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Sixth Day of Creation. Part 1
God's Creation of Land Animals Genesis 1:24-25 1. The Origin of the Creatures: {24}
Then God
said, "Let the earth bring forth, (Gen. 1:24a)
"Then said" - Literally, "And said", where "and said"
is the Qal
Waw
Consecutive Imperfect
of the verb 'amar
(559),
"to say, speak, utter." The NASB editors
translate the Waw
at the beginning of the verse as "then" rather than "and" for stylistic
purposes.
"God" - "God" is the always plural noun 'elohiym (430), the generic name for God, the Strong One. "Let the earth bring forth" - Literally, "Let produce the earth" - "Let produce" is the Hifil Imperfect of the verb yâtsâ' (3318), "bring forth" or "produce;" this verb was used previously in Gen. 1:12, also in the Hifil stem; "the earth" is the noun 'erets (776) plus the article, meaning here, "the earth," "the ground," "the land," or even "the soil." 2. The Identification of the Creatures (Gen. 1:24b) a.
"living creatures after their kind:"
"living creatures" is literally,
"creatures living," where "creatures"
translates the noun nephesh (5315),
a
very common and fluid noun with a variety of meanings. In Gen.
1-9 it
is most frequently translated "creature(s);" in the latter part of
Genesis and in most of Leviticus, "person"; in the book of Psalms,
almost always "soul." In this context, "creatures" is a good
translation, for it conveys (in English) the idea that these animals
were created, and they did not evolve. This noun appeared
prior to this in Gen. 1:20, 21. It will appear again in Gen. 1:30;
"living" is the feminine singular noun chay (2416), "alive, living." This noun, used in English here as an adjective, occurs frequently in the first chapter of Genesis - in Gen. 1:20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 30. "after their kind" - literally, "according to its classification" where "according to" translates the lamed at the beginning of the masculine singular noun mı̂yn (4326), "kind" or "classification," and "its" translates the 3rd feminine singular suffix of the noun. (The feminine suffix corresponds grammatically to its feminine antecedent "living," chay (2416) creatures.) According to Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record (p. 63) the Hebrew mı̂yn is often identical with the modern Linnaean classification system of "species," sometimes with the "genus," and possibly once in awhile with "family." There is a great deal of horizontal variation within a biblical classification or kind, but no vertical variation. mîyn appears in the first chapter of Genesis in Gen. 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25. b. "cattle" translates the feminine singular noun behêmâh (929), "beast, animal, cattle" (BDB). According to Morris, behêmâh (929) likely refers to domesticable animals (The Genesis Record, p. 71). c. "and creeping things" - the always-singular noun remeś (7431), literally, "creeping thing," "moving thing," "crawling thing." "Creeping things" "refers to all animals that crawl or creep close to the surface of the ground" (Morris, p. 71). "Creeping things includes the insects and smaller reptiles, and probably also most amphibians and many small mammals (e.g., moles, rats; note Lev. 11:29-31)" (Morris, p. 71). d. "and beasts of the earth after their kind"; - "and beasts" - the feminine singular noun chay (2416), literally, "beast," "living thing," "animal;" - "of the earth" - the singular noun 'erets (776), "earth"; - "after their kind" - the masculine singular noun mı̂yn (4327), preceded by lamed, with the 3rd feminine singular suffix, "its", literally, "according to its classification." The feminine suffix corresponds grammatically with the feminine noun "cattle" and the feminine noun "beasts." The term "beasts of the earth" "includes the large mammals such as lions and elephants, and probably also to the large extinct reptiles known as dinosaurs" (Morris, p. 71). It would also include animals such as dogs/wolves (the original broad kind), foxes, skunks, cats (the original broad kind) opossums, kangaroos, wombats, and bears. B. The Result of God's Decree: (Gen. 1:24c). "and it was so." Literally, "And it came to be thus." "And it came to be" is the 3rd Masc. Sing. Qal Waw Consecutive Imperfect of the verb hâyâh (1961), "to be, become, take place, happen, occur" (adapted from BDB); "thus" or "so" is the adverb kên (3651), used in this chapter in Gen. 1:7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30. It means "so, thus (i.e. usually has been described or commanded, with ref. to what has preceded), mostly of manner, but sts. also of quantity, quality, or degree" (excerpted from BDB). The point is that the land animals appeared on the earth exactly as God had decreed. C. The Account of God's Creation:
(Gen. 1:25a): {25} God made -
literally, "And made God," where "And
made" is the Qal
Waw
Consecutive Imperfect
of the verb ‛âśâh (6213),
to make (Gen. 1:7), do (Gen. 2:2), fashion, construct (Ex. 25:8),
prepare (Gen. 18:7, 8); "God" is
the always-plural common noun 'ĕlôhı̂ym (430),
God, Strong One, the creator of the universe.
