Genesis 1:21

1:21 God created the great sea creatures ¹  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 give ²  every green plant for food.” It was so.

Genesis 2:19

2:19 The Lord God formed ³  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 would ⁴  name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 9:15

9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you ⁵  and with all living creatures of all kinds. ⁶  Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy ⁷  all living things. ⁸ 

[1:21]  ¹ tn 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.

[1:30]  ² tn The phrase “I give” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:19]  ³ tn 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.

[2:19]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verb form is future from the perspective of the past time narrative.

[9:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”

[9:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “to destroy.”

[9:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “all flesh.”