Genesis 1:24
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה לְמִינָהּ בְּהֵמָה וָרֶמֶשׂ וְחַֽיְתוֹ־אֶרֶץ לְמִינָהּ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים תּוֹצֵ֨א הָאָ֜רֶץ נֶ֤פֶשׁ חַיָּה֙ לְמִינָ֔הּ בְּהֵמָ֥ה וָרֶ֛מֶשׂ וְחַֽיְתוֹ־אֶ֖רֶץ לְמִינָ֑הּ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃
Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός Ἐξαγαγέτω ἡ γῆ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν κατὰ γένος, τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ καὶ θηρία τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος, καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Dixit quoque Deus: Producat terra animam viventem in genere suo, jumenta, et reptilia, et bestias terræ secundum species suas. Factumque est ita.
Y dijo Dios: Produzca la tierra seres vivientes según su género, bestias y serpientes y animales de la tierra según su especie: y fué así.
And God said, “ Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
✦ What the text says
Summary
A new creative command, now addressed to the earth: let it produce living creatures, each according to its kind, broken into three categories. The verse closes with the fulfillment formula: "and it was so."
Key words
- to.Tze' ("let it produce", H3318) — hiphil (causative) jussive: "let her bring forth".
- 'A.retz ("earth", H0776) — feminine subject of the command.
- be.he.Mah ("livestock", H0929) — first category.
- Re.mes ("creeping thing[s]", H7431) — second category.
- mi.Na ("kind", H4327) — with feminine suffix: "according to its kind".
What the text says
After i.Yo.mer ("he said", H0559) in the narrative form, the command uses to.Tze' ("let it produce", H3318), a hiphil — causative — verb in the jussive with a feminine subject ("she"): the one who must "bring forth" is 'A.retz ("earth", H0776), a feminine singular noun. What is produced is Ne.fesh ("creature[s]", H5315) with chai.Yah ("living", H2416), "living creature", bounded by mi.Na ("kind", H4327) with a feminine pronominal suffix ("her, its"): "according to its kind".
Three categories follow: be.he.Mah ("livestock", H0929), feminine singular; Re.mes ("creeping thing[s]", H7431), masculine singular; and a third in construct, chay.tov- ("animal[s] of", H2416) bound to 'E.retz ("[the] earth", H0776): "animal of the earth". The phrase "according to its kind" recurs at the end of the list. The close is the fulfillment formula: y.hi ("it was", H1961) in the narrative form plus Khen ("so", H3651): "and it was so."
Differences between versions
For be.he.Mah ("livestock", H0929) the LXX reads τετράποδα ("four-footed animals"), the Vulgate "jumenta", the RV1909 "bestias", and the BSB "livestock". For Re.mes ("creeping thing[s]", H7431), the RV1909 translates "serpientes" ("snakes"), while the LXX has ἑρπετά, the Vulgate "reptilia", and the BSB "land crawlers". In "according to its kind", the Hebrew carries a possessive suffix; the LXX reads κατὰ γένος ("according to kind") without a possessive in both occurrences, while the Vulgate alternates "in genere suo" and "secundum species suas", keeping the possessive.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.