KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
This verse is part of the creation story.
To get what Genesis 1:21 means in detail, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “And God” | אֱלֹהִ֔ים | Gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative | God |
| “created” | וַיִּבְרָ֣א | (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes) | created |
| “great” | הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים | Great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent | great |
| “whales,” | הַתַּנִּינִ֖ם | A marine or land monster, i.e., sea-serpent or jackal | whales |
| “and every” | כָּל | Properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense) | every |
| “living” | הַֽחַיָּ֣ה׀ | Alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively | living |
| “creature” | נֶ֣פֶשׁ | Properly, a breathing creature, i.e., animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental) | creature |
| “that moveth,” | הָֽרֹמֶ֡שֶׂת | Properly, to glide swiftly, i.e., to crawl or move with short steps; by analogy to swarm | moveth |
| “which” | אֲשֶׁר֩ | Who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc | which |
| “the waters” | הַמַּ֜יִם | Water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen | waters |
| “brought forth abundantly,” | שָׁרְצ֨וּ | To wriggle, i.e., (by implication) swarm or abound | brought forth abundantly |
| “after their kind,” | לְמִֽינֵהֶ֗ם | A sort, i.e., species | kind |
| “and every” | כָּל | Properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense) | every |
| “winged” | כָּנָף֙ | An edge or extremity; specifically (of a bird or army) a wing, (of a garment or bedclothing) a flap, (of the earth) a quarter, (of a building) a pinnacle | winged |
| “fowl” | ע֤וֹף | A bird (as covered with feathers, or rather as covering with wings), often collectively | fowl |
| “after his kind:” | לְמִינֵ֔הוּ | A sort, i.e., species | kind |
| “and God” | אֱלֹהִ֖ים | Gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative | God |
| “saw” | וַיַּ֥רְא | To see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative) | saw |
| “that” | כִּי | (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed | that |
| “it was” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “good.” | טֽוֹב׃ | Good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well) | good |
See Genesis 1:21 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
| Very High |
Verse Search Popularity Levels What do people search for?Use the scale on the left to tell how often the verses below are googled compared to each other. |
|
| High | ||
| Medium | ||
| Low | ||
| Very Low |
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
• Genesis creation narrative Wikipedia Article
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.