Hebrew-English Text

Summary

Yahweh sets an age limit of 120 years to human life. Yahweh decides to destroy the world with a flood but Noah finds favor in his eyes. Noah builds an ark to save himself, his family, and all the animals from the flood.

Outline

1-4. Yahweh sets an age limit for man

1-2. The sons of Yahweh (called Elohim) take human wives

3. Yahweh sets an age limit

4. Note about the Nephilim

5-8. Yahweh’s back and forth

5-6. Yahweh regrets creating man, who is sinful

7. Yahweh’s plan to destroy humans and animals

8. Noah finds favor in Yahweh’s eyes

9-22. The story of Noah (part 1)

9. Noah was righteous and walked with Yahweh (called Elohim)

10. Noah’s three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth

11-12. Yahweh (called Elohim) sees that the earth is corrupt

13-21. Yahweh’s (called Elohim) message to Noah

13. All living things will be brought to an end

14. Make an ark covered with pitch

15. The ark’s dimensions

16. The ark’s roof, door, and decks

17. Yahweh will bring a destructive flood

18. Covenant: Noah and his family will enter the ark

19-20. All species shall enter, two by two

21. Food preparations

22. Noah does as he is told

Select Verses

1-3: When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.  Then the LORD said, “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.”

4: The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

5-8: The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.

18-19:  But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

Additional Comment

The most detailed parallel between the Hebrew Bible and ancient Mesopotamian literature is perhaps that of Noah in Genesis and Utnapishtim in Tablet 11 of the Gilgamesh Epic, a man who also survived a divine flood to keep humanity alive. Some of the more striking parallels between the two texts are a divine warning, the building of an ark, the presence of animals on board, the destruction of all life outside, the ark grounding on a mountain, the repeated reconnaisance of birds, the post-deluvial sacrifice with divine acceptance/smelling, and a divine blessing at the end. The following is a translation of Tablet 11 by E. A. Speiser, found in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (93–95):

(23) “Man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu,

Tear down (this) house, build a ship!

Give up possessions, seek thou life.

Forswear (worldly) goods and keep the soul alive!

Aboard the ship take thou the seed of all living things.

The ship that thou shalt build,

Her dimensions shall be to measure.

(30) Equal shall be her width and her length.

Like the Apsu thou shalt ceil her.”

I understood, and I said to Ea, my lord:

“[Behold], my lord, what thou hast thus ordered,

I will be honored to carry out

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .”

(53) The little ones [carr]ied bitumen,

While the grown ones brought [all else] that was needful.

On the fifth day I laid her framework.

One (whole) acre was her floor space,

Ten dozen cubits the height of each of her walls,

Ten dozen cubits each edge of the square deck.

I laid out the contours (and) joined her together.

(60) I provided her with six decks,

Dividing her (thus) into seven parts.

Her floor plan I divided into nine parts.

I hammered water-plugs into her.

I saw to the punting-poles and laid in supplies.

Six sar [measures] of bitumen I poured into the furnace,

Three sar of asphalt [I also] poured inside.

Three sar of oil the basket-bearers carried,

Aside from the one sar of oil which the caulking consumed,

And the two sar of oil [which] the boatman stowed away.

(70) Bullocks I slaughtered for the [people],

And I killed sheep every day.

Must, red wine, oil, and white wine

[I gave the] workmen [to drink], as though river water,

That they might feast as on New Year’s Day. . . . . . . . . . . .

(80) [Whatever I had] I laded upon her:

Whatever I had of silver I laded upon her;

Whatever I [had] of gold I laded upon her;

Whatever I had of all the living beings I [laded] upon her.

All my family and kin I made go aboard the ship.

The beasts of the field, the wild creatures of the field,

All the craftsmen I made go aboard.

Shamash had set for me a stated time:

“When he who orders unease at night,

Will shower down a rain of blight,

Board thou the ship and batten up the entrance!”

That stated time had arrived:

(90) “He who orders unease at night, showers down a rain of blight.”

I watched the appearance of the weather.

The weather was awesome to behold.

I boarded the ship and battened up the entrance.

To batten down the (whole) ship, to Puzur-Amurri, the boatman,

I handed over the structure together with its contents.

With the first glow of dawn,

A black cloud rose up from the horizon.

Inside it Adad thunders,

While Shullat and Hanish go in front,

(100) Moving as heralds over hill and plain.

