in a notable exception it denotes the statue of a king in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2; and cf. Dan. 3). Some Mesopotamian texts refer to the king as made in the god’s image and thus as ruling with his authority; Gen. 1 says that humanity does so.94 Whereas “image” usually has negative connotations, “likeness” refers more neutrally to a thing that resembles something else (Ezek. 1 and 10 have most of the occurrences). The first word, then, suggests that human beings will physically represent God
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