Genesis 1:20-30 KJV,ASV

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 1:29-31

God gave man authority and responsibility to regulate nature and to advance civilization. Nature was to serve man, not vice versa. This does not give man the right to abuse nature, however. [Note: See Gina Hens-Piazza, "A Theology of Ecology: God’s Image and the Natural World," Biblical Theology Bulletin 13:4 (October 1983):107-110.] Neither does it justify giving animals and plants the "rights" of human beings."Man is the climax of creation, and instead of man providing the gods with food, God... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:1-31

The Creation'The foundation of foundations and pillar of all wisdom is to know that the First Being is, and that He giveth existence to everything that exists! 'Thus wrote Moses Maimonides, a Jewish scholar of the 12th cent, a.d., concerning whom the Jewish proverb runs: 'From Moses to Moses there arose none like Moses.' He had in his mind the opening chapter of the Bible, the object of which is to lay this foundation; to declare the existence of the One God; to teach that the Universe was... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:1-31

EXCURSUS B: ON THE NAMES ELOHIM AND JEHOVAH-ELOHIM.Throughout the first account of creation (Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3) the Deity is simply called Elohim. This word is strictly a plural of Eloah, which is used as the name of God only in poetry, or in late books like those of Nehemiah and Daniel. It is there an Aramaism, God in Syriac being Aloho, in Ohaldee Ellah, and in Arabic Allahu—all of which are merely dialectic varieties of the Hebrew Eloah, and are used constantly in the singular... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:20

(20) Let the waters . . . in the open firmament.—The days of the second creative triad correspond to those of the first. Light was created on the first day, and on the fourth it was gathered into light-bearers; on the second day air and water were called into being, and on the fifth day they were peopled with life; lastly, on the third day the dry land appeared, and on the sixth day it became the home of animals and man.Bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life.—Literally, let... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:21

(21) God created great whales.—Whales, strictly speaking, are mammals, and belong to the creation of the sixth day. But tannin, the word used here, means any long creature, and is used of serpents in Exodus 7:9-10 (where, however, it may mean a crocodile), and in Deuteronomy 32:33; of the crocodile in Psalms 74:13, Isaiah 51:9, Ezekiel 29:3; and of sea monsters generally in Job 7:12. It thus appropriately marks the great Saurian age. The use, too, of the verb bârâ, “he created,” is no argument... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:22

(22) Be fruitful, and multiply.—This blessing shows that the earth was replenished with animal life from a limited number of progenitors, and probably from a small number of centres, both for the flora and for the fauna. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:23

(23) The fifth day.—Upon the work of the first four days geology is virtually silent, and the theories respecting the physical formation of the world belong to other sciences. But as regards the fifth day, its testimony is ample. In the lowest strata of rocks, such as the Cambrian and Silurian, we find marine animals, mollusca, and trilobites; higher up in the Devonian rocks we find fish; in the Carbonaceous period we find reptiles; and above these, in the Permian, those mighty saurians,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:24

(24) Let the earth bring forth.—Neither this, nor the corresponding phrase in Genesis 1:20, necessarily imply spontaneous generation, though such is its literal meaning. It need mean no more than that land animals, produced on the dry ground, were now to follow upon those produced in the waters. However produced, we believe that the sole active power was the creative will of God, but of His modus operandi we know nothing.On this sixth creative day there are four words of power. By the first,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:26

(26) Let us make man.—Comp. Genesis 11:7. The making of man is so ushered in as to show that at length the work of creation had reached its perfection and ultimate goal. As regards the use of the plural here, Maimonides thinks that God took counsel with the earth, the latter supplying the body and Elohim the soul. But it is denied in Isaiah 40:13 that God ever took counsel with any one but Himself. The Jewish interpreters generally think that the angels are meant. More truly and more reverently... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:27

(27) Created.—This significant verb is thrice repeated with reference to man. It indicates, first, that man has that in him which was not a development or evolution, but something new. He is, in fact, the most perfect work of the creative energy, and differs from the animals not only in degree, but in kind, though possessing, in common with them, an organised body. And next, it indicates the rejoicing of the Deity at the completion of His purpose. read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 1:29-31

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:1-31

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:1-31

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:20

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:21

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:22

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:23

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:24

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:26

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 1:27

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