Translation commentary on Genesis 2:2

Although printed in prose form, the two sentences of verse 2 are clearly parallel poetically and say essentially the same thing.

And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done: this is ambiguous since it can mean that God worked on the seventh day and then finished, or that he did not work on the seventh day but his work was finished when that day came. The intended sense is the second of these. In order to avoid seeming to say that God worked on the seventh day, the Septuagint translates seventh with “sixth.” So also New English Bible and Revised English Bible. Good News Translation attempts to avoid misunderstanding by translating “by the seventh day God finished….” His work translates a noun that covers a wide range of meanings. It is used to refer to a person’s occupation or business, the particular skills required in producing something useful, or the object that is produced. It is also used in reference to unskilled work. All work was banned on the weekly Sabbath (Exo 20.9-10) and on the festival Sabbaths (Lev 16.29).

In translation it is best to make clear that God did not work on the seventh day; for example, “When the seventh day came God had finished all his work.” One translation has “On day number 7 God saw that all his work was finished, and he rested on this day.” Another translation joins together verses 1.31 and 2.1 to say “… Then all his work in making the earth and the sky and everything in them was finished, and this day finished. This was day number 6 of the world.” Verse 2 then continues, “God’s work was finished, then on day number 7 of the world he rested from all the work he had been doing.”

And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done: rested does not suggest that God had to relax and refresh his strength, although this sense is clear in the context of the same word as it is used in Exo 31.17. Here rested means “to cease, stop, bring to an end,” and it is used again in this sense in Gen 8.22, where God promises Noah that “summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” The Hebrew verb “to rest” is shabath and sounds like the word for “Sabbath,” which is shabbath. Work is the same word used in the previous clause.

In translation it is important to avoid a word that may suggest rest as ceasing difficult work, since that will suggest that God was exhausted and in need of refreshment from heavy labor. On the other hand a word meaning “to stop work” that means “quitting or giving up” is equally inappropriate. Good News Translation says “stopped working.” Many translations prefer “rested” and place “ceased” in a footnote.

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 .

Translation commentary on Genesis 2:3

So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it: some interpreters suggest that God gives his blessing to those who observe the seventh day, but it is more probable that the blessing is given to the seventh day itself. Blessed has the sense of God giving or conferring his favor, so that the one who receives it receives a benefit. In some languages bless may be rendered, for example, “So God gave to the seventh day his special goodness,” “So God made the seventh day good by…,” or “God made the seventh day special.” Hallowed translates a word whose intensive form means “to sanctify,” that is, “to set apart for God’s use, to dedicate to God.” When translating hallowed in this context, it may be necessary to make the purpose clear; for example, “God set it apart as a special day for rest” or “God made it a special day and made it a day when people can rest and worship him.”

The last clause of verse 3 gives the reason God blessed … and hallowed the seventh day: because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation. Rested is the same as in verse 2 and has the same sense. Anchor Bible translates “for on it he ceased from all the work he had undertaken,” and New English Bible has “because that day he ceased from all the work he had set himself to do.” See also Good News Translation “stopped working.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Genesis 1:2

The Hebrew of this verse begins with the frequently used connecting marker, the consonant waw, usually translated “and.” This marker serves to connect noun phrases as well as noun and verb clauses and whole sentences. Its translation here will depend on the way verse 1 has been dealt with. If “God created…” has been translated as a subordinate time clause, then verse 2 forms the main clause of the sentence, and the connecting marker is not required as a separate element. See Good News Translation. On the other hand, if verse 1 is translated as an independent sentence that serves as a general heading for the entire story, then verse 2 is the beginning of the story, and a rendering of the connecting marker is required that is appropriate for such a beginning. In English Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible are examples of translations that do not represent the marker, while New Jerusalem Bible and New International Version render it by “Now…,” which is quite natural in this context. In such cases “Now” does not mean “at the present time” but is an English idiomatic way of introducing a new statement. See also comments under and darkness in this verse.