Erragal tears out the posts;

Forth comes Ninurta and causes the dikes to follow.

The Anunnaki lift up the torches,

Setting the land ablaze with their glare.

Consternation over Adad reaches to the heavens,

Who turned to blackness all that had been light.

[The wide] land was shattered like [a pot]!

For one day the south-storm [blew],

Gathering speed as it blew, [submerging the mountains],

(110) Overtaking the [people] like a battle.

No one can see his fellow,

Nor can the people be recognized from heaven.

The gods were frightened by the deluge,

And, shrinking back, they ascended to the heaven of Anu.

The gods cowered like dogs

Crouched against the outer wall.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(124) The gods, all humbled, sit and weep,

Their lips drawn tight, [. . .] one and all

Six days and [six] nights

Blows the flood wind, as the south-storm sweeps the land.

When the seventh day arrived,

The flood(-carrying) south-storm subsided in the battle,

(130) Which it had fought like an army.

The sea grew quiet, the tempest was still, the flood ceased.

I looked at the weather; stillness had set in,

And all of mankind had returned to clay.

The landscape was as level as a flat roof.

I opened a hatch, and light fell upon my face.

Bowing low, I sat and wept,

Tears running down on my face.

I looked about for coast lines in the expanse of the sea:

In each of fourteen (regions)

There emerged a region (-mountain).

(140) On Mount Nisir the ship came to a halt.

Mount Nisir held the ship fast,

Allowing no motion.

One day, a second day, Mount Nisir held the ship fast,

Allowing no motion.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When the seventh day arrived,

I sent forth and set free a dove.

The dove went forth, but came back;

Since no resting-place for it was visible, she turned round.

Then I sent forth and set free a swallow.

(150) The swallow went forth, but came back;

Since no resting-place for it was visible, she turned round.

Then I sent forth and set free a raven.

The raven went forth and, seeing that the waters had diminished,

He eats, circles, caws, and turns not round.

Then I let out (all) to the four winds

And offered a sacrifice.

I poured out a libation on the top of the mountain.

Seven and seven cult-vessels I set up

Upon their pot-stands I heaped cane, cedarwood, and myrtle.

The gods smelled the savor,

(160) The gods smelled the sweet savor,

The gods crowded like flies about the sacrificer.

When at length as the great goddess arrives,

She lifted up the great jewels which Anu had fashioned to her liking:

“Ye gods here, as surely as this lapis

Upon my neck I shall not forget,

I shall be mindful of these days, forgetting (them) never.

Let the gods come to the offering;

[But] let not Enlil come to the offering

For he, unreasoning, brought on the deluge

And my people consigned to destruction.”

(170) When at length as Enlil arrived,

And saw the ship, Enlil was wroth,

He was filled with wrath over the Igigi gods:

“Has some living soul escaped?

No man was to survive the destruction!”

Ninurta opened his mouth to speak,

Saying to valiant Enlil:

“Who, other than Ea, can devise plans?

It is Ea alone who knows every matter”

Ea opened his mouth to speak,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(186) “It was not I who disclosed the secret of the great gods.

I let Atrahasis see a dream,

And he perceived the secret of the gods.

Now then take counsel in regard to him!”

Thereupon Enlil went aboard the ship.

(190) Holding me by the hand, he took me aboard.

He took my wife aboard and made (her) kneel by my side.

Standing between us, he touched our foreheads to bless us:

“Hitherto Utnapishtim has been but human.

Henceforth Utnapishtim and his wife shall be like unto us gods.

Utnapishtim shall reside far away, at the mouth of the rivers!”

E. A. Speiser, “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” in James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University, 1969), 93–95.

Hebrew-English Text

Summary

Eleven generations are listed from Adam to Noah’s sons. Enoch, the seventh generation, walked with Yahweh (called Elohim).

Outline

1-2. Introduction

1a. Introduction: the book of Adam’s descendants

1b-2. Summary: Yahweh’s (called Elohim) creation of man

3-32. Genealogy

3-5. Adam’s life and death

6-8. Seth’s life and death

9-11. Enosh’s life and death

12-14. Kenan’s life and death

15-17. Mahalalel’s life and death

18-20. Jared’s life and death

21-24. Enoch’s life and his walking with Yahweh (called Elohim)

25-27. Methuselah’s life and death

28-31. Lamech’s life and death; Noah’s birth and name

32. Noah’s three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth

Select Verses

1-2: This is the record of Adam’s line. — When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God; male and female He created them. And when they were created, He blessed them and called them Man.

