Saturday, April 30, 2016

Let the land produce . . . A Grammatical Observation

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1.24-25

For a third view on this phrase "let the land produce," I go to John Walton and his previously mentioned argument that the whole creation story in Genesis is one of God assigning function to various entities in the world he had already made for humanity.  Again I find this on the ever-interesting BioLogos website.

Perhaps you remember that Walton is a self-titled "text guy."  His point is from grammar.

"Finally in day 6 we encounter a situation where the direct object of the verb (made) is something that both we and the Israelites would have understood to be material. Even here, however, the statement that God made the animals (1:25) is the result of the statement in the previous verse for the land to produce the animals. This is then a case of God’s indirect involvement only through an indicated instrument rather than as a direct material act of creation. It is perfectly normal for the verb used here (‘asa, “made”) to be used of indirect activity. Since the statement about God making animals follows the wording 'let the land produce,' it is not as clear that the text means to describe the actual making of objects. And given that it has been focused on issues of order/function thus far, literary consistency should lead us to see day six in the same way. By indicating the 'kinds' the narrator is drawing attention to the great diversity of life that inhabits our world.  - See more at: http://biologos.org/blogs/archive/material-or-function-in-genesis-1-john-walton-responds-part-2#sthash.FKVnh0qt.dpuf

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