So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Parallel translations
- WEB God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
- KJV And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
- NKJV So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
- NASB And God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.
- NLT So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God creates sea creatures and birds after their kinds and calls them good. Even the great sea creatures are God's handiwork, not rival powers.
Overview
God creates the 'large sea creatures' and every swarming water creature and winged bird, each 'after their kind.' Naming the great sea creatures as creatures, not chaos-monsters to be feared, underscores that nothing in creation rivals God. The verb 'created' (used earlier in verse 1) marks the special introduction of animal life, and God again declares it good.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 104:24–26How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
- Gen 1:25God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
- Gen 8:19Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves upon the earth—came out of the ark, kind by kind.
- Gen 8:17Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”
- Gen 7:14they and every kind of wild animal, livestock, crawling creature, bird, and winged creature.
- Gen 9:7But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
- Gen 6:20Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive.
- Exod 1:7but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
- Exod 8:3The Nile will teem with frogs, and they will come into your palace and up to your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls.
- Job 26:5The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them.
- Job 7:12Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
- Gen 1:18to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
- Gen 1:31And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
- Jonah 1:17Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.
- Matt 12:40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
- Ezek 32:2“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning up the waters with your feet and muddying the streams.’
- Jonah 2:10And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Lay
The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 1:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.