1.
"the beasts of the earth after their kind,"
"the beasts of the earth" -
Literally, "the beast of the earth," where "beast" is the Feminine
Singular of the noun chay (2416),
"living thing, animal" (BDB);
"after their kind" - Literally, "after its kind" or "according to its kind" - the singular noun mı̂yn (4327), "kind" or "classification," preceded by lamed, "after" or better, "according to," followed by a 3rd Feminine Singular suffix, "its." (The feminine suffix matches the feminine gender of its antecedent, chay (2416.) 2. "and the cattle after their kind," "and the cattle" - the Feminine
Singular noun behêmâh (929), "beast, animal, cattle" (BDB),
preceded by the article ha.
According to Morris,
behêmâh (929)
likely refers to domesticable animals (The
Genesis Record, p. 71).
"after their kind" - the prefixed preposition lamed, meaning "according to," followed by the Masculine Singular noun mı̂yn (4327), "kind" or "classification" with a 3rd Feminine Singular suffix, "its" to match the Fem. Sing. gender of "cattle." 3. "and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind;" "and everything" - the noun kôl (3606),
"everything," "the whole," "the totality"
"that creeps" - the Masculine always-Singular noun remeś (7431), literally, "creeping thing," "moving thing," "crawling thing." "on the ground" - the Feminine Singular noun 'ădâmâh (127), "ground," "land," "visible surface of the Earth" "after its kind" - the prefixed preposition lamed, meaning "according to," followed by the Masculine Singular noun mı̂yn (4327), "kind" or "classification" with a 3rd Masculine Singular suffix, "its" to match the Masc. Sing. gender of "creeping thing." D. God's Assessment of His Creation of Land Animals: "and God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1:25b) Literally, "And saw God that it was good." "And
saw" is
the 3rd Masculine Singular Qal Waw
Consecutive Imperfect of
the verb râ'âh (7200).
This has the idea of seeing with perception.
"God" is the always-plural common noun 'ĕlôhı̂ym (430), God, the creator of the universe. "that it was good." "Good" is the adjective ṭôb (2896), pleasing to the eyes, and functionally good, appropriate. In this brand new world with its newly created land animals, there was no entropy, no decay. There were no fossils, no missing links. Each classification of land animal was perfect with well-defined class distinctives. There was enormous genetic potential for development and diversity within each classification, but there was no ability whatever to mutate from one classification to another. Decay and mutations and entropy and death entered the universe and the world only after Adam had sinned. (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-19; Rom. 5:12). Summary:
By this point in the sixth 24-hour day, God had created the heavens and
the earth, light, an atmosphere to separate waters upon the earth from
the water
vapor canopy
surrounding the earth, dry land, seas, vegetation of all sorts, the
sun, moon and stars, all manner of fish and marine creatures to
fill the waters and all manner of birds to fly in the atmosphere. Then
God had created all manner of land animals. And
God saw that what He had created was good. There was no death, no
decay, no sedimentary strata, no long geological ages, and not a single
fossil anywhere was to be found. It
was good, because everything God creates is good because He is good.
During the remainder of this day, God will
create man, the crown of His creation, fashioned in His likeness and
image, and He will grant to him authority, like God, to exercise
limited sovereignty
over the rest of creation.
James T. Bartsch WordExplain.com Email Contact: jbartsch@wordexplain.com
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