BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia): וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר יֹ֥ום אֶחָֽד
ESV (English Standard Version): And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
NLT (New Living Translation): And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
My English translation of BHS: And it was evening and it was morning; day one.
LXX (Septuagint): Καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα, καὶ ἐγένετο πρωῒ, ἡμέρα μία.
BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint): and there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning, day one.
OSB (Orthodox Study Bible): and there was evening and morning, one day.
My English translation of LXX: And it was evening and it was morning; day one.
VUL (Latin Vulgate): factumque est vespere et mane dies unus
DRB (Douay Rheims Bible): and there was evening and morning one day
NAB: (New American Bible): Thus evening came, and morning followed—the first day.
My English translation of the Vulgate: And it was evening and morning; day one.
English Translations with variant readings:
KJV1 (King James Version 1900) And the evening and the morning were the first day.
CEV: Evening came and then morning—that was the first day.
GNB: Evening passed and morning came—that was the first day
ISV: The twilight and the dawn were day one.
NCV: Evening passed, and morning came. This was the first day.
Observations & Discussions
- It appears that this creation of light contrasted with darkness marks the first day of the world. It has been suggested that it was also the first day of the week. It will be followed by five more days of creative activity to conclude with the 7th day, a day of rest, the Sabbath. The old Matthew Henry commentary observes this: “The darkness of the evening was before the light of the morning, that it might serve for a foil to it, to set it off, and make it shine the brighter. This was not only the first day of the world, but the first day of the week. I observe it to the honour of that day, because the new world began on the first day of the week likewise, in the resurrection of Christ, as the light of the world, early in the morning. [1] Maybe on Sunday we don’t celebrate the end of something but the beginning of something! Also the Wycliffe Commentary says, “In the book of Genesis evening always precedes morning. The creation of light ended the reign of darkness and brought on the first day.”[2]
CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): And it was evening and it was morning: Day One!
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 4.
[2] Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary: Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), Ge 1:5.