Genesis 1:21

Translations

Modern

So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Traditional

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Literal

And God created the great sea creatures and every living soul that is crawling, with which the waters swarmed according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Latin

Creavitque Deus cete grandia, et omnem animam viventem atque motabilem, quam produxerant aquæ in species suas, et omne volatile secundum genus suum. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.

Original

Hebrew

English

So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Notes

Genesis 1:21

Unlike pagan beliefs that the great sea creatures existed from the beginning along with God, the Bible teaches that God created them. God has complete power and authority over them. The Hebrew word tanninim (“sea creatures”) can also refer to:

crocodiles (Ezekiel 29:3),
powerful monsters (Jeremiah 51:34), or
the sea creature Leviathan (Isaiah 27:1; compare Job 41:1–34).

Genesis 1:14–31

On days four through six, God filled the domains that had been formed during days one through three (1:3–13).

Genesis 1:1–2:3

These verses introduce the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). They teach Israel that one true God created, ordered, and populated the world, not the gods of nearby nations.
God blessed three specific things:
- animal life (1:22–25),
- human life (1:27), and
- the Sabbath day (2:3).
These three blessings emphasize the Creator's plan. God made humans in his image to rule in his place over earth's creatures and to join in God's Sabbath rest.

Theme notes and profiles

God’s New Covenant God’s Uniqueness God’s Word Symbolic Numbers The Creation The Creator-King The Word The World Women’s Roles in the New Testament Church

Events

Creation of all thingsc. 4004 BC

Related verses

Psalm 104:24–26
How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
Genesis 1:25
God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 8:19
Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves upon the earth—came out of the ark, kind by kind.
Genesis 8:17
Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”
Genesis 9:7
But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
Genesis 7:14
…they and every kind of wild animal, livestock, crawling creature, bird, and winged creature.
Genesis 6:20
Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive.
Exodus 8:3
The Nile will teem with frogs, and they will come into your palace and up to your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls.
Exodus 1:7
…but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
Job 7:12
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
Genesis 1:18
…to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Job 26:5
The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them.

Genesis 1:21

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