Genesis 1

Gn 1.1In prīncipiō creāvit Deus caelum et terram.

In the beginning God created sky and earth.

Note. In prīncipiō: 'in the beginning'. The Latin Bible usually puts the verb early (creāvit Deus), copying the word order of Hebrew, where the verb normally comes first. caelum et terram: 'sky and earth', a pair meaning 'everything'.

Gn 1.2Terra autem erat inānis et vacua, et tenebrae erant super faciem abyssī: et spīritus Deī ferēbātur super aquās.

The earth, however, was empty and void, and shadows were over the face of the abyss: and the spirit of God was being carried over the waters.

Note. inānis et vacua: two near-synonyms side by side ('empty and void'), a Hebrew habit of pairing words. abyssī is a Greek loanword, 'the deep', the primeval waters. ferēbātur: passive with a middle sense, 'was moving, was borne'.

Gn 1.3Dīxitque Deus: Fīat lūx. Et facta est lūx.

And God said: Let light be made. And light was made.

Note. Dīxitque Deus: the -que joins this sentence to the last. Biblical narrative strings clauses together with et and -que instead of subordinating them (parataxis), echoing Hebrew 'and … and …'. Fīat: present subjunctive of fīō used as a command (jussive), 'let there be'. facta est: perfect of fīō, 'came to be'.

Gn 1.4Et vīdit Deus lūcem quod esset bona: et dīvīsit lūcem ā tenebrīs.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and he divided the light from the shadows.

Note. vīdit … quod esset bona: in Classical Latin this would be an accusative and infinitive (lūcem esse bonam). Late and Biblical Latin often uses quod + a verb instead, like English 'saw that …'. The subjunctive esset is usual after quod in this use.

Gn 1.5Appellāvitque lūcem Diem, et tenebrās Noctem: factumque est vespere et māne, diēs ūnus.

And he called the light Day, and the shadows Night: and it was made evening and morning, one day.

Note. factum est vespere et māne: literally 'it became evening and morning'. vespere is an old ablative form used as an adverb, like māne. diēs ūnus: Hebrew counts 'one day', not 'the first day'; the following days use ordinals (secundus, tertius).

Gn 1.6Dīxit quoque Deus: Fīat firmāmentum in mediō aquārum: et dīvidat aquās ab aquīs.

God said also: Let a firmament be made in the middle of the waters: and let it divide waters from waters.

Note. firmāmentum: 'something made firm', the solid dome of the sky that the ancient picture imagined holding back the upper waters. dīvidat is jussive like fīat.

Gn 1.7Et fēcit Deus firmāmentum, dīvīsitque aquās, quae erant sub firmāmentō, ab hīs, quae erant super firmāmentum. Et factum est ita.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament, from those which were over the firmament. And it was made thus.

Gn 1.8Vocāvitque Deus firmāmentum, Caelum: et factum est vespere et māne, diēs secundus.

And God called the firmament Sky: and it was made evening and morning, a second day.

Gn 1.9Dīxit vērō Deus: Congregentur aquae, quae sub caelō sunt, in locum ūnum: et appāreat ārida. Et factum est ita.

God said, moreover: Let the waters, which are under the sky, be gathered into one place: and let the dry (land) appear. And it was made thus.

Note. Congregentur … appāreat: jussive subjunctives, 'let (the waters) be gathered … let (dry land) appear'. ārida: an adjective used as a noun, '(the) dry (land)'.

Gn 1.10Et vocāvit Deus āridam Terram, congregātiōnēsque aquārum appellāvit Maria. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum.

And God called the dry (land) Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Note. Maria is the plural of mare (sea), not the name Mary.

Gn 1.11Et ait: Germinet terra herbam virentem, et facientem sēmen, et lignum pōmiferum faciēns frūctum iūxtā genus suum, cuius sēmen in sēmetipsō sit super terram. Et factum est ita.

And he said: Let the earth sprout grass growing green and making seed, and the fruit-bearing tree making fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, over the earth. And it was made thus.

Note. virentem, facientem, faciēns: present participles describing the plants. iūxtā genus suum: 'according to its kind', a phrase repeated through the chapter. sēmetipsō: sē + the emphatic suffix -met + ipse, 'itself'.

Gn 1.12Et prōtulit terra herbam virentem, et facientem sēmen iūxtā genus suum, lignumque faciēns frūctum, et habēns ūnumquodque sēmentem secundum speciem suam. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum.

And the earth brought forth grass growing green and making seed according to its kind, and the tree making fruit, and each one having its seed according to its species. And God saw that it was good.

Gn 1.13Et factum est vespere et māne, diēs tertius.

And it was made evening and morning, a third day.

Gn 1.14Dīxit autem Deus: Fīant lūmināria in firmāmentō caelī, et dīvidant diem ac noctem, et sint in signa et tempora, et diēs et annōs:

God said, however: Let lights be made in the firmament of the sky, and let them divide day and night, and let them be for signs and times, and days and years:

Note. sint in signa: 'let them be for signs'. in + accusative expressing purpose ('serve as') is a Hebraism; compare in ēscam (1.29), 'for food'.

Gn 1.15ut lūceant in firmāmentō caelī, et illūminent terram. Et factum est ita.

so that they may shine in the firmament of the sky, and light up the earth. And it was made thus.

Gn 1.16Fēcitque Deus duo lūmināria magna: lūmināre maius, ut praeesset diēī: et lūmināre minus, ut praeesset noctī: et stellās.

And God made two great lights: the greater light, so that it might be over the day: and the lesser light, so that it might be over the night: and the stars.

