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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. 2 But the earth was invisible and unformed,⁠ and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. 3 And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 4 And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water,⁠ and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.⁠ 7 And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 And God said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so.⁠ And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, to divide between day and night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. 15 And let them be for light in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth, and it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light for regulating the day and the lesser light for regulating the night, the stars also. 17 And God placed them in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth, 18 and to regulate day and night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth reptiles having life, and winged creatures flying above the earth in the firmament of heaven, and it was so. 21 And God made the great sea monsters, and every living reptile, which the waters brought forth according to their kinds, and every creature that flies with wings according to its kind, and God saw that they were good. 22 And God blessed them saying, Increase and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the creatures that fly be multiplied on the earth. 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, quadrupeds and reptiles and wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and it was so. 25 And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and cattle according to their kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to their kind, and God saw that they were good. 26 And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness,⁠ and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the flying creatures of heaven, and over the cattle and all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep on the earth. 27 And God made man, according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made them.⁠ 28 And God blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the earth,⁠ and all the reptiles that creep on the earth. 29 And God said, Look, I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of seed that is sown, to you it shall be for food. 30 And to all the wild beasts of the earth, and to all the flying creatures of heaven, and to every reptile creeping on the earth, which has in itself the breath of life, even every green plant for food; and it was so. 31 And God saw all the things that he had made, and, look, they were very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Genesis 1:26 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 33:5

Septuagint · Early Christian

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Summary

In 1 Clement, the author quotes the making of humans from Genesis 1 in the Greek Septuagint translation as the last and greatest work of a God who takes joy in his works, so that people made in his image have no excuse to stop doing good.

Passages

LXX Genesis 1:26

Septuagint
26 And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the flying creatures of heaven, and over the cattle and all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep on the earth. 27 And God made man, according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made them. 28 And God blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 33:5

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
4 Above all, as the most excellent and greatest work of His intelligence, with His sacred and faultless hands He formed man as the imprint of His own image. 5 For thus says God “Let us make man according to our image and according to our likeness.” And God made man; male and female He made them. 6 So having finished all these things, He praised them and blessed them and said, “Increase and multiply.” 7 We have seen that all the righteous were adorned in good works. Yes, and the Lord Himself, having adorned Himself with worlds, rejoiced. 8 Since, then, we have this pattern, let us conform ourselves with all diligence to His will; let us do the work of righteousness with all our strength.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

References

“... See quotations of LXX Gen 1.26-27 in 1 Clem 33.5, and LXX Gen 1.28 in 1 Clem 33.6. [...] In large part this portion of the text is a reiteration of the establishment of boundaries as outlined more extensively in 1 Clement 20, with the fixing and regulating of the heavens (οὐρανοί), and the separation (διαχωρίζω) of earth (γῆ) from the waters (ὕδωρ). The most interesting point of resemblance is the use of διαχωρίζω. It is quite apparent that the author of 1 Clement does not have the use of this verb in LXX Gen 1.4 in mind. ...”
S. D. Giere, A New Glimpse of Day One: Intertextuality, History of Interpretation, and Genesis 1.1–5 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2009), 259, 261.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Genesis 1:26 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 33:5

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