middleton, *The Liberating Image*, 2005) generally regards the patristic distinction as **theologically productive but exegetically anachronistic**, Hebrew parallelism does not warrant the two-tier endowment doctrine. The theophanic *demuth*-language has attracted significant attention in modern biblical theology. Christopher Rowland (*The Open Heaven*, 1982), Alan Segal (*Two Powers in Heaven*, 1977), Daniel Boyarin (*The Jewish Gospels*, 2012), and Michael Heiser (*The Unseen Realm*, 2015) trace a Second Temple Jewish tradition of a "second power in heaven" who is YHWH's visible manifestation, described precisely with *demuth* / *kabod* / Son-of-Man language, into the matrix from which NT christology emerges. The recursive *demuth* of [Ezekiel 1:26](/codex/ezekiel-1-26/) (a *demuth* of human form on a *demuth* of a throne) is for these scholars the beginning of a trajectory that runs through [Daniel 7](/codex/daniel-7/)'s "one like a son of man" approaching the Ancient of Days, into the NT's *Iēsous Christos kyrios*. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Top-cited references using *demuth*: [Genesis 1.26](/codex/genesis-1-26/), [Genesis 5:1-3](/codex/genesis-5-1-3/), [Ezekiel 1:26-28](/codex/ezekiel-1-26-28/) (when present). ## See also - [H6754 - tselem](/codex/h6754-tselem/), *tselem* (image), the constant pairing-partner - [G1504 - eikon](/codex/g1504-eikon/), *eikōn* (image), LXX rendering of *tselem* - [homoiōma](/codex/g3667-homoioma/), Greek *homoiōma*, overlaps *demuth* range; Pauline christological use (built 2026-05-16) - [H3519 - kavod](/codex/h3519-kavod/), *kavod* (glory), paired with *demuth* in [Ezekiel 1:28](/codex/ezekiel-1-28/) - [Imago Dei](/codex/genesis-1-27/), the doctrine - [Two Powers in Heaven](/codex/two-powers-in-heaven/), Second Temple background to *demuth*-Christology - [Genesis 1.26-27](/codex/genesis-1-26-27/), [Ezekiel 1](/codex/ezekiel-1/), [Daniel 7](/codex/daniel-7/), locus classicus