21-24: When Enoch had lived 65 years, he begot Methuselah.

After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years; and he begot sons and daughters. All the days of Enoch came to 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him.

27: All the days of Methuselah came to 969 years; then he died.

28-29: When Lamech had lived 182 years, he begot a son. And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will provide us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands, out of the very soil which the LORD placed under a curse.”

32: When Noah had lived 500 years, Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Additional Comment (see video above)

Many commentators point out that the “Sethite” genealogy of Genesis 5 is similar in a number of ways to the “Cainite” genealogy of Genesis 4. This is best seen in the following chart from Robert R. Wilson’s Genealogy and History in the Biblical World (New Haven: Yale, 1977), 161:

As Wilson writes, “When Gen. 5 is compared with the genealogical material found in Gen. 4:1-2, 17-26, some remarkable examples of genealogical fluidity appear.” (161) Wilson notes four types of fluidity: (1) the modification of names, e.g., Cain and Kenan; (2) the order, e.g., Jared is Enoch’s father but Enoch is Irad’s father; (3) the omission of certain names, e.g., Abel and Lamech’s three sons; and (4) a change in status, e.g., Seth is either the firstborn or third-born son of Adam. (162-163)

Robert R. Wilson, Genealogy and History in the Biblical World (New Haven: Yale, 1977).

Hebrew-English Text

Summary

Adam and Eve beget Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel and is cursed by Yahweh. The first generations and their innovations are recorded.

Outline

1-2. The couple give birth to Cain the farmer and Abel the shepherd

3-8. Cain kills Abel

3-5a. Yahweh accepts Abel’s animal offering but not Cain’s vegetarian one

5-7. Yahweh encourages Cain (enigmatic statement)

8. Cain kills Abel

9-16. Punishment

9-12. Yahweh punishes Cain to be a wanderer who cannot farm

14-15. Yahweh puts a mark on Cain, lest someone kill him; Cain’s potential killer is cursed

16. Cain settles in Nod, east of Eden

17-24. Genealogy: from Enoch to Lamech’s children

17. Cain and his wife beget Enoch, the name of their first city

18. Enoch’s descendants

19. Lamech’s two wives

20. Lamech’s son Jabal, the father of the tent dwellers

21. Lamech’s son Jubal, the father of music

22. Lamech’s son Zillah, father of metallurgy; Lamech’s daughter Naamah

23-24. Lamech avenges an attacker

25. Adam and Eve have Seth in Abel’s stead

26. Seth’s son Enosh; The beginning of referring to Yahweh by his name

Select Verses

1-8: Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gained a male child with the help of the LORD.” She then bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the soil. In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil; and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. The LORD paid heed to Abel and his offering, but to Cain and his offering He paid no heed. Cain was much distressed and his face fell. And the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you distressed, And why is your face fallen?  Surely, if you do right, There is uplift. But if you do not do right Sin couches at the door; Its urge is toward you, Yet you can be its master.” Cain said to his brother Abel … and when they were in the field, Cain set upon his brother Abel and killed him.

15: The LORD said to him, “I promise, if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold vengeance shall be taken on him.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who met him should kill him.

17: Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he then founded a city, and named the city after his son Enoch.

20-22: Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who dwell in tents and amidst herds. And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe. As for Zillah, she bore Tubal-cain, who forged all implements of copper and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

25-26: Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, meaning, “God has provided me with another offspring in place of Abel,” for Cain had killed him.  And to Seth, in turn, a son was born, and he named him Enosh. It was then that men began to invoke the LORD by name.

IV. Comment

Verse 8 is missing what Cain said to Abel. See the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia apparatus for manuscripts that have the words “let us go out to the field” (נלכה השדה). In addition to this phrase, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan has a lengthy, theological plus:

Then Cain said to Abel his brother, “Come and let the two of us go out to the field.” And so when the two of them had gone out to the field, Cain answered and said to Abel, “I understand that the world was created by mercy, but it is not conducted according to the fruits of good deeds, and there is partiality in judgment because why was your offering accepted with favor but my offering from me not accepted with favor?” Abel answered and said to Cain, “By mercy the world was created, and according to the fruit of good deeds it is conducted, and there is no partiality in judgment, but because the fruit of my deeds was better than yours and came before yours, my offering was accepted with favor.” Cain answered and said to Abel, “There is no judgment, and no judge, and no other world, and no giving of a good reward for the righteous, and no punishment of the wicked.” Abel answered and said to Cain, “There is judgment, and there is a judge, and there is another world, and there is the giving of a good reward for the righteous, and there is punishment of the wicked.” So they were quarreling concerning these things on the open field. Then Cain rose up against Abel his brother and sunk a stone in his forehead and killed him.

