Genesis 1:21 ASV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 1:20-23

Each day, hitherto, has produced very noble and excellent beings, which we can never sufficiently admire; but we do not read of the creation of any living creature till the fifth day, of which these verses give us an account. The work of creation not only proceeded gradually from one thing to another, but rose and advanced gradually from that which was less excellent to that which was more so, teaching us to press towards perfection and endeavour that our last works may be our best works. It... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:21

And God created great whales ,.... Which the Targums of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret of the Leviathan and its mate, concerning which the Jews have many fabulous things: large fishes are undoubtedly meant, and the whale being of the largest sort, the word is so rendered. Aelianus, from various writers, relates many things of the extraordinary size of whales; of one in the Indian sea five times bigger than the largest elephant, one of its ribs being twenty cubits F18 Hist. Animal. l. 16.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:21

And God created great whales - הגדלים התנינם hattanninim haggedolim . Though this is generally understood by the different versions as signifying whales, yet the original must be understood rather as a general than a particular term, comprising all the great aquatic animals, such as the various species of whales, the porpoise, the dolphin, the monoceros or narwal, and the shark. God delights to show himself in little as well as in great things: hence he forms animals so minute that... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:21

Verse 21 21.And God created A question here arises out of the word created. For we have before contended, that because the world was created, it was made out of nothing; but now Moses says that things formed from other matter were created. They who truly and properly assert that the fishes were created because the waters were in no way sufficient or suitable for their production, only resort to a subterfuge: for, in the meantime, the fact would remain that the material of which they were made... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:20-22

The mystery of life. I. ITS ORIGIN . 1. Not dead matter . Scripture, equally with science, represents life as having a physical basis; but, unlike modern evolutionists, never confounds vital force with the material mechanism in which it resides, and through which it operates. Advanced biologists account for life by molecular arrangement, chemical combination, spontaneous generation, or some such equally insufficient hypothesis. The rigorous necessities of truth and logic,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:20-23

The fifth day. I. LIVE UNDER THE BLESSING OF GOD . 1. Abundance . Swarming waters, swarming air? preparing for the swarming earth. "Be fruitful, and multiply." The absence of all restraint because as yet the absence of sin. God's law is liberty. The law of life is the primary law. If there be in man's world a contradiction between the multiplication of life and the happiness of life, it is a sign of departure from the original order. 2. Growth , improvement,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:21

And God created ( bara , is in Genesis 1:1 , to indicate the introduction of an absolutely new thing, viz; the principle of animal life) great whales . Tanninim , from tanan ; Greek, τει ì νω ; Latin, tendo ; Sansc; tan , to stretch. These were the first of the two classes into which the sheretzim of the previous verse were divided. The word is used of serpents ( Exodus 7:9 ; Deuteronomy 32:33 ; Psalms 91:13 ; Jeremiah 51:34 ), of the crocodile ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:21

Day six . Like day three, this is distinguished by a double creative act, the production of the higher or land animals and the creation of man, of the latter of which it is perhaps permissible to see a mute prediction in the vegetation which closed the first half of the creative week. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind . In these words the land animals are generically characterized as nephesh chayyah , or animated beings; in the terms... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 1:20-23

- VII. The Fifth Day20. שׁרץ shārats, “crawl, teem, swarm, abound.” An intransitive verb, admitting, however, an objective noun of its own or a like signification.נפשׁ nephesh, “breath, soul, self.” This noun is derived from a root signifying to breathe. Its concrete meaning is, therefore, “that which breathes,” and consequently has a body, without which there can be no breathing; hence, “a breathing body,” and even a body that once had breath Numbers 6:6. As breath is the accompaniment and... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 1:21

Genesis 1:21. Great whales The Hebrew word here rendered whales is sometimes put to signify great dragons of the wilderness; (see Jeremiah 9:11; Jeremiah 14:6; Malachi 1:3;) but it undoubtedly here means some very large inhabitants of the waters, and probably what we call whales, whose astonishing bulk and prodigious strength are amazing proofs of the power and glory of the Creator. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 1:20-23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:21

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:21

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:21

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:20-22

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:20-23

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:21

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:21

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 1:20-23

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 1:21

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