Note. lūmināre maius, lūmināre minus: the sun and moon are not named, only 'the greater light' and 'the lesser light'. ut praeesset: purpose clause; praesum takes the dative (diēī, noctī).

Gn 1.17Et posuit eās in firmāmentō caelī, ut lūcērent super terram,

And he placed them in the firmament of the sky, so that they might shine over the earth,

Gn 1.18et praeessent diēī ac noctī, et dīviderent lūcem ac tenebrās. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum.

and be over the day and the night, and divide the light and the shadows. And God saw that it was good.

Gn 1.19Et factum est vespere et māne, diēs quārtus.

And it was made evening and morning, a fourth day.

Gn 1.20Dīxit etiam Deus: Prōdūcant aquae rēptile animae vīventis, et volātile super terram sub firmāmentō caelī.

God said also: Let the waters bring forth the creeping thing of living soul, and the flying thing over the earth under the firmament of the sky.

Note. rēptile animae vīventis: 'creeping thing of living soul', a genitive of quality. anima here is 'breath, life', not 'soul' in the later sense. volātile: a neuter adjective used as a noun, 'flying thing'.

Gn 1.21Creāvitque Deus cētē grandia, et omnem animam vīventem atque mōtābilem, quam prōdūxerant aquae in speciēs suās, et omne volātile secundum genus suum. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum.

And God created great sea-monsters, and every soul living and moving, which the waters had brought forth into their species, and every flying thing according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Note. cētē: a Greek neuter plural (of cētus), 'sea monsters'. prōdūxerant: pluperfect, '(which the waters) had brought forth'.

Gn 1.22Benedīxitque eīs, dīcēns: Crēscite, et multiplicāminī, et replēte aquās maris: avēsque multiplicentur super terram.

And he blessed them, saying: Grow, and be multiplied, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied over the earth.

Note. Crēscite et multiplicāminī: imperatives; multiplicāminī is a passive imperative with middle sense, 'multiply (yourselves)'. avēsque multiplicentur: jussive subjunctive for the third person.

Gn 1.23Et factum est vespere et māne, diēs quīntus.

And it was made evening and morning, a fifth day.

Gn 1.24Dīxit quoque Deus: Prōdūcat terra animam vīventem in genere suō, iūmenta, et rēptilia, et bestiās terrae secundum speciēs suās. Factumque est ita.

God said also: Let the earth bring forth living soul in its kind, beasts of burden, and creeping things, and wild animals of the earth according to their species. And it was made thus.

Gn 1.25Et fēcit Deus bestiās terrae iūxtā speciēs suās, et iūmenta, et omne rēptile terrae in genere suō. Et vīdit Deus quod esset bonum,

And God made the wild animals of the earth according to their species, and the beasts of burden, and every creeping thing of the earth in its kind. And God saw that it was good,

Gn 1.26et ait: Faciāmus hominem ad imāginem et similitūdinem nostram: et praesit piscibus maris, et volātilibus caelī, et bestiīs, ūniversaeque terrae, omnīque rēptilī, quod movētur in terrā.

and he said: Let us make man to (our) image and likeness: and let him be over the fishes of the sea, and the flying things of the sky, and the wild animals, and all the earth, and every creeping thing which is moved on the earth.

Note. Faciāmus: hortatory subjunctive, 'let us make'. The plural has long been discussed: a 'plural of majesty', God addressing a heavenly court, or (in Christian reading) a hint of the Trinity. ad imāginem et similitūdinem: 'after the image and likeness'.

Gn 1.27Et creāvit Deus hominem ad imāginem suam: ad imāginem Deī creāvit illum, masculum et fēminam creāvit eōs.

And God created man to his image: to the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.

Note. Three short clauses, each with creāvit: Hebrew poetry in miniature. illum is singular (the human being), eōs plural (male and female).

Gn 1.28Benedīxitque illīs Deus, et ait: Crēscite et multiplicāminī, et replēte terram, et subiicite eam, et domināminī piscibus maris, et volātilibus caelī, et ūniversīs animantibus, quae moventur super terram.

And God blessed them, and said: Grow and be multiplied, and fill the earth, and put it under (you), and be masters of the fishes of the sea, and the flying things of the sky, and all the animate things which are moved over the earth.

Note. subiicite: Clementine spelling of subicite (sub + iaciō), imperative 'bring under'. domināminī: imperative of the deponent dominor, which takes the dative here (piscibus).

Gn 1.29Dīxitque Deus: Ecce dedī vōbīs omnem herbam afferentem sēmen super terram, et ūniversa ligna quae habent in sēmetipsīs sēmentem generis suī, ut sint vōbīs in ēscam:

And God said: See, I have given to you every grass bringing seed over the earth, and all the trees which have in themselves the seed of their kind, so that they may be to you for food:

Note. Ecce: 'look!', very frequent in Biblical Latin to introduce something new. dedī: perfect, 'I have given (and they are yours)'. in ēscam: 'for food', in + accusative of purpose.

Gn 1.30et cūnctīs animantibus terrae, omnīque volucrī caelī, et ūniversīs quae moventur in terrā, et in quibus est anima vīvēns, ut habeant ad vēscendum. Et factum est ita.

and to all the animate things of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to all (things) which are moved on the earth, and in which there is a living soul, so that they may have (something) for eating. And it was made thus.

Note. ad vēscendum: gerund of the deponent vēscor ('eat'), 'for eating'.

Gn 1.31Vīditque Deus cūncta quae fēcerat, et erant valdē bona. Et factum est vespere et māne, diēs sextus.

And God saw all (the things) which he had made, and they were very good. And it was made evening and morning, a sixth day.