Verses 17-18 concern Enoch the son of Cain:

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he then founded a city, and named the city after his son Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad.

The following is what I wrote about Enoch for The Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2013):

According to Gen 4:17–18, Enoch (Heb. Ḥănôk; LXX Ενωχ) was the son of Cain and the father of Irad. He was also the namesake for the world’s first city, built by his father Cain.

A number of etymologies have been suggested for Enoch’s name. Philo of Alexandria proposed “your grace” (from Heb. ḥēn; Post. 41), Jerome of Stridonium suggested “dedicated” (from the Heb. root ḥ–n–k; Liber De Nominibus Hebraicis, De Genesi), and modern scholars have added “follower” (HALOT: 333), “inaugurated” (Cassutto: 229), “training” (Driver: 68), and “wise” or “clever” (IPN: 228).

Enoch is portrayed by traditional interpreters as one of the “corrupt,” “wicked,” and “evil” progeny of Cain (e.g., Philo Post. 42; Josephus Ant. 1.2.2; BerR Bereishit 23 : 1; Commodianus, Instructiones 39 [ANF 4.210]; Jerome, Epist. 46.7; John Cassian, Conlationes 1.8.21 [NPNF2 11.383). Modern exegetes have come to question the nature of Enoch’s genealogy. In 1828, Buttman argued that the two genealogies of Gen 4 : 17–26 and Gen 5, which mention Enoch the son of Cain as well as Enoch the son of Jared, were essentially duplicates of one another (170–72). This interpretation has gained widespread acceptance, and many attribute Gen 4 to the Yahwistic source (J) and Gen 5 to the Priestly source (P) (e.g., Gunkel; Westermann; but cf. Hamilton: 250–51). Buttman’s theory was bolstered in 1977 by Wilson, who argued that tribal genealogies are “fluid” and can exist in multiple forms. Thus, the Enochs of Gen 4 and 5 were the same person, reflected in two versions of the same genealogy (158–66).

Modern exegetes also question the textual stability of Gen 4 : 17–18 and the historicity of the city of Enoch, which has never been persuasively identified with an archaeological site (but cf. Sarna: 36). In 1883, Budde suggested that the Bible meant to portray Enoch, and not his father Cain, as the builder of the first city (120–23). In 1885, Sayce suggested that the biblical text had been corrupted and that the first city was actually named for Enoch’s son Irad (404), noting that the name Irad is strikingly similar to Eridu, the first city according to most Mesopotamian traditions (Hallo: 63–64; see Wilson: 148–54 for other parallels, e.g., the Akk. apkallū). While Budde’s and Sayce’s interpretations have been accepted by many, others note that they have “no support in the versions and therefore must be treated as conjecture” (Wilson: 141).

Enoch and his city are portrayed in a number of artistic works. Enoch is probably depicted as a child in “Cain” by Fernand Cormon (ca. 1880) and “Cain and His Family, Cursed by God” by Antoine Étex (ca. 1835), and the construction of the city is depicted in “Enoch Building a Town” by Maarten de Vos and Johan Sadeler I (ca. 1583) and “Cain Builds City of Enoch” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (ca. 1855). A scarab seal of unknown provenance bears the Heb. inscription lḤnk “of/to Enoch” (period un- known; Lidzbarski: 10), but the relationship, if any, between this seal and the Enoch of Gen 4:17–18 is unknown.

 

Hebrew-English Text

Summary

Yahweh (called Elohim) blesses and rests on the seventh day. On the day of creation, Yahweh (now called Yahweh Elohim) creates a man from the ground, places him in the garden of Eden, and prohibits him from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yahweh also creates a woman from the man’s rib.