The earth was without form …: verse 2 picks up the word earth from Gen 1.1. “Heaven” is not mentioned again until verse 8, in which the “firmament” is named. The picture is of the entire world, not just dry earth. The Hebrew verb translated was refers to the time when God began his work of creation. Was does not mean that the earth remained in this shapeless state for a long time; nor does it mean that it became such after being something else earlier. If the translator chooses to make verse 1 a dependent clause, was or its equivalent will serve as the verb in the main clause. For example, “At the time when God began to create, the earth was….” If verse 1 is handled as an independent sentence, this verb still refers to the event of creation, and the verb selected should express something like “At that time the earth was…” or “At the beginning of creation the earth had no form….”

Without form and void translates the Hebrew tohu wa bohu, which has been the subject of numerous discussions. The first element, tohu, occurs some twenty times in the Old Testament, while bohu is found only three times, and in each of these it is linked with tohu. Bohu therefore is not an independent word but rather a sound imitation that is sometimes added to the first word. Tohu, which carries the basic meaning, is used to describe the desert in Deut 32.10; Job 6.18; 12.24; Psa 107.40. The term is likewise used to refer to God’s judgments, in which order is turned to chaos or waste in Isa 24.10, and with the same sense the double expression is used in Isa 34.11 and Jer 4.23.

The idea of the expression is that at the beginning the earth was a chaotic waste. In the first three days of creation, God is to give the earth a recognizable shape. Modern translations handle this expression in two main ways:
(a) as two separate descriptive terms connected by “and”; for example, “void and vacant” (Moffatt), “unformed and void” (New International Version), “waste and gloomy” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch);
(b) as a main word with an added descriptive term; for example, “a great emptiness” (Bible en français courant), “formless void” (New Jerusalem Bible), “formless wasteland” (New American Bible), “formless waste” (Anchor Bible), and “had no form” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

Some languages, particularly in Africa, use repeated syllables to describe certain conditions much the way adjectives and adverbs do. Translators in those languages may find that these so-called ideophones are used sometimes to describe an empty and barren place. In other languages it may be necessary to express this thought with a double expression such as in Good News Translation “formless and desolate,” or else “shapeless and empty.” In some languages it may be more natural to use a clause and say, for example, “had yet no real shape and was still empty,” or as a simile “The earth had not yet been set in order and was like a shapeless swamp.” Three examples of descriptive expressions used in recent translations are “the world was different altogether; it was empty without anything in it,” “The earth was not like we see it now. No. It was empty and different altogether,” and “the earth had no backbone.”

And darkness was upon …: Hebrew includes the connective waw “and” here; however, translators should pay particular attention to the way in which these clauses and sentences are joined, so as not to make their language sound unnecessarily like Hebrew. Revised Standard Version, which most often translates these connectives literally, produces an abnormally disjointed flow of discourse in English.

Darkness in this context is associated in sense with the “formless waste” in the preceding clause. The same word is used in Isa 45.19, in which it is associated with chaos, tohu. In Psa 88.6 darkness describes Sheol, the world of the dead, and in Psa 44.19 it is associated with the place of jackals, the desert. Darkness therefore refers to the presence of chaos and the lack of order that existed at the time when God began to create. Was is supplied by Revised Standard Version to make acceptable English.

In languages in which there are words for degrees of darkness, the darkest of darkness should be used. Note Good News Translation “total darkness.” Extreme darkness is sometimes referred to as “a moonless night,” and so you may find it possible to say “It was dark as a moonless night.”

Darkness is understood as the complete absence of light, and in translation it may not be possible to say that darkness was upon something. It may be necessary, therefore, to say, for example, “The seas were in total darkness” or “Where the deep seas were, everything was completely dark.” One common rendering is “Darkness covered over the great water.”

