8:22–23) can only be understood against the Hebrew Bible’s depictions of creation as the theater of the Spirit’s presence and activity. Not only does the Spirit transform deserts into fertile fields and forests (Isa. 32:15); all creatures—donkeys, birds, goats, lions, fish, and so on—are nourished by the breath of Yahweh, apart from which “they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground” (Ps. 104:29–30; cf. Job 34:14–15).