Outline

1-3. The 7th day: Yahweh blesses and rests on the Sabbath
4-25. A second creation account

4-7. The creation of “the man”

4. Introduction

5-6. The first water, before the rain and vegetation

7. Man is created from the ground and Yahweh’s breath

8-17. The garden of Eden and the man’s relationship to it

8. Yahweh Elohim creates the garden of Eden and places man in it

9. Yahweh Elohim creates fruit trees, the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil

10-14. The river of Eden and its four branches

10. Introduction

11-12. Pishon and the gold of Havilah

13. Gihon from Cush

14a. Tigris from Assyria

14b. Euphrates

15. Man is charged with tending the garden

16-17. The prohibition of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil

18-24. Woman is created

18. Yahweh Elohim decides to create a partner for man

19-20. Yahweh Elohim creates the animals for man to name, but they are not his partner

21-22. Yahweh Elohim creates a woman from Adam’s rib

23. Man expresses that he has found his partner

24. Lesson: man leaves his parents to become one flesh with his wife

25. Man and woman were naked and not ashamed

Comment

The creation account of Genesis 2 differs from that of Genesis 1 in a number of ways, including but not limited to the number of days, the order of creation, the creation of man & woman together or separately, the nature of Yahweh, and the name of Yahweh. The last discrepancy led Jean Astruc to identify two sources of creation, one that uses the name ‘elohim (god) and the other that uses the name yahweh ‘elohim (the god Yahweh). For other creation passages in the Bible, see Psalm 104, Psalm 136:4-9, and verses such as Amos 9:6, Psalm 146:6, and Psalm 139:13. There are also a number of creation accounts in ancient Near Eastern literature, such as the Atum Creation Stories, Enuma Elish, and the Eridu Genesis. To look these passages up, see my YouTube video titled How to Study the Bible with Ancient Near Eastern Texts: The “Eridu Genesis” and the Book of Genesis.

Select Verses

7: then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

18-24: Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

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Hebrew-English Text

Summary

Yahweh (called ‘elohim, “God”) creates light and darkness on the first day, the sky on the second, the land, sea, and vegetation on the third, the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth, the sea creatures and birds on the fifth, and the land animals and people on the sixth. Yahweh grants people dominion over the plant and animal world.

Outline

1-5. The 1st day: God separates light and day from darkness and night

6-8. The 2nd day: God creates the sky

9-13. The 3rd day: God separates land from the sea and brings forth vegetation

14-19. The 4th day: God creates the sun, moon, and stars to separate day from night and to keep track of time

20-23. The 5th day: God creates and blesses the sea monsters, the crawly sea creatures, and the birds of the sky

24-31. The 6th day

    24-25. God creates land animals and crawly land creatures

    26-27. God creates men and women in his/their image

    28-30. God  blesses the people and grants them dominion over and the right to eat animals and fruits/vegetables, while the animals are to eat leaves and grass

    31. Conclusion

Comment

This chapter begins the first of two creation accounts, the second starting in chapter 2 verse 4. When reading these two accounts, it is important to notice the following about chapter 1:

• In the first account Yahweh is called “God” (אלהים), but beginning in 2:4 he is called “God Yahweh” (יהוה אלהים).
• In chapter 1 God is more a distant, mystic creator who creates with his word; in chapters 2-3 he is a divine humanoid of sorts who walks and builds man out of clay and breathes life into his nostrils.
• Eden is not mentioned in the first account, whereas it is central to the second account.
• Adam is created with a female partner in 1:27, whereas in 2:7, 21-22 Adam is created alone, then he waits for a female partner, and she is then created from him.
• In chapter 1, vegetation is made on the third day but man on the sixth; according to 2:4-7, there was explicitly no vegetation when man was made.
• In chapter 1, animals are created before man on day 6 but in 2:19 the animals are created after.

Note that each day is separated from the other by the phrase “it was night, it was day, day X” (…ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום). According to Jewish tradition, this is proof that a “day” begins with the night preceding it. So, the Sabbath begins on Friday night, and all Jewish holidays begin at nightfall. Conversely, the Sabbath and holidays end with the setting of the son. Yet, one medieval rabbi, Rabbi Samuel ben Meir of Troyes (acronym Rashbam) , argued that this is not the meaning of the verse. Rather, “it was night” marks the end of the day, while “it was day” marks the next day. According to this explanation, which in my opinion is to be preferred, the Sabbath would theoretically begin on Saturday mornings and end with the coming of the Sunday sunrise.

Select Verses

1-3: When God began to create heaven and earth — the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water — God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

14-16:  God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times — the days and the years; and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars.

26-30: And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”  And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”

God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.  And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so.

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