Genesis 1:21
וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים וְאֵת כָּל־נֶפֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּה׀ הָֽרֹמֶשֶׂת אֲשֶׁר שָׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם לְמִֽינֵהֶם וְאֵת כָּל־עוֹף כָּנָף לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיִּבְרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִ֖ם הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים וְאֵ֣ת כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֣ה׀ הָֽרֹמֶ֡שֶׂת אֲשֶׁר֩ שָׁרְצ֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם לְמִֽינֵהֶ֗ם וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־ע֤וֹף כָּנָף֙ לְמִינֵ֔הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃
καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ κήτη τὰ μεγάλα καὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ζῴων ἑρπετῶν, ἃ ἐξήγαγεν τὰ ὕδατα κατὰ γένη αὐτῶν, καὶ πᾶν πετεινὸν πτερωτὸν κατὰ γένος· καὶ ἴδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλά.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
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.
Y crió Dios las grandes ballenas, y toda cosa viva que anda arrastrando, que las aguas produjeron según su género, y toda ave alada según su especie: y vió Dios que era bueno.
So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verb "create" reappears: God creates the great sea monsters, every living creature that creeps — with which the waters swarmed — and every winged bird, each "according to its kind". The verse closes with the approval formula.
Key words
- i.yiv.Ra' ("he created", H1254) — qal narrative: "and then he created".
- ta.ni.Nim ("sea monsters", H8577) — plural: the great sea monsters.
- ro.Me.set ("creeps", H7430) — qal feminine participle: "the one creeping".
- ka.Naf ("wing", H3671) — in the phrase "bird of wing", a winged bird.
- mi.ne. ("kind", H4327) — construct with suffixes: "according to their kind".
What the text says
The narration here uses i.yiv.Ra' ("he created", H1254) in the qal narrative form, the same lexeme with which the chapter opens. The object is threefold, each block marked with the direct object particle (H0853): first ta.ni.Nim ("sea monsters", H8577) with the adjective ge.do.Lim ("great", H1419), both plural; then "every living creature that creeps": kol ("every", H3605), Ne.fesh ("creature", H5315), chai.Yah ("living", H2416) and the participle ro.Me.set ("creeps", H7430), feminine singular, "the one creeping"; finally "every bird of wing": of ("bird of", H5775) in construct with ka.Naf ("wing", H3671).
A relative clause with 'a.Sher ("which", H0834) points back to the previous verse's command: "with which the waters swarmed", using sha.re.Tzu ("they swarmed", H8317), now a perfect — completed action. Distribution is ordered by mi.ne. ("kind", H4327) plus pronominal suffixes: "according to their kinds" for the water creatures and "according to its kind" for the birds. The close repeats the formula: i.Yar' ("he saw", H7200) and Tov ("[it was] good", H2895), analyzed as a perfect verb: "and God saw that it was good."
Differences between versions
Where the Hebrew has i.yiv.Ra' ("he created", H1254), the LXX reads ἐποίησεν ("he made"); the Vulgate keeps "Creavit". For the tanninim, the LXX translates τὰ κήτη τὰ μεγάλα and the Vulgate "cete grandia"; the RV1909 writes "las grandes ballenas" ("the great whales") and the BSB "great sea creatures", against the provided English gloss "sea monsters". In the final formula, the LXX reads the plural καλά where the Hebrew has the singular Tov ("[it was] good", H2895).
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.