ESV Reformation Study Bible – Gen 1:3–31
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Gen 1:3–31

1:3–31 The creation progresses over two triads of days looking back respectively to “without form and void” of v. 2:

Day 1—Light (v. 3)

Day 4—Luminaries (v. 14)

Day 2—Sky/water (v. 6)

Day 5—Fish/fowl (v. 21)

Day 3—Land, vegetation (vv. 9–11)

Day 6—Animals and humans (vv. 24–30)

In the first triad God gives the earth form by separating the light of day from the darkness of night, the sea below from the clouds above, and the dry land with vegetation from the sea; in the second He fills these realms. Each triad, moving from sky to earth, progresses from a single creative act (vv. 3–5, 14–19) to one creative act with two aspects (vv. 6–8, 20–23), to two separate creative acts, each culminating in the earth bringing forth (vv. 9–13, 24–31). The pattern of each day is similar: an announcement (“God said”); a command (“let there be”); a report (“and it was so”); an evaluation (“it was good”); and a chronological framework (e.g., “the first day”).