The story of creation 1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. 2 And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
God creates light 3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 4 And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness. 5 And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.
God creates the firmament 6 And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day. 9 God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done. 10 And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
God creates plant life 11 And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done. 12 And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
God creates the sun, moon, and stars 14 And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: 15 To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done. 16 And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars. 17 And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth. 18 And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and morning were the fourth day. 20 God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven. 21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth. 23 And the evening and morning were the fifth day.
God creates the animal kingdom 24 And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God creates mankind 26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. 27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
Man given dominion over all creatures 28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth. 29 And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat: 30 And to all the beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done. 31 And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.
Commentary on Genesis 1
Q&A
Did the angels come into being before heaven and earth, or were they made along with them? What service would angels have rendered if they had existed before creation when there was no one in existence who needed their assistance? Thus, it is obvious that, whereas we need their assistance, God has no need of anyone. (Theodoret of Cyrus) |
Why did Moses not mention the creation of angels? The people who recieved the Law had no firm basis of angels (except for Gn 16:7); and after many miracles they still hailed an image of a calf as a god. So if these people could so easily do that, what would they have done then if they had aquired knowledge of the invisible nature? (Theodoret of Cyrus) |
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1:1-2 In creation we see the Trinity, the Person of the Father is indicated by 'God' the Creator, the Person of the Son by the 'beginning', in which He created, and the Person of the Holy Spirit by the 'Spirit of God' that moved over the waters. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
1:1 In the beginning: this is expounded in a threefold sense.
1) Of time 2) In the Son- according to the word of the Apostle Colossians 1:16, "In Him" the Son--"were created all things." 3) Before all things God: The Hebrew original has "Elohim," which is plural and may be rendered "Gods" or "Judges", not that there are more than one God, but that this indicates a Godhead. heaven: Augustine says that the heaven recorded as made on the first day is the formless spiritual nature and that the heaven of the second day is the corporeal heaven. According to Bede and Strabus, the heaven made on the first day is the eternal one, and the firmament made on the second day, the starry heaven. (St. Thomas Aquinas) CCC 279
1:2 darkness was upon the face of the deep: It was dark because it was still covered by water, and formless because it had not yet been arrayed with growth or sprouting meadows, groves, and crops. (Theodoret of Cyrus) the spirit of God moved over the waters: This is the Holy Spirit moving over the element of water, fostering and quickening its nature and impressing vital power, as the hen broods over her chickens. (St. Basil) CCC 703 CCC1218
1:3 light: The light was not the sun but was like a bright mist over the face of the earth. Perhaps it was like the dawn or like the pillar that gave light in the wilderness to the people in Exodus. (St. Ephrem the Syrian) Or that the light was the sun's light, formless as yet, being already the solar substance, and possessing illuminative power in a general way, to which was afterwards added the special and determinative power required to produce determinate effects. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
1:4 God saw that the light was good: these words do not mean that God found before him a good that he had not known but that he was pleased by one that was finished. (St. Augustine) CCC 299
1:5 Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine "work" CCC 337. Regardless of what the "days" were specifically is something that I am not willing to try to define with certainty, but I do believe that they do stand for some kind of intervals. (John Litteral)
1:6-9 firmament: Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. i, 9) that the heaven of the second day is the sky. According to John of |
Damascus (De Fide Orth. ii) the firmament made on the second day is the starry heaven. Chrysostom understood that the heaven in 1:1 is the same heaven of the second day. gathered together into one place: All the waters have the sea as their goal, into which they flow by channels hidden or apparent, and this may be the reason why they are said to be gathered together into one place. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
1:11-12 God foresaw the development of disease in the human race which, as a result of its sins, was to receive the sentence of death. So He ordered the earth to produce not only edible plants but also those that would repel sickness. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
1:14 As regards the changes of the seasons, which prevent weariness, preserve health, and provide for the necessities of food; all of which things could not be secured if it were always summer or winter. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
1:24 let the earth bring forth: The saying that man and animals have a like beginning in generation is true of the body; for all animals alike are made of earth. But it is not true of the soul. For the souls of brutes are produced by some power of the body; whereas the human soul is produced by God. To signify this it is written as to other animals: "Let the earth bring forth the living soul" Genesis 1:24: while of man it is written Genesis 2:7 that "He breathed into his face the breath of life." (St. Thomas Aquinas)
1:26 Notice the plurality of "Let us", this is to show the plurality of God, the three Persons of the Holy Trinity- the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This by no means shows that there are more than one God, nor does it mean that God was talking to the angels. CCC 36 CCC 343 CCC 2501 CCC 2809 according to our image and likeness- We are in the image of God by means of our souls, which are immortal and spirit. Tertullian [Against Maricon 5.7] expands this also of the relation to the Son and Holy Spirit: "the Son on the one hand, who was one day to put on human nature; and the Spirit on the other, who was to sanctify man."
1:27 This shows that Eve was made the same time as Adam, yet she was inside of him, in the rib that was drawn out (Gen. 2:22). Also, Jesus quotes this verse to teach that divorce is to be avoided (Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6). CCC 355 CCC 383 CCC 1604 CCC 2331
1:28 Procreation is a blessing from God, not a burden. God lays a special responsibility on man to populate the earth and to govern it. CCC 372 CCC 1604 |
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