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THE FIFTH CREATION DAY

Genesis 1:20–23 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

²⁰And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living souls, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” ²¹So God went on to create[1] the great sea creatures and every living soul that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

(שָׁרַץ sharats) crawl, teem, swarm, abound. An intransitive verb, admitting, however, an objective noun of its own or a like signification. The sense of the is “to swarm,” to move about quickly in large numbers, often randomly. The Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains has, “teem, swarm, multiply, be innumerable, i.e., be in a very abundant amount, as a figurative extension of the swarming creature such as insect swarms having very great abundance.”^[2]

נֶפֶשׁ breath, soul, self. This noun is derived from a root signifying to breathe. Its concrete meaning is, therefore, that which breathes, and consequently has a body, without which there can be no breathing; hence, a breathing body, and even a body that once had breath (Num. 6:6). As breath is the accompaniment and sign of life, it comes to denote life, and hence, a living body, an animal. And as life properly signifies animal life, and is therefore essentially connected with feeling, appetite, thought, נֶפֶשׁ, denotes also these qualities, and that which possesses them. It is obvious that it denotes the vital principle not only in man but in the brute. It is therefore a more comprehensive word than our soul, as commonly understood.

Soul: (Heb. נֶפֶשׁ nephesh; Gr. ψυχή psuchē) The Hebrew word nephesh and the Greek word psyche basically refer to (1) people, (2) animals, or (3) the life that a person or animal has. (Gen. 1:20; 2:7; Num. 31:28; 1 Pet. 3:20) The Bible author’s use of both nephesh and psyche, in connection with earthly creatures, humans or animals, refer to that which is material, tangible, visible, and mortal. A soul breathes. (Gen. 2:7) A soul is a living creature that sins (Lev. 5:1) works (Lev. 22:30) can be kidnapped (Deut. 24:7), can be annoyed (Judges 16:16), tormented from the troubles of this imperfect life (Job 19:2), weeps because of grief (Ps 119:28), become troubled because of distress (John 12:27), become fearful (Ac 2:43), as well souls being in subjection to the government. (Rom. 13:1) The Bible speaks of the life that the creature has (Ex. 4:16; Josh. 9:24; 2 Ki 7:7; Prov. 12:10; Matt. 20:28; Phil. 2:30) The human soul = body [dust of the ground] + active life force (“spirit”) [Hebrew, ruach] within the trillions of human cells which make up the human body + breath of life [Hebrew, neshamah] that sustains the life force from God. In other words, the “soul” is we, everything that we are, so the soul or the human can die. – Ecclesiastes 3:19-20.

In other words, when we breathe our last breath, our cells begin to die. Death is the ending of all vital functions or processes in an organism or cell. When our heart stops beating, our blood is no longer circulating, carrying nourishment and oxygen (by breathing) to the trillions of cells in our body; we are what are termed, clinically dead. However, somatic death has yet to occur, meaning we can be revived, after many minutes of being clinically dead, if the heart and lungs can be restarted again, which gives the cells the oxygen they need.

After about three minutes of clinical death, the brain cells begin to die, meaning the chances of reviving the person is less likely as each second passes. We know that it is vital that the breathing and blood flow be maintained for the life force (ruach chaiyim) in the cells. Nevertheless, it is not the lack of breathing or the failure of the heart beating alone, but rather the active life force (“spirit”) [Hebrew, ruach] within the trillions of human cells which make up the human body + breath of life [Hebrew, neshamah] that sustains the life force from God.

(תַּנִּין tannin) sea creature, great reptiles. The Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains has, “sea creatures, i.e., very large, impressive-looking creatures of the oceans, including very large fish and large marine mammals (Ge 1:21; Ps 148:7+).”^[3]
בָּרַךְ break, kneel; bless. Bless: (בָּרַךְ barak) When it refers to God blessing a human, it is pronouncing good or showing favor, having favorable circumstances or state at a future time (Gen. 1:22) for those who have a righteous standing before him. Happy, blessed: (אָשֵׁרִי Asheri; μακάριος makarios) Asre occurs 11 times in the Hebrew Old Testament and makarios 50 times in the Greek New Testament. Happiness and being highly favored by God characterize this joy. It is speaking of a person who is content, full of joy. This is not to be confused with the Hebrew word barak which means, “to bless,” as in a divine blessing. The Hebrew barak and the Greek eulogeo is the act of being blessed, while the Hebrew asre and Greek makarios are the state or condition of the person who is being blessed, who is a highly favored one.

