Creeping things or moving things

Waldmark, 05 May 2008

Fish do not creep; they swim. How, then, are fish included when God gave Noah all the creeping things for food?

When God talked to Noah in Genesis 9:3 and said “Every creeping thing that is alive, to you it is for food; as the green herb I have given to you the whole,” (Young’s Literal Translation) I was never quite sure how the fish came into play.

It is interesting to note that Genesis 9:3 repeats the word all at the end of the sentence: “I have given to you the whole.” The word all or the whole had me wondering because it seemed already covered by the word every at the start of the sentence. So who or what was meant:

• all the moving things?
• or everything that lives and moves? (NIV)
• or all the green herbs?
• or all of it, including meat and herbs?

Connaissance at the Ancient Hebrew Forum provided a clue: the Hebrew has Kol-remesh. ‘Kol’ means all or every, here refering exclusively to ‘remesh’ which are the moving or creeping things (often translated reptile).

The occurences in the Bible of the word remesh being translated “creeping or moving things” are in: Gen. 1: 25; 6: 7, 20; 7: 8, 23; 9: 3; Deut. 4: 18; Ps. 69: 35; 104: 25; 148: 10; Ezek. 8: 10.

The same root is used in Genesis 1:21 to qualify the “living souls that move in the water.” The word moving certainly is an accurate translation of the Hebrew remesh but it carries a less restrictive meaning than does creeping. “Every moving thing” is therefore a better translation than “every creeping thing.” It includes the fish and solves the puzzle.