The First Book of Moses: Genesis

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

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- Chapter 1 -

(John 1:1–5; Hebrews 11:1–3)

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth.(a)

But the earth was empty and unoccupied, and darknesses were over the face of the abyss; and so the Spirit of God was brought over the waters.(b)

The First Day

And God said, “Let there be light.” And light became.(c)

And God saw the light, that it was good; and so he divided the light from the darknesses.(d)

And he called the light, ‘Day,’ and the darknesses, ‘Night.’ And it became evening and morning, one day.(e)

The Second Day

God also said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide waters from waters.”(f)

And God made a firmament, and he divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament. And so it became.

And God called the firmament ‘Heaven.’ And it became evening and morning, the second day.

The Third Day

Truly God said: “Let the waters that are under heaven be gathered together into one place; and let the dry land appear.” And so it became.

And God called the dry land, ‘Earth,’ and he called the gathering of the waters, ‘Seas.’ And God saw that it was good.(g)

And he said, “Let the land spring forth green plants, both those producing seed, and fruit-bearing trees, producing fruit according to their kind, whose seed is within itself, over all the earth.” And so it became.(h)

And the land brought forth green plants, both those producing seed, according to their kind, and trees producing fruit, with each having its own way of sowing, according to its species. And God saw that it was good.(i)

And it became evening and the morning, the third day.

The Fourth Day

Then God said: “Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven. And let them divide day from night, and let them become signs, both of the seasons, and of the days and years.

Let them shine in the firmament of heaven and illuminate the earth.” And so it became.

And God made two great lights: a greater light, to rule over the day, and a lesser light, to rule over the night, along with the stars.(j)

And he set them in the firmament of heaven, to give light over all the earth,

and to rule over the day as well as the night, and to divide light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

And it became evening and morning, the fourth day.

The Fifth Day

And then God said, “Let the waters produce animals with a living soul, and flying creatures above the earth, under the firmament of heaven.”(k)

And God created the great sea creatures, and everything with a living soul and the ability to move that the waters produced, according to their species, and all the flying creatures, according to their kind. And God saw that it was good.(l)

And he blessed them, saying: “Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea. And let the birds be multiplied above the land.”

And it became evening and morning, the fifth day.

The Sixth Day

God also said, “Let the land produce living souls in their kind: cattle, and animals, and wild beasts of the earth, according to their species.”(m) And so it became.

And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to their species, and the cattle, and every animal on the land,(n) according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

And he said: “Let us make Man to our image and likeness. And let him rule over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and the wild beasts, and the entire earth, and every animal that moves on the earth.”(o)

And God created man to his own image; to the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them.(p)

And God blessed them, and he said, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the flying creatures of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”(q)

And God said: “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant upon the earth, and all the trees that have in themselves the ability to sow their own kind, to be food for you,

and for all the animals of the land, and for all the flying things of the air, and for everything that moves upon the earth and in which there is a living soul, so that they may have these on which to feed.” And so it became.

And God saw everything that he had made. And they were very good. And it became evening and morning, the sixth day.

Footnotes

(a)1:1 Heaven was created first, then earth. The creation of angels also occurred with the creation of heaven. The creation of earth is really the creation of the universe, and subsequently earth.(Conte)

(b)1:2 After earth was created, it was empty and unoccupied. Darkness is plural in the Latin. This could symbolize fallen angels, with the abyss symbolizing Hell. The word ‘darknesses’ can also refer to the absences of so many good things, so that God had to continue creating. The Spirit of God was brought or was carried over the waters, passive tense.(Conte)

(c)1:3 God created light. Darkness, as the absence of light, became by default. Similarly with evil. God created the heavens and the angels, but some angels fell and so Hell (the abyss) was created.(Conte)

(d)1:4 God divided light from darkness. He also divided Heaven from Hell, once Hell was created (or became necessary due to the angels that fell from grace). Notice that God chooses to create Heaven and Earth (Universe), but Hell comes about as a result of sin. God creates Good, but Evil comes about because of sin. God does not directly create evil or darkness.(Conte)