The face of the deep refers to the surface of the deep waters upon which the earth is said to rest later on in Gen 7.11; 8.2; 49.25. Some translations take the deep to refer to a deep place; for example, Moffatt, New English Bible, and Traduction oecuménique de la Bible have “abyss.” However, the sense is more likely to be the deep waters of the unformed or surging oceans. Therefore Good News Translation translates “raging ocean,” Bible en français courant “primitive ocean,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “floods,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “deep sea.” Good News Translation has restructured the last part of verse 2 so as to make a passive clause with the emphasis on the “raging ocean.”

Face of the deep may sometimes be translated “the big seas,” “the deep oceans,” or “the deep waters.” In languages in which very large bodies of water are unknown, it may be necessary to speak of the “the big rivers” or “the big lakes.”

The Spirit of God translates the Hebrew ruach ʾelohim; as the Good News Translation footnote shows, this phrase can be translated as “the power of God,” “a wind from God,” or “an awesome wind.” Some see it necessary to translate as Spirit of God, as they interpret this to mean the Holy Spirit. However, this is to impose New Testament thought on the Old Testament usage. The rendering “spirit of God” (Revised English Bible, Moffatt) may be taken in the sense of the person of God, based on parallel expressions such as “spirit of Zerubbabel” (Hag 1.14); this is just another way of speaking of Zerubbabel, and so “spirit of God” can be taken to mean the same as “God.” The translation “wind” takes ruach in another of its common meanings. In “mighty wind” (New English Bible) ʾelohim is used not as a noun but as a descriptive term with the sense of “powerful, awesome.” In a similar usage in Gen 23.6, the Hittites speak of Abraham as nasiʾ ʾelohim “mighty prince.” See also Gen 30.8; Exo 9.28 (“[mighty] thunders”); Jonah 3.3 (“exceedingly great city”). In the expression “wind from God” (New Jerusalem Bible), ʾelohim is understood as the one who causes the wind.

All of these renderings are possible. However, you should consider certain factors in deciding which to use. If you are translating into a language in which many speakers have access to a major language Bible, it may be desirable to follow the usage of that translation. In any event it is advisable to offer one or more alternatives in a footnote. Translators are free to follow any of the suggestions supported above. In some languages it is difficult to express “spirit of God,” since God is thought of normally as a spiritual being already, without adding this word. In such cases it may be clearer to speak of “a mighty wind,” “power of God,” “wind coming from God,” or simply “God.”

Was moving over the face of the waters: the word translated was moving is sometimes rendered “brooded,” suggesting a parallel with other ancient stories of creation, in which a bird hatches an egg which is the world. However, the same root is used in Deut 32.11 of eagles “hovering, fluttering” over their young, and according to Anchor Bible the same root occurs in Ugaritic meaning “to be in movement.” Accordingly the picture is that of the spirit of God, or a wind from God, “sweeping, flying, moving” over the waters. Moving is a general word in English that does not suggest the particular kind of movement likely to be involved here. If the translator has used something like “wind from God” in the previous clause, an appropriate verb must be used here, which in English may be “swept, blew, raged.” One translation expresses the sense like this: “The spirit of God was continually going and coming above the water.”

Face of the waters is equivalent in meaning to face of the deep, both referring to the surface of the stormy and wild oceans that covered the world.

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 .

For the concept of “darkness” see also John Roberts’ Biblical Cosmology: The Implications for Bible Translation in Journal of Translation 2013/2, p. 1ff .

Translation commentary on Genesis 1:19

And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day: see comments on verse 5.

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 .

Translation commentary on Genesis 1:3

In verses 3-5 we have the first and most complete poetic structure of the narration of God’s creative acts. Verse 3 contains the introduction, the command, and the completion of the first act.

And God said …: And marks the beginning of a series of separate events and at the same time indicates that what follows is the next in the series. Accordingly Good News Translation and others say “Then God commanded.” Some translators prefer to omit any formal connective and instead begin a new paragraph, as in New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy. For comments on God, ʾelohim, see verse 1.

