Genesis 1:21

1:21 God created the great sea creatures¹ and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:30

1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give² every green plant for food.” It was so.

Genesis 2:19

2:19 The Lord God formed³ out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would⁴ name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 6:7

6:7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals,⁵ including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

Genesis 7:23

7:23 So the Lord⁶ destroyed⁷ every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky.⁸ They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.⁹

Genesis 9:2

9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you.¹⁰ Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority.¹¹

¹tn For the first time in the narrative proper the verb “create” (בָּרָא, bara’) appears. (It is used in the summary statement of v. 1.) The author wishes to underscore that these creatures – even the great ones – are part of God’s perfect creation. The Hebrew term תַנִּינִם (tanninim) is used for snakes (Exod 7:9), crocodiles (Ezek 29:3), or other powerful animals (Jer 51:34). In Isa 27:1 the word is used to describe a mythological sea creature that symbolizes God’s enemies.

²tn The phrase “I give” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

³tn Or “fashioned.” To harmonize the order of events with the chronology of chapter one, some translate the prefixed verb form with vav (ו) consecutive as a past perfect (“had formed,” cf. NIV) here. (In chapter one the creation of the animals preceded the creation of man; here the animals are created after the man.) However, it is unlikely that the Hebrew construction can be translated in this way in the middle of this pericope, for the criteria for unmarked temporal overlay are not present here. See S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 84-88, and especially R. Buth, “Methodological Collision between Source Criticism and Discourse Analysis,” Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, 138-54. For a contrary viewpoint see IBHS 552-53 §33.2.3 and C. J. Collins, “The Wayyiqtol as ‘Pluperfect’: When and Why,” TynBul 46 (1995): 117-40.

⁴tn The imperfect verb form is future from the perspective of the past time narrative.

⁴tn The text simply has “from man to beast, to creatures, and to birds of the air.” The use of the prepositions עַד…מִן (min...’ad) stresses the extent of the judgment in creation.

⁵tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).

⁷tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”

⁸tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.

⁶tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.

⁷tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.