“Let Us make man in Our image (tselem), after Our likeness (demuth)”

1. “Image” — Tselem: Representative Figure (Nature, Function)

The Hebrew word tselem means:

• representative figure

• visible expression

• embodied manifestation

• a figure that mirrors an unseen reality

This term doesn’t simply mean “looks like. ”It means:

👉 Humans reflect the divine nature, capacities, and functions.

But God has more than one representative figure revealed in Scripture:

■ The Word (in a material body)

• Called “the image (eikōn) of the invisible God.”

• The physical embodiment God would inhabit in time.

■ Wisdom (the Spirit in embodied, personified form)

Proverbs 8 describes Wisdom:

• speaking

• standing

• acting

• creating

• rejoicing

• being “brought forth”

• positioned beside God as a master craftsman

Early Jewish and Christian tradition recognized Wisdom as:

👉 The personified, embodied manifestation of the Spirit.

Thus, “Let Us make man…” refers to both of God’s manifested representative figures:

1. The Word — embodied revelation of God

2. The Wisdom-Spirit — embodied expression of God’s inner life

Humans were patterned after both.

🔹 2. “Likeness” — Demuth: Form, Shape, Structure

The Hebrew demuth means:

• likeness

• form

• shape

• structural appearance

• pattern of embodiment

Where image (tselem) speaks to nature and function, likeness (demuth) speaks to form and shape.

So Genesis 1:26 means:

👉 Humans not only mirror God’s representative nature (image),but also reflect the embodied form or shape that God’s representative figures took (likeness).

This is profound:

• tselem = “Mirror who We are.”

• demuth = “Mirror how We appear in embodied form.”

This aligns perfectly with the idea that:

• The Word had a predetermined, created material body (Col 1:15).

• Wisdom had an embodied, personified form in Proverbs 8.

These forms (plural) become the likeness (demuth) after which humanity is shaped.

🔥 3. Therefore, Genesis 1:26 describes TWO divine representative embodiments

The “Us” and “Our” refer to the plurality of God’s manifested images:

■ Image = Their NATURE

• God’s authority

• God’s relational capacity

• God’s creativity

• God’s moral and spiritual attributes

■ Likeness = Their FORM

• the embodied shape of the Word

• the embodied shape of Wisdom

So humans were created to reflect BOTH:

👉 God’s nature (image)👉 God’s physical divine patterns of embodiment (likeness)

🔹 4. Male and Female Reflect the Dual Divine Images

Genesis 1:27 says:

“In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

This is not about God having biological gender. It means:

• Humanity required two expressions to reflect the fullness of divine representation.

• Male and female together mirror the dual representative figures of God.

Together, humanity reflects:

👉 the full spectrum of God’s image (tselem) and👉 the full spectrum of God’s likeness/form (demuth)