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The Septuagint 6.1 · 6.1

Men began to multiply on the earth

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Καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα ἤρξαντο οἱ ἄνθρωποι πολλοὶ γίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ θυγατέρες ἐγενήθησαν αὐτοῖς.

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ΚαὶkaìAndἐγένετοegénetoit came to passἡνίκαhēníkawhenἤρξαντοḗrxantobeganοἱhoitheἄνθρωποιánthrōpoimankindπολλοὶpollòimanyγίνεσθαιgínesthaito becomeἐπὶepìonτῆςtêstheγῆςgêsearth,καὶkaìandθυγατέρεςthygatéresdaughtersἐγενήθησανegenēthēsanwere bornαὐτοῖςautoísto them.

The setting

The Flood story opens with Genesis’s own ordinary formula for population growth — the same verb-pair (ἤρξαντο … πολλοὶ γίνεσθαι, “began … to be many”) rendering Hebrew וַיָּחֶלּוּ לָרֹב, the same root (רבה, ravah, “to be many”) used of the blessing “be fruitful and multiply” at 1:28. No miracle or divine agency is stated here, only ordinary increase — and daughters, specifically, born to the growing population, setting up the next verse’s strange turn.

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The Septuagint 6.1 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/septuagint/6.1/