(e)1:5 The first day is not a day as we count time, but merely the first period of time, of unspecified length, in the universe. Science agrees that first the Universe was created, and there was no life in the first time period, for the Universe was void and unoccupied. And when the earth first became, it was void and lifeless.(Conte)

(f)1:6 A firmament:By this name is here understood the whole space between the earth, and the highest stars. The lower part of which divides the waters that are upon the earth, from those that are above in the clouds.(Challoner)

(g)1:10 This verse introduces a useful ambiguity, whereby the word ‘terra’ can refer to the entire Earth, or to the land (soil or ground), or to a particular land, e.g. ‘Terram Chanaan.’ A similar ambiguity exists with the word ‘caeli’ referring either to Heaven, or to the sky.(Conte)

(h)1:11 Notice that God commands the earth to produce plant-life (‘herbam virentem’). He miraculously created heaven and earth out of nothing, but he causes the plant-life to be produced out of what already exists, the land. This text supports the idea, found in science, that life developed from existing inanimate matter. But the text also clearly teaches the truth that the entire process of creation and the development of creation is caused by God and is under His Providence.(Conte)

(i)1:12 The word ‘genus’ from verse 11 is more general than the word ‘speciem’ in verse 12. The fruit-bearing trees have their seed within the fruit, and each particular type of fruit has its own type of seed and manner of sowing.(Conte)

(j)1:16 Two great lights:God created on the first day, light, which being moved from east to west, by its rising and setting, made morning and evening. But on the fourth day he ordered and distributed this light, and made the sun, moon, and stars. The moon, though much less than the stars, is here called a great light, from its giving a far greater light to the earth than any of them.(Challoner)

(k)1:20 In this next step within the development of creation, God creates the first creatures that have living souls (but not immortal souls) within the sea. Again, science agrees, teaching that the first animals were in the water, not on the land. The word ‘reptile’ in Latin is not equivalent to the English word ‘reptile.’ The best translation in this context is probably either ‘moving creatures’ or ‘animals.’ The text is contrasting the moving creatures of the waters with the plants.(Conte)

(l)1:21 The word ‘cete’ in ancient times was probably not specific to whales, but referred to any large sea creature.(Conte)

(m)1:24 Again, the word ‘genere’ is more general, while the word ‘species’ is more specific. If these two words were translated by the same word in English, then there would be an unnecessary redundancy in the text. And here again we see that ‘reptile’ is not specifically reptiles, or even crawling things, but is even more general, referring to every type of moving creature (animal) on land. These creatures are contrasted with the moving creatures of the waters, as well as the plants, of the previous verses. Therefore, the term is more general than crawling things. The mention of cattle and wild beasts are merely specific examples of familiar types of moving creatures, with living souls, on land.(Conte)

(n)1:25 on the landSo, plants were the first life created, then moving creatures of the sea, then moving creatures of the land. This is the same order of development in creation taught by science (although Scripture omits mention of microscopic organisms, with which the ancients were unfamiliar).(Conte)

(o)1:26 Let us make man to our image:This image of God in man, is not in the body, but in the soul; which is a spiritual substance, endued with understanding and free will. God speaks here in the plural number, to insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity.(Challoner)

(p)1:27 The word ‘hominem’ in this verse is not capitalized, whereas in the previous verse it is capitalized. The previous verse uses Man (capitalized) to refer to all humankind; the male word ‘man’ is used to refer to all of humanity because, in God’s plan, the human race is to be led by men. This verse uses man (not capitalized) to refer to humankind, with a particular emphasis on males. All human persons are created in God’s image and likeness. Yet, when men and women are considered in their relation to one another, men are an image of God and women are an image of Creation.(Conte)

(q)1:28 Increase and multiply:This is not a precept, as some Protestant controvertists would have it, but a blessing, rendering them fruitful; for God had said the same words to the fishes, and birds, (ver. 22) who were incapable of receiving a precept.(Challoner)