Said and the other verbs throughout this passage are in the standard forms for narrative in Hebrew. They are rendered quite naturally in the past tense in English versions; but translators are advised to consider very carefully which aspect and tense of the verb is most appropriate for this type of narrative in their own language, and not copy unthinkingly the forms that are found in English or some other major language. See comments under the discussion of narrated report at the opening of this chapter, page 21. See also “Discourse types in Genesis” in “Translating Genesis,” page 5.

Let there be light: Let indicates in English a command addressed to someone in the third person, in contrast to “let” meaning to permit. Therefore Good News Translation and others translate God said as “God commanded.” It is apparent that God did not address this command to an agent who should carry out the order. Consequently in some languages it will not be possible to use a word meaning to command that will require a person or other living being to do what is commanded. It may therefore be necessary to say “God said to himself” or “God said these words to himself.” It is also possible to express this command as an indirect quotation: “God said that the light should appear.” It may also be possible to make the light the object of the command and say, for example, “God commanded the light to appear” or “God spoke and commanded the light to appear.”

Light translates the ordinary Hebrew word that is the opposite of darkness in Gen 1.2. In languages that distinguish various lights according to the nature of their source or their quality, it will be best to use the most general word, even if the source of such light is the sun. It is important, of course, to remember that no source of light had yet been created, such as the sun or moon. The point is that light is being distinguished from darkness, as is made clear in Gen 1.4. The command may also be rendered “Light must now shine,” “There must be light,” “Light, appear!” or “Light, you now come on!”

And there was light: these words record the completion of the first act of creation. In Hebrew they are identical to the words of God’s command, suggesting that it happened exactly as God had said. Translators should try to convey this feature of the text, either by keeping the form of this expression as close as possible to the form of the command, or by expressing it directly in other words. For instance, one translation says “And the light appeared, just as he had said.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Genesis 1:20

The fifth day of creation brings into existence water creatures and birds.

And God said: see Gen 1.3 and Gen 1.6.

Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures: this is literally “Let the waters swarm with swarming beings,” in which “being” translates Hebrew nefesh, a term most often applied in the Old Testament to human beings. Living creatures in this context refers to all forms of life that live in the water. Swarms translates a term also used in Exo 8.3, which speaks of the Nile swarming with frogs. A “swarm” describes a mass of moving living objects on land, in water, or in the air. Here the swarming is in the water. See also Gen 7.21. The command is addressed to the waters as the place where the living creatures are to swarm. This command may have to be translated “be filled,” as in Good News Translation. For example, “the waters must now be filled with living creatures,” or as a direct command, “Waters, swarm with masses of living beings.”

It may be necessary to express living creatures as, for example, “all kinds of sea animals,” “every kind of fish and animal that lives in the water,” or “everything that swims or moves in the water.” Languages differ greatly in what is included in such a description, and so translators should try to be as general as possible but avoid an expression that includes water fowl, if possible. In some languages the general term for “fish” refers to all kinds of creatures in the sea, and so “all different kinds of fish” will be quite appropriate here.

And let birds fly … is the second command. This is not a command for birds that exist to fly, but a command bringing birds into existence. A literal translation of and let birds fly may say that the birds already exist and are now being turned loose to fly. If this is the case it may be necessary to say, for example, “Let birds be created and fly,” “And now birds must appear and fly,” or “Birds, appear and fly.” Birds translates a noun related to the verb “to fly,” and some interpreters take the word in a general sense to mean “flying creatures,” which includes flying insects and bats. However, the verb also has the sense of “fly to and fro,” which seems to apply more particularly to birds alone. Nearly all modern translations use a word restricted to flying fowls or birds with wings, and this is recommended to translators.

Above the earth and across the firmament of the heavens express things from the viewpoint of a human being. The birds are to fly in the air or in the space between the sky and the earth.

