Likeness and image: תַּבְנִית in Deut 4:15–18

Says At Horeb Israel לֹא רְאִיתֶם כָּל־תְּמוּנָה (lo' re'item kol-temunah, "saw no form," Deut 4:15). So they must not make פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כָּל־סָמֶל (pesel temunat kol-samel, "an idol of any form or shape," 4:16), whether תַּבְנִית (tavnit, "likeness"; BDB p. 125, "pattern, figure") of זָכָר אוֹ נְקֵבָה (zakhar o neqevah, "male or female"), of בְּהֵמָה (behemah, "beast"), of צִפּוֹר כָּנָף (tsippor kanaf, "winged bird"), of רֹמֵשׂ (romes, "creeping thing"), or of דָּגָה (dagah, "fish").

Says The LXX renders the list with ὁμοίωμα (homoiōma) for both תְּמוּנָה and תַּבְנִית, and with εἰκών (eikōn) for סָמֶל: γλυπτὸν ὁμοίωμα, πᾶσαν εἰκόνα. It goes on: ὁμοίωμα παντὸς κτήνους … ὀρνέου πτερωτοῦ … ὁμοίωμα παντὸς ἑρπετοῦ … ἰχθύος.

Implies Rom 1:23 uses the same pair, ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος ("in the likeness of an image"), and a similar sequence: man, then birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. Deut 4's reason for the ban (God showed no form) underlies Paul's charge that the invisible God (1:20) was traded for visible copies.

Uncertain It is uncertain which passage supplies Paul's animal words. Deut 4 LXX has κτῆνος and ὄρνεον, while Paul's πετεινά, τετράποδα, and ἑρπετά match Gen 1:20–24 LXX (see the Gen 1 note). The most likely answer is Deut 4's structure with Gen 1's vocabulary.