The sixth day of creation begins with verse 24, in which land animals are created. Verses 26-30 go on to describe the creation of human beings, and the food provision for animals and human beings.
And God said: see Gen 1.3 and Gen 1.6.
Let the earth bring forth living creatures is a command addressed to the earth as the place where these creatures are to live, the same as in the case of the waters in verse 20. Living creatures is the same as in verse 20; however, here the expression is used of land animals in general, which are then described more fully in terms of a threefold classification.
According to their kinds means “all kinds,” as in verse 11.
Cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth expresses more fully what is meant by living creatures. Cattle translates a word that here refers to domestic animals. See also 34.23; 47.18. Creeping things refers not only to reptiles like snakes, lizards, or turtles, but also to insects, rodents, and all kinds of small animals. Beasts of the earth is literally “living things of the earth,” referring to wild animals, or perhaps dangerous animals. According to their kinds is as in verses 11 and 21 and means “all kinds.”
And it was so: see verse 7.
Most languages do not classify animals as domesticated, wild, and creeping. However, many do make clear distinctions between domesticated and wild animals. In some cases this is done by using descriptive terms; for example, domesticated animals may be “animals of the garden, field, grassland, farm”; wild animals may be “animals of the forest, hills, mountains, uncultivated lands.” In many languages it is difficult to get an adequate translation of creeping things that will include reptiles, insects, and other small four-footed animals. Accordingly it may be necessary to say, for example, “all other animals and insects,” “all reptiles, small animals, and insects,” or simply “all other animals that crawl on the ground.” Since creeping things are usually wild, it may be possible to say for the three classes “tame animals, large wild animals, and small wild animals” or “all kinds of animals: tame and wild, large and small” (Good News Translation). As suggested in verse 11, translators may find it more meaningful to use the local animal classification, provided, of course, that it includes all land animals and not just certain ones. A typical way of covering all animals in the Pacific setting is “animals of the village, and large and small animals of the bush.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .