zoon denotes living beings, chiefly the four beings around the throne in Revelation, and also animals in other contexts.

The dominant usage denotes the four living beings situated around the throne in Revelation, where they speak, give praise, and worship; a smaller group of passages uses the term for animals, whether sacrificial animals or creatures used in comparisons.

1. The four beings around the throne · dominant

   In Revelation 4:6 the APB renders four beings in and around the throne, and Revelation 4:7 describes them individually through lion, calf, human-faced, and flying-eagle comparisons. In Revelation 4:8 they speak praise without rest, while Revelation 5:14 and Revelation 19:4 place them in acts of assent and worship; Revelation 6:3 shows one of them speaking at the opening of a seal.

   Revelation 4:6Revelation 4:7Revelation 4:8Revelation 5:14Revelation 6:3Revelation 19:4
2. Animals in sacrifice or comparison · occasional

   In Hebrews 13:11 the genitive plural form occurs in the clause about bodies whose blood is brought into the holy places and whose bodies are burned outside the camp. In 2 Peter 2:12 and Jude 1:10, nominative plural forms occur in comparisons describing people as irrational or unreasoning animals.

   Hebrews 13:112 Peter 2:12Jude 1:10

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB usually presents the Revelation occurrences as “living creatures,” with “living things” in Revelation 15:7. In the other passages it renders the surrounding clauses with “animals”; these are translation renderings rather than definitions.