The sun, moon, and stars are in place now. By the end of Day Five, for the first time, there will be life in the world. I almost said “on Earth,” and that would not have been entirely incorrect; see the end of v. 23. But for real life on Earth (as opposed to sea and sky) we’ll have to wait for Day Six.
You may find that remark surprising. Didn’t Day Three leave the Earth full of plant life? Yes, and I am certain that the ancient Israelites knew the difference between a dead plant and a live one just as we do. But “life” as the Bible seems to understand it applies to things that can move under their own power. We’ll talk more about this once we get to the appropriate words in v. 20.
Despite the appearance of the word eretz ‘Earth’ twice in this section, we really are in the sea and the sky here. I said at the end of Day Four that it corresponded to Day One — with the implication that the first three days of Creation Week somehow correspond to the next three. But the fit is not exact. Day Five is the day when both the seas and the Sky are populated.
The Sky is the work of Day Two, but the seas were the first of two creative actions on Day Three. God looked at the separation of Earth and seas and saw that it was good — the “God saw that it was good” which was missing on Day Two. So I believe that we are still on the right track thinking that we are reprising the first three days of creation.
Remember that, despite the scientific flavor of this chapter (which we’ll talk more about in a later post), the writing here is not scientific but creative. I have always found it useful to think about the biblical texts that have literary merit like pieces of music. As a pianist in Mozart’s day would play the theme a second time but with much more variation and elaboration, here too the second half of Creation Week is essentially following the “plot” of Days One through Three but making it much more complex.
Here’s the translation of vv. 20-23 that I’ve made to use as the basis of our discussion:
20 God thought, Let the water swarm with life, and let birds fly over the Earth across the Sky cupola. 21 God created the sea-serpents and every species of crawling life with which the water swarmed, and every species of winged bird; and God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them: “Reproduce, proliferate, and fill the water in the seas; and let the birds proliferate on earth.” 23 There was an evening and then a morning, a fifth day.
And here it is again, verse by verse, with interlinear Hebrew recording and text:
20 God thought, Let the water swarm with life, and let birds fly over the Earth across the Sky cupola.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יִשְׁרְצ֣וּ הַמַּ֔יִם שֶׁ֖רֶץ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֑ה וְעוֹף֙ יְעוֹפֵ֣ף עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ עַל־פְּנֵ֖י רְקִ֥יעַ הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
21 God created the sea-serpents and every species of crawling life with which the water swarmed, and every species of winged bird; and God saw that it was good.
וַיִּבְרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִ֖ם הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים וְאֵ֣ת כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֣ה ׀ הָֽרֹמֶ֡שֶׂת אֲשֶׁר֩ שָׁרְצ֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם לְמִֽינֵהֶ֗ם וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־ע֤וֹף כָּנָף֙ לְמִינֵ֔הוּ וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃
22 God blessed them: “Reproduce, proliferate, and fill the water in the seas; and let the birds proliferate on earth.”
וַיְבָ֧רֶךְ אֹתָ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר פְּר֣וּ וּרְב֗וּ וּמִלְא֤וּ אֶת־הַמַּ֙יִם֙ בַּיַּמִּ֔ים וְהָע֖וֹף יִ֥רֶב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
23 There was an evening and then a morning, a fifth day.
וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם חֲמִישִֽׁי׃ פ