“According to Our Image” or “to be Our Image”? (Gen 1. 26-27)

The concept of human being as the image of God forms the basis of anthropology of all religions that belong to the tradition of the Bible. The key place for this concept is Gen 1:26. The detailed analysis of this verse must take into account both the history of “crystallization” of the concept in the development of the religion of the Ancient Israel, and the later exegesis. The article classifies interpretations of the meaning and function of the expression “the image of God” in the context of the Creation narrative. The difference between these interpretations may be clarified by an analogy with a coin having a king’s image. What exactly is meant by “king’s image”? The coin itself? The features of the king’s face represented on the coin? The stamp which impressed the king’s image upon it? Following this analogy we identify three models of understanding the wording of Gen 1:26 and trace their place in the history of interpretation of the verse. The first part of the article is devoted to linguistic aspects of interpretation of the Hebrew text with a special emphasis on the semantic of the Hebrew prepositions. The second part looks at the place of the concept of Man as God’s image in the development of the religion of the Ancient Israel. The third part analyses the treatment of this concept in the Greek translations. Of special interest for us are the texts of the Judeo-Hellenistic (Wisdom of Solomon) and early Christian (Paul’s letters) literature that reflect the interpretation of the Biblical text different from the LXX. The fourth part is devoted to the Platonizing interpretation of the LXX translation, represented, first of all, by Philo. The final part of the article summarizes the individual conclusions of specialists in the Hebrew Bible, LXX, Judeo-Hellenistic and early Christian literature and relates them to the three models of understanding the wording of Gen 1:26.