B’tzelem Elohim (בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים) is Hebrew for “in the image of God.” The phrase comes from Genesis 1:26–27, where God says that man is to be made in His image and likeness, and then the text tells us plainly that man and woman were made in His image. Tselem is the Hebrew word for image, statue or representation. Elohim is the general Hebrew word for God, a plural form used with singular meaning throughout the Old Testament. Put together, b’tzelem Elohim answers one of the oldest human questions: what are we? The answer Scripture gives is that human beings are not accidents, not merely clever animals, and not interchangeable units of labour. We are creatures made to represent the living God within His world — and that is the foundation for human dignity, moral responsibility and the value of every life.
The phrase is not a passing detail. It stands at the head of the Bible’s account of humanity, and it echoes through the rest of Scripture, from the prohibition of murder in Genesis 9 to James’s warning against cursing people. It also shapes how the New Testament speaks of Christ, of salvation, and of the Christian life. Understanding b’tzelem Elohim is not a word study for its own sake; it is a study of who you are before God.
What does the Hebrew phrase b’tzelem Elohim actually mean?
Hebrew often joins words with the preposition be, meaning “in” or “with.” So b’tzelem is “in the image of,” and Elohim is “God.” The construction is simple, but its content is enormous.
Tselem is used elsewhere in the Old Testament for physical images — carved figures, statues, representations set up to be seen. That is why the same word appears in the second commandment’s world of ideas: an image is something that stands for something else. When Genesis applies the word to human beings, it is saying that men and women are the visible representatives of the invisible God on earth. We do not become God; we represent Him.
Elohim is the plural form of Eloah, the Hebrew word for deity, and it is used in Scripture for the one true God. It is also used in the opening verse of the Bible:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. — Genesis 1:1 (BSB)
The plural form does not mean many gods. In Genesis 1:26 God speaks as one — “Let Us make man in Our image” — and the next verse states that God made man in His own image. Christians have long read this as a hint of the fullness of God’s being, later revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The site’s own lexicon entries on Elohim and the divine name explore this further.
So the phrase means: human beings, male and female, are made as God’s image-bearers — His representatives, bearing a likeness to Him that no other creature shares.
What does it mean to be made in God’s image?
Genesis gives the phrase its setting. Before God makes man, He has already made light, land, sea, plants and animals. Then comes a deliberate pause and a divine decision:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” — Genesis 1:26 (BSB)
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. — Genesis 1:27 (BSB)
Several things follow from this.
First, the image is universal. Every human being — whatever their age, ability, ethnicity, wealth or standing — bears it. Genesis 5:1 repeats the point, telling us that when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. The image is not earned and cannot be lost by weakness or age.
Second, the image is both male and female. The text says “male and female He created them” in the same breath as the image. Both sexes equally bear God’s likeness, and together they display something of God’s character that neither does alone.
Third, the image carries a task. Genesis 1:26 links the image to rule over creation. Being God’s image means representing His rule within the world He made — tending, ordering and caring for it rather than exploiting it.
Fourth, the image has moral content. The New Testament describes the renewal of believers as being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator (Colossians 3:10) and as putting on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Knowledge, righteousness and holiness are not incidental; they are the shape of the likeness God made us to bear.
How does sin affect the image of God in us?
Sin did not erase the image; it defaced it. After the fall, Genesis still speaks of human beings as made in God’s likeness — which is why murder is treated with such seriousness:
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind. — Genesis 9:6 (BSB)
That verse is spoken after the flood, to a fallen world, and it still grounds human life in the image of God. James makes the same argument about our speech: with the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness (James 3:9). The image remains the reason human beings deserve reverence even in their fallen state.
At the same time, the likeness is broken. Our knowledge is darkened, our righteousness is twisted, and our rule over creation has become disordered. The Bible’s story from Genesis 3 onward is the story of God restoring what sin has ruined — not by abandoning the image, but by renewing it.
Who is the true image of God?
The New Testament answers this in a striking way. Christ is called the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15), and Hebrews says the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:3). Where Adam and Eve were made in God’s image, the Son is the image. He shows us what God is like perfectly and what humanity was meant to be.
This is why salvation is described as being conformed to Christ’s image. Romans 8:29 says believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Second Corinthians 3:18 describes the same work: believers are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. The Christian life is not merely moral improvement; it is the restoration of God’s image in us through the work of the Spirit.
What does b’tzelem Elohim mean for how we treat one another?
If every person bears God’s image, several practical conclusions follow.
Human life is sacred. Genesis 9:6 grounds the prohibition of murder in the image of God, and that principle stands behind Christian opposition to the taking of innocent life at any stage.
Human dignity is not conditional. The unborn, the disabled, the elderly, the poor and the stranger all bear the image. Their worth does not depend on usefulness, productivity or health.
Speech matters. James 3:9 rebukes cursing people precisely because they are made in God’s likeness. How we speak about others — and to others — is a theological matter.
Representation matters. If we are God’s image-bearers, our conduct reflects on Him. The call to holiness is not simply a list of rules; it is the calling to represent the God we belong to.
How does this shape the Christian life?
B’tzelem Elohim is not only a doctrine about humanity in general; it is a personal calling. You were made to know God, to reflect Him, and to live under His rule. Sin has damaged that calling, but in Christ it is being restored. Colossians 3:10 and Ephesians 4:24 describe the new self as being renewed in the image of its Creator — a work that begins at conversion and continues through the Spirit’s work in a believer’s life.
That means the ordinary means of grace matter. Scripture shows us the God whose image we bear. Prayer is fellowship with Him. And the local church is where believers are shaped together, as a community of image-bearers learning to reflect their Maker. If you want to grow in this, read Genesis 1 and 2 slowly, then Colossians 3 and Ephesians 4, and ask God to make you more like Christ — the true image of the invisible God.
Questions readers ask
Is b’tzelem Elohim the same as the Latin imago Dei?
Yes. Imago Dei is the Latin phrase for “image of God,” and b’tzelem Elohim is the Hebrew phrase from Genesis 1:26–27 that it translates. Both refer to the same biblical teaching that human beings are made in God’s likeness.
Does being made in God’s image mean we look like God physically?
No. God is spirit (John 4:24), and the image is not about physical appearance. Scripture links the image to knowledge, righteousness, holiness and rule over creation (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24; Genesis 1:26). It is a moral and relational likeness, not a bodily one.
Is the image of God still present in us after sin?
Yes, though it is defaced. Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9 both appeal to the image of God as the reason human life and human persons deserve reverence after the fall. The image is not erased; it is being restored in Christ (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
How does the New Testament use the idea of God’s image?
The New Testament applies it chiefly to Christ, who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and the exact representation of God’s nature (Hebrews 1:3). It also describes salvation as being conformed to Christ’s image (Romans 8:29) and being renewed in the image of our Creator (Colossians 3:10).
Lexicon answers from the Bible and public-domain reference works. It is a study aid and is not affiliated with any organisation.