Field guide
Animals and plants in the Bible
Sheep and a lion, a sparrow and an eagle, the olive tree, the vine and a tiny mustard seed: the Bible is full of life. Find them in the landscape, open the field guide and discover what they meant back then and what they tell us about God today.
The living landscape
From snowy Lebanon across the desert, the fields and the village to the Jordan and the sea: something is hiding everywhere. Tap an animal or plant to read its story, or play 'Find it!'.
Swipe sideways to see the whole landscape.
Tap an animal or plant in the landscape.
The field guide
Every animal and every plant has its own page: where you meet it in the Bible, what it was back then, what it means in faith, and something to tell others about.
46 of 46
Sheep and lamb
The animal that appears most often in the Bible: flock, sacrifice and a picture of God's people.
Sheep know the voice of their own shepherd. If a stranger calls, they won't follow.
Goat and scapegoat
Black hair for tents, milk for every day, and a goat that carried the guilt away.
The word 'scapegoat' comes from the Bible! It is the goat that walked off into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement.
Donkey
The work animal of ordinary people, and the mount of a king of peace.
A donkey is smart and careful: if he doesn't trust a path, he just stands still. That's why people call him stubborn.
Camel
The ship of the desert, and the animal in Jesus' wildest comparison.
A thirsty camel can drink more than a hundred liters of water in ten minutes!
Ox
The strength behind the plough, and the animal at the manger.
A yoke is a wooden beam across the necks of two oxen. That way they pull together, and the work gets lighter.
Horse
The animal of war and kings, which Israel was not to trust in.
God's own poem about the horse in Job 39 is one of the most beautiful animal poems ever: the horse laughs at fear!
Lion
King of the animals: danger in the wild, and a picture of the Messiah.
A lion's roar can be heard up to eight kilometers away.
Bear
The Syrian brown bear: strong and dangerous, especially as a mother.
A bear doesn't only eat meat: he loves honey, berries and nuts.
Wolf
The robber of the flock, and a picture of false leaders.
Wolves live in a family, the pack, and howl to call each other.
Fox
Small, sly and quick: from Samson to King Herod.
A fox can hear mice squeaking under the ground, and then pounces on them with a little leap.
Dog
Not a cuddly pet but a stray in the street, with one surprising exception.
In Greek the woman says 'little dogs': small house dogs waiting under the table. That sounds much kinder than a street dog.
Eagle
High above the mountains, with wings that carry.
An eagle can spot a rabbit from more than three kilometers away.
Dove
From Noah's ark to the baptism of Jesus: the sign of peace and of the Spirit.
Pigeons and doves can find their way home over hundreds of kilometers. That's why homing pigeons used to carry letters.
Raven
A black bird that didn't come back, and one that brought bread.
Ravens are super smart: they solve puzzles and remember people's faces.
Sparrow
The cheapest little bird at the market, and still not forgotten.
In Matthew two sparrows cost one small coin, in Luke five sparrows cost two. The fifth one came for free, and God doesn't even forget that one!
Hen
A mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings.
When there is danger, a hen calls her chicks with a special little sound, and they run straight under her wings.
Rooster
He crowed, and Peter began to weep.
A rooster doesn't only crow in the morning, but also at night and during the day. He is saying: this is my place!
Fish
Bread for the fishermen of Galilee, and a secret sign of the first Christians.
The tilapia still swims in the Sea of Galilee, and people there call it 'St. Peter's fish'.
Snake
Cunning in the garden, and yet a sign of rescue in the wilderness.
A snake smells with its tongue! That's why it keeps flicking it out.
Locust
A swarm that strips everything bare, and a meal for John the Baptist.
A desert locust eats about its own weight in plants every day.
Bee and honey
A land flowing with milk and honey: sweet and full of life.
For one jar of honey, bees together fly about twice around the earth!
Ant
Small, with no boss, and still wiser than a sluggard.
An ant can carry more than ten times her own weight.
Leopard
Fast, spotted and always lying in wait.
A leopard sometimes drags its prey high up into a tree, so that no one else can get to it.
Deer
Swift on the mountains, and thirsty for water.
A hind, a female deer, climbs steep rocks without slipping.
Behemoth
The great beast God shows to Job: 'the chief of the ways of God'.