Languages differ greatly in the way they classify animals and birds. A term that includes birds that fly may also include flying insects and bats as well. In some languages a general term for birds may include only large birds of prey, particularly in the context of “fly above the earth.” In such cases it may be necessary to mention more than one class of birds in order to include most birds that fly.

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 .

Translation commentary on Genesis 1:4

And God saw that the light was good: this is the evaluation step in the creation poem, which will be repeated in verses 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25. The thought here is not that the light had a quality of goodness in itself, but that in God’s mind the light was judged by him to be good. Good News Translation “God was pleased” correctly places the emphasis on God’s reaction to the light. Bible en français courant says “God established [the fact] that the light was a good thing.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “God took pleasure in the light.” In some languages it may be necessary to say, for example, “God looked at the light and was pleased with what he saw.” Because the evaluation of the light is another step in the process, it may be necessary in some languages to mark the transition; for example, “After the light appeared, God looked at it and he was pleased with what he saw.” One translation expresses it like this: “And when God looked at the light, he was happy with it.”

And God separated: Revised Standard Version and some other versions represent the Hebrew in repeating the noun God, whereas Good News Translation, New International Version, and others translate “and he separated.” In English and in many other languages the pronoun is not ambiguous, and it is used generally in regular speech. There is, however, a repeated use of the noun God throughout this passage, which goes beyond what is normal in biblical Hebrew; this is apparently a feature used for special effect here. Translators are advised to follow normal pronoun usage in their own languages, but to note that there is perhaps a feature of emphasis in the Hebrew text, and to consider how they may be able to express that in their translation.

Separated the light from the darkness: the word translated separated occurs also in verses 6 and 7, in which the waters under the firmament are separated from those above. The result of the separation of light from darkness is to give day and night. In this way the first act of creation sets in motion the cycle of time, day followed by night. The picture given in the text is that of light being created while everything is still in darkness, and of a second step being necessary to give light and darkness their own places to function. For the idea of light and darkness occupying separate spaces, see Job 26.10; 38.19-20.

The idea of separating light from darkness is often expressed as dividing the two things so that they go different ways or to different places. A typical expression of this is “God made the light and the darkness, those two things, divide….” However, in some languages it is difficult to speak in this way, since light and darkness are not material objects that can be moved about. Accordingly it may be necessary to say, for example, “God made the light to shine in one place and left it dark in another” or “God made some places light and some places he made dark.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Genesis 1:21

Verse 21 describes the execution of the command given in verse 20.

So God created the great sea monsters: created is as in verse 1 and is used here for the first time since Gen 1.1. Sea monsters translates a noun also found in Job 7.12, where it is rendered “sea monster” by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. There the reference is to a legendary dragon that must be controlled so that it will not escape and cause destruction and chaos. See also “dragon” in Psa 74.13; Isa 51.9. The Hebrew word may also refer to certain living creatures such as serpents and snakes, and perhaps even crocodiles. In translation it is best to avoid a name for one particular creature such as “whale,” “shark,” or “sea lion,” and use a general term such as “big sea creatures” or “big animals that live in the water.”

And every living creature that moves: living creature is as in verse 20. Moves translates a verb that means to move about, and in the water this refers to the action of gliding or swimming. This category takes in all the rest of the living creatures of the sea that are not included among the great creatures already mentioned; in some languages it may be necessary to call them “all the other sea creatures.”

With which the waters swarm emphasizes that the command in verse 20 has been executed, that is, that the waters should swarm with living creatures.

According to their kinds means “all kinds” as in verse 11, and Good News Translation translates “all kinds of creatures that live in the water.” Bible en français courant says “and every kind of animal that threads through the water.”

And every winged bird according to its kind: winged bird translates Hebrew “bird [with] wing”; the reference is to birds that fly and therefore in English simply “birds.” See translation comments on verse 20. According to its kind is repeated in the case of the birds and again means “all kinds of birds.”

And God saw that it was good: see Gen 1.4 and verse 10.

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 .