Genesis 1:20

Let the waters. We have here the populating of the water and the air by the creation of marine and winged creatures. The original may be translated, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly living creature that moveth,” rendering more clearly in English the Hebrew phrase that means literally, “Let the waters swarm with swarms.” The verb here translated “to swarm” is also used with the meaning “to multiply abundantly.” The term applies not only to fishes but to all water animals, from the greatest to the least, and also to reptiles.

Creature that hath life. The original of this phrase, nephesh chayyah, makes a clear distinction between the animals and the vegetation created two days earlier. It is true that plants have life as do animals and possess certain functions that resemble those of animals, but the fact remains that a marked difference exists between the plant and animal worlds. The animals are in possession of organs that allow them to make decisions, to move about in search of food, and to feel pain, joy, or sorrow, to a greater or less degree.

Hence they can be called creatures, a word that cannot be applied to plants. This must be the meaning of the much-discussed Hebrew word nephesh, translated rightly “creature” in this verse, a term which attributes to the animal a higher form of life than to the plant, which is not a nephesh. The early translators correctly understood that the term cannot mean “soul” in this passage, and rendered it in a way that correctly conveys the thought of the inspired author.

Fowl that may fly. The waters were to produce the water animals but not the birds, as the KJV appears to indicate. Chapter 2:19 states that “every fowl of the air” was formed by God “out of the ground.” The correct rendering of the Hebrew text of ch. 1:20, “and let fowl fly above the earth,” disposes of this seeming difficulty. The word “fowl,” literally “winged beings,” should rather read “birds.” Both domestic and wild birds are included.