Day 5: Birds and Fish (1:20-23)

Day 5: Birds and Fish (1:20-23)

²⁰ Elohim said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth up against the barrier of the heavens." ²¹ Elohim created the great sea monsters and every teeming living creature which swarms the waters according to their type, and every flying bird according to its type. Elohim saw that it was good. ²² Elohim blessed them by saying, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the waters in the seas, and birds, increase in number on the earth. ²³ So evening and morning of the fifth day came about. (1:20-23)

    On this day the sky and the sea became home to swimming and soaring creatures. The literary scheme the writer used to structure the account becomes clearer. The fifth day corresponds to the second day. The arenas for life that appeared as a result of the water barrier being created, the sky and sea, are now filled with resident creatures.
    A new element is added when these living creatures are given God's verbal blessing to be fruitful and increase. Such a word of blessing expresses God's intention for the future welfare of these creatures. This becomes a very important theme in Genesis. Growth and living space are blessings from God, and express his desire for the welfare of all beings he has created, including humanity.