1:31 God saw all that he had made – and it was very good! 1 There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.
1 tn The Hebrew text again uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) for the sake of vividness. It is a particle that goes with the gesture of pointing, calling attention to something.
2 tn Heb “on/in the seventh day.”
3 tn Heb “his work which he did [or “made”].”
4 tn The Hebrew term שָׁבַּת (shabbat) can be translated “to rest” (“and he rested”) but it basically means “to cease.” This is not a rest from exhaustion; it is the cessation of the work of creation.
5 tn The verb is usually translated “and sanctified it.” The Piel verb קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh) means “to make something holy; to set something apart; to distinguish it.” On the literal level the phrase means essentially that God made this day different. But within the context of the Law, it means that the day belonged to God; it was for rest from ordinary labor, worship, and spiritual service. The day belonged to God.
6 tn Heb “God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “for on it he ceased from all his work which God created to make.” The last infinitive construct and the verb before it form a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the modifier – “which God creatively made,” or “which God made in his creating.”
8 sn A quotation from Ps 95:11.
9 tn Grk “although the works,” continuing the previous reference to God. The referent (God) is specified in the translation for clarity.
10 sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.
11 tn Grk “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.