Genesis 2:1

Genesis 2:1-4 a. The Seventh Day: (a) The Cessation from Work; (b) The Hallowing of the Day

1. were finished In these verses the repetition of the words "finish," "work," "seventh day," "made," is probably intended to heighten the solemnity connected with the seventh day; see also note on Genesis 1:27, and Introduction, on the characteristics of P.

and all the host of them The word "host" is noteworthy. The Hebrew is ṣâbâ, "army," the plural of which is the word "Sabaoth" (ṣ"bâôth= "hosts") familiar to us in the Te Deum. Here, as applied to the countless forces of the universe, its use is metaphorical. In the ancient world a great army represented the ideal of an organized multitude: and the designation of "host" (ṣâbâ) is often given in the O.T. to the heavenly bodies (e.g. 2 Kings 17:16). The LXX ὁ κόσμος αὐτῶν, = "their order, beauty, or array," is reproduced in the Lat. ornatus eorum= "their splendour," missing the significance of the original. Upon this error of the Vulgate St Thomas Aquinas based his division of the works of Creation into "opera distinctionis" and "opera ornatus."