A hippo is as heavy as two or three cars, and yet it runs faster than most people.
Leviathan
The sea monster that only God can tame.
A crocodile can stay under water for up to an hour without taking a breath.
Olive tree
A tree that lives for centuries, with oil for light, food and anointing.
Some olive trees in Israel are more than a thousand years old, and they still bear olives!
Fig tree
Leaves for Adam and Eve, and a tree Jesus used to teach a lesson.
A fig tree already grows little fruits before its leaves are fully out.
Vine
Grapes, wine and a picture of belonging: 'I am the vine'.
A branch cut off from the vine withers within a few days. Only while it is attached does it get sap and grow grapes.
Mustard seed
The tiniest seed, which grows into a plant where birds take shelter.
From a seed smaller than a pinhead grows a plant taller than your dad!
Wheat
Everyday bread, and a grain that must die to bear fruit.
One grain of wheat can grow into a plant with as many as a hundred new grains. In the parable of the sower Jesus even speaks of a hundred times as much!
Barley
The bread of the poor, the first to ripen in spring.
The boy in John 6 didn't have a fancy lunch with him: barley bread was food for poor people. Jesus turned it into a feast!
Lily of the field
Wildflowers, dressed more beautifully than King Solomon.
In spring the red anemone turns whole hills in Israel red. Today it is the country's national flower.
Cedar of Lebanon
The giant of the mountains, from which Solomon built the temple.
A cedar of Lebanon can live more than a thousand years and grow as tall as forty meters.
Hyssop
A bunch of herbs used to brush on the blood of the Passover lamb.
Biblical hyssop is related to oregano, the herb on your pizza!
Date palm
Sweet dates, straight trunks and branches for a king.
A date palm can give as much as a hundred kilos of dates a year.
Almond tree
The first tree to wake up in winter: 'the watcher'.
In one night Aaron's staff did what a tree does in months: buds, flowers and ripe almonds!
Myrrh
Bitter, fragrant resin: a gift at the birth, an ointment at the grave.
If you cut into the bark of the myrrh bush, sap drips out and hardens into fragrant little stones.
Frankincense
White fragrant resin that rises like a prayer.
Frankincense comes from a small tree that grows on bare rocks, in Oman, Yemen and Somalia.
Thorns and thistles
What the field yields after the fall, and a crown for the King.
The bush from which God spoke to Moses was on fire but did not burn up. Moses took off his sandals in front of it.
Acacia
The hard desert wood of the ark and the tabernacle.
The acacia has long thorns, so animals can't just eat its leaves.
Sycamore fig
A broad tree with low branches: perfect for a short man who wants to see Jesus.
In Jericho there is an old sycamore fig that people call 'Zacchaeus' tree'. Whether it is really that tree, no one knows.
Reed
The bending reed by the river, which Jesus does not break.
People made the first paper from papyrus, a kind of reed. The word 'paper' even comes from it!
Flax
Little blue flowers in the field, white linen for priests.
The Gezer calendar, a small stone tablet almost three thousand years old, mentions 'a month of pulling flax'.
Pomegranate
A fruit full of seeds, on the robe of the high priest.
There are hundreds of seeds in one pomegranate. Try counting them!
Tree of life
From the first page to the last: the tree that gives life.
In Revelation the tree of life bears fruit twelve times a year: every single month!
The farmer's year
The land of the Bible doesn't have four seasons like ours, but two: a wet winter and a dry summer. Everything depends on the rain: the early rain in autumn, the winter rains, and the late rain in spring. In between, the harvests follow one another, and the great feasts fall right in the middle of them: Passover with the barley, the Feast of Weeks with the wheat, Tabernacles with the grapes and the fruit.
The Gezer calendar, a small limestone tablet from the time of the kings, sums up the farmer's year like this: two months of harvest, two months of sowing, two months of late sowing, a month of flax, a month of barley, a month of harvest and feasting, two months of pruning, a month of summer fruit. The months below are approximate.
In the fields
Barley harvest
Apr
Around Passover the barley is ripe. The first sheaf is brought to God as firstfruits. Ruth arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
The barley is ripe first. The first bundle is a present for God.
- Barley
Who am I?
An animal or plant tells you something about itself. Can you guess after the first clue? Then you get three points.