The solitude (בֹּהוּ), the last and greatest defect in the state of the earth, is now to be removed by the creation of the various animals that are to inhabit it and partake of its vegetable productions.

On the second day the Creator was occupied with the task of reducing the air and water to a habitable state. And now on the corresponding day of the second three he calls into existence the inhabitants of these two elements. Accordingly the animal kingdom is divided into three parts in reference to the regions to be inhabited,—fishes, birds, and land animals. The fishes and birds are created on this day. The fishes seem to be regarded as the lowest type of living creatures.

They are here subdivided only into the monsters of the deep and the smaller species that swarm in the waters.

20. The crawler (שֶֽׁרֶץ) includes apparently all animals that have short or no legs and are therefore unable to raise themselves above the soil. The aquatic and most amphibious animals come under this class. The crawler of living breath, having breath, motion, and sensation, the ordinary indications of animal life. Abound with. As in the 11th verse we have, Let the earth grow grass (תַּדְשֵׁא דֶשֶׁא), so here we have, Let the waters crawl with the crawler (יִשְׁרְצוּ שֶׁרֶץ); the verb and noun having the same root. The waters are here not the cause but the element of the fish, as the air of the fowl. Fowl, everything that has wings. The face of the expanse. The expanse is here proved to be aerial or spatial; not solid, as the fowl can fly on it.

21. Created. Here the author uses this word for the second time. In the selection of different words to express the divine operation, two considerations seem to have guided the author’s pen,—variety and propriety of diction. The diversity of words appears to indicate a diversity in the mode of exercising the divine power. On the first day (v. 3) a new admission of light into a darkened region, by the partial rarefaction of the intervening medium, is expressed by the word “be.” This may denote that which already existed, but not in that place. On the second day (v. 6, 7) a new disposition of the air and the water is described by the verbs “be” and “make.” These indicate a modification of that which already existed. On the third day (v. 9, 11) no verb is directly applied to the act of divine power. This agency is thus understood, while the natural changes following are expressly noticed. In the fourth (v. 14, 16, 17) the words “be,” “make,” and “give” occur, where the matter in hand is the manifestation of the heavenly bodies and their adaptation to the use of man. In these cases, it is evident that the word “create” would have been only improperly or indirectly applicable to the action of the Eternal Being. Here it is employed with propriety; as the animal world is something new and distinct summoned into existence. It is manifest from this review that variety of expression has resulted from attention to propriety.

Great fishes. Monstrous crawlers that wriggle through the water or scud along the banks. Every living, breathing thing that creeps. The smaller animals of the water and its banks. Bird of wing. Here the wing is made characteristic of the class, which extends beyond what we call birds. The Maker inspects and approves his work.

22. Blessed them. We are brought into a new sphere of creation on this day, and we meet with a new act of the Almighty. To bless is to wish, and, in the case of God, to will some good to the object of the blessing. The blessing here pronounced upon the fish and the fowl is that of abundant increase. Bear. This refers to the propagation of the species. Multiply. This notifies the abundance of the offspring. Fill the waters. Let them be fully stocked. In the seas. The sea of Scripture includes the lake, and, by parity of reason, the rivers, which are the feeders of both. This blessing seems to indicate that, whereas in the case of some plants many individuals of the same species were simultaneously created, so as to produce a universal covering of verdure for the land and an abundant supply of aliment for the animals about to be created,—in regard to these animals a single pair only, at all events of the larger kinds, was at first called into being, from which, by the potent blessing of the Creator, was propagated the multitude by which the waters and the air were peopled.

By James G. Murphy and Edward D. Andrews

[1] Progressive action indicated by the imperfect state
[2] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
^[3] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

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