Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Ferrar Fenton's Interesting Translation of Genesis 1

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BY Periods* God created that which produced the Solar Systems; then that which produced the Earth. But the Earth was unorganised and empty; and darkness covered its convulsed surface; while the breath of God rocked the surface of its waters.

God then said, "Let there be light;" and light came. And God gazed upon that beautiful light; and God divided the light from the darkness. And to the light God gave the name of Day, and to the darkness He gave the name of Night. This was the close and the dawn of the first age.

God also said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters, and let it be a division between the waters and the waters." And God made the expanse, and it divided the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and that was done. And God named the expanse the Heavens. This was the close and the dawn of the second age.

God then commanded, "Let the waters below the Heavens be collected in one place, and let dry land appear;" and that was done. And God named the dry land Earth; and the accumulated waters He named Seas; and God admired their beauty. God then said, "Let the Earth produce seed-bearing vegetation, as well as fruit trees according to their several species, capable of reproduction upon the Earth;" and that was done. The Earth produced the seed-bearing herbage according to every species, as well as the different species of reproductive fruit trees; and God saw that they were good. This was the close and the dawn of the third age.

God further said, "Let reflectors appear in the expanse of the Heavens for a division between the day and the night; and let them serve to mark seasons, periods, and years; and let them also illuminate the expanse of the skies so as to reflect their light upon the Earth;" and that was done. God had made two large luminaries, the larger one to control the day, and the smaller one to control the night, accompanied by the stars. And God had fixed them in the heavenly expanse so as to illuminate the Earth, to control the day and to control the night, and to mark the division between the light and the darkness; and God saw they were beautiful. This was the close and the dawn of the fourth age.

God then said, "Let the waters be swarming with animal life, and let birds fly in the expanse of the skies above the Earth; "God accordingly produced the monsters of the deep, and the waters swarmed with every species of reptile, and also produced every species of flying bird. And God admired their beauty. And God, in giving them His blessing, said, "Be fruitful and multiply, so as to fill the waters of the deep; and also let the birds multiply upon the Earth." This was the close and the dawn of the fifth age.

God then said, "Let the Earth produce animal life according to its species, in quadrupeds, reptiles and all wild animals, answering to their species;" and that was done. God accordingly made the various species of the animals of the Earth, as well as the several species of quadrupeds, and all the different species of reptiles; and God admired their beauty.

Creation of Man Under the Shadow of God

God then said, "Let Us make men under Our Shadow, as Our Representatives; and subject to them the fish of the waters; and the birds of the sky, and the quadrupeds, as well as the whole of the Earth, and every reptile that creeps upon it."

So God created men under His own Shadow, creating them in the Shadow of God, and constituting them male and female. God then gave them His blessing; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply so as to fill the Earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the skies, and over every living animal that moves upon the Earth."

God also said, "See, I have given you for food every fruit and grain-bearing plant upon the surface of the whole Earth, as well as fruit and seed-bearing trees and all vegetation, so that they may be food for you, and for every animal of the Earth, and for every bird of the skies, and for every reptile upon the Earth which possesses the life of animals; and it was done. And God gazed upon all that He had made, and it was very beautiful. Thus the close came, and the dawn came of the sixth age.
 
*Literally "By Headships." It is curious that all translators from the Septuagint have rendered this word B'resh1th, into the singular, although it is plural in the Hebrew. So I render it accurately.—F. F.


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