God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
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Genesis 1:16-19 sits inside this longer paragraph.
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Parallel Translations
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God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
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And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Show all 3 translations
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And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars.
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (4)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (25)
- Psalms 136:7-9 (v16) to him who made the great lights; for his loving kindness endures forever: the sun to rule by day; for his loving kindness endures forever;…
- Deuteronomy 4:19 (v16) and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn…
- Psalms 8:3 (vv16–17) When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
- Jeremiah 31:35 (v18) Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea,…
- Psalms 74:16 (v16) The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
Show all 23 cross-references
- Psalms 148:5 (v16) Let them praise Yahweh’s name, for he commanded, and they were created.
- Isaiah 40:26 (v16) Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness…
- Job 38:7 (v16) when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- Psalms 148:3 (v16) Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you shining stars!
- Psalms 19:6 (vv16, 18) His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends. There is nothing hidden from its heat.
- Isaiah 13:10 (v16) For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not…
- Isaiah 45:7 (v16) I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things.
- Habakkuk 3:11 (v16) The sun and moon stood still in the sky, at the light of your arrows as they went, at the shining of your glittering spear.
- Matthew 27:45 (v16) Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
- 1 Corinthians 15:41 (v16) There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
- Revelation 16:8-9 (v16) The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. People were scorched with great heat, and…
- Job 31:26 (v16) if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,
- Isaiah 24:23 (v16) Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and glory will be…
- Joshua 10:12-14 (v16) Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. He said in the sight of Israel,…
- Psalms 8:1 (v17) Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens!
- Matthew 24:29 (v16) But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the…
- Revelation 21:23 (v16) The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
- Job 38:12 (v17) “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,
23 distinct cross-references across this passage (25 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v16 16. The greater light I have said, that Moses…
16. The greater light I have said, that Moses does not here subtilely descant, as a philosopher, on the secrets of nature, as may be seen in these words. First, he assigns a place in the expanse of heaven to the planets and stars; but astronomers make a distinction of spheres, and, at the same time, teach that the fixed stars have their proper place in the firmament. Moses makes two great luminaries; but astronomers prove, by conclusive reasons that the star of Saturn, which on account of its great distance, appears the least of all, is greater than the moon. Here lies the difference; Moses wrote in a popular style things which without instruction, all ordinary persons, endued with common sense, are able to understand; but astronomers investigate with great labor whatever the sagacity of the human mind can comprehend. Nevertheless, this study is not to be reprobated, nor this science to be condemned, because some frantic persons are wont boldly to reject whatever is unknown to them. For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also very useful to be known: it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the admirable wisdom of God. Wherefore, as ingenious men are to be honored who have expended useful labor on this subject, so they who have leisure and capacity ought not to neglect this kind of exercise. Nor did Moses truly wish to withdraw us from this pursuit in omitting such things as are peculiar to the art; but because he was ordained a teacher as well of the unlearned and rude as of the learned, he could not otherwise fulfill his office than by descending to this grosser method of instruction. Had he spoken of things generally unknown, the uneducated might have pleaded in excuse that such subjects were beyond their capacity. Lastly since the Spirit of God here opens a common school for all, it is not surprising that he should chiefly choose those subjects which would be intelligible to all. If the astronomer inquires respecting the actual dimensions of the stars, he will find the moon to be less than Saturn; but this is something abstruse, for to the sight it appears differently. Moses, therefore, rather adapts his discourse to common usage. For since the Lord stretches forth, as it were, his hand to us in causing us to enjoy the brightness of the sun and moon, how great would be our ingratitude were we to close our eyes against our own experience? There is therefore no reason why janglers should deride the unskilfulness of Moses in making the moon the second luminary; for he does not call us up into heaven, he only proposes things which lie open before our eyes. Let the astronomers possess their more exalted knowledge; but, in the meantime, they who perceive by the moon the splendor of night, are convicted by its use of perverse ingratitude unless they acknowledge the beneficence of God.
To rule He does not ascribe such dominion to the sun and moon as shall, in the least degree, diminish the power of God; but because the sun, in half the circuit of heaven, governs the day, and the moon the night, by turns; he therefore assigns to them a kind of government. Yet let us remember, that it is such a government as implies that the sun is still a servant, and the moon a handmaid. In the meantime, we dismiss the reverie of Plato who ascribes reason and intelligence to the stars. Let us be content with this simple exposition, that God governs the days and nights by the ministry of the sun and moon, because he has them as his charioteers to convey light suited to the season.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v16 To give it sufficient light, as instruments appointed for…
To give it sufficient light, as instruments appointed for the same, to serve to man’s use.
To wit, the Sun and the Moon, and here he speaketh, as man judgeth by his eye: for else the Moon is less than the planet Saturn.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v16 Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the…
Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.
Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
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Ver. 16,17. He made also the stars.] To be receptacles of that first light, whence they are called "stars of light," {Psa 148:3} and to work upon inferior bodies, which they do by their motion, light, and influence, { efficiendo imbres, ventos, grandines, procellas, sudum, &c., } by causing foul or fair weather, as God appoints it. Stars are the storehouses of God’s good treasure, which he openeth to our profit. {Deu 28:12} By their influence they make a scatter of riches upon the earth, which good men gather, and muckworms scramble for. Every star is like a purse of gold, out of which God throws down riches and plenteousness into the earth. "The heavens" also are "garnished" by them; {Job 26:13} they are, as it were, the spangled curtain of the bridegroom’s chamber, the glorious and glittering rough-cast of his heavenly palace, the utmost court of it, at least, from the which they twinkle to us, and teach us to remember our and their Creator, who in them makes himself visible, nay "palpable" {ψηλφησειαν, Act 17:27} His wisdom, power, justice, and goodness are lined out unto us in the brows of the firmament; the countenance whereof we are bound to mark, and to discern the face of the heavens, which therefore are somewhere compared to a scroll that is written. "The heavens," those catholic preachers, "declare the glory of God," &c.; "their line," saith David; {Psa 19:1; קילם, Hab 3:3} "their voice," saith Paul, citing the same text {φηογγος, Rom 10:18} is gone out throughout all the earth; they are real postils of his divinity. These, nay, far meaner creatures, teach us, as Balaam’s ass did that mad prophet; {2Pe 2:16} to this school are we now put back, as idle truants to their A B C. Only let us not, as children, look most on the babies on the backside of our books; gaze not, as they do, on the gilded leaves and covers, never looking to our lessons; but as travellers in a foreign country, observe and make use of everything, not content with the natural use of the creature, as brute beasts, but mark how every creature reads us a divinity lecture, from the highest angel to the lowest worm.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Two great lights, or, enlighteners, as the word properly…
Two great lights, or, enlighteners, as the word properly signifies. The sun, which is really and considerably greater than the moon, or any of the stars, or the whole earth. And the moon, called here the lesser light, is greater than any of the stars, not really, but in appearance, and in clearness and light, in respect of which it is called great in this place, and both are much greater in efficacy and use than any of the stars.
To rule the day; either,
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1. To influence the earth and its fruits with heat or moisture, and to govern men’s actions and affairs, which commonly are transacted by day; for the word day is sometimes put metonymically for the events of the day, as Pro 27:1; 1Co 3:13. Or,
2. To regulate and manage the day; by its rise to begin it, by its gradual progress to carry it on, even to the mid-day, and by its declination and setting to impair and end it. Which seems most probable, because the moon is in like manner said to rule the night, which is meant of the time, and not of the actions or events of the night.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–19 And God made two great lights,.... This was his…
And God made two great lights,.... This was his own work which he himself did, and not by another; and may be particularly observed to express the folly of idolaters in worshipping these luminaries which were the creations of God, and were placed by him in the heaven to serve some purposes on earth beneficial to men, but not to be worshipped. These two "great lights" are the sun and the moon; and they may well be called great, especially the former, for the diameter of the sun is reckoned to be about eight hundred thousand miles. According to Mr. Derham (i) its apparent diameter is computed at 822,145 English miles, its ambit at 2,582,873 miles, and its solid contents at 290,971,000,000,000,000: the lowest account makes the sun a hundred thousand times bigger than the earth; and according to Sir Isaac Newton it is 900,000 bigger. The moon's diameter is to that of the earth is about twenty seven per cent, or 2175 miles, its surface contains fourteen hundred thousand square miles (k): it is called great, not on account of its corporeal quantity, for it is the least of all the planets excepting Mercury, but because of its quality, as a light, it reflecting more light upon the earth than any besides the sun,
The greater light to rule the day: not to rule men, though the heathens have worshipped it under the names of Molech and Baal, which signify king and lord, as if it was their lord and king to whom they were to pay homage; but to rule the day, to preside over it, to make it, give light in it, and continue it to its proper length; and in which it rules alone, the moon, nor any of the other planets then appearing: this is called the "greater" light, in comparison of the moon, not only with respect to its body or substance, but on account of its light, which is far greater and stronger than that of the moon; and which indeed receives its light from it, the moon being, as is generally said, an opaque body:
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and the lesser light to rule the night; to give light then, though in a fainter, dimmer way, by reflecting it from the sun; and it rules alone, the sun being absent from the earth, and is of great use to travellers and sailors; it is called the lesser light, in comparison of the sun. Astronomers are of opinion, as Calmet (l) observes, that it is about fifty two times smaller than the earth, and four thousand one hundred and fifty times smaller than the sun; but these proportions are otherwise determined by the generality of modern astronomers: however, they all agree that the moon is abundantly less than the sun; and that it is as a light, we all know,
He made the stars also; to rule by night, Psa 136:9 not only the planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, but the vast numbers of stars with which the heavens are bespangled, and which reflect some degree of light upon the earth; with the several constellations, some of which the Scriptures speak of, as Arcturus, Orion, Pleiades, and the chambers of the south, Job 9:9, Job 38:31 though some restrain this to the five planets only. Ed. Contrast the foolishness of modern cosmology with the writings of the early church father, Theophilus when he states (j):
On the fourth day the luminaries came into existence. Since God has foreknowledge, he understood the nonsense of the foolish philosophers who were going to say that the things produced on earth came from the stars, so that they might set God aside. In order therefore that the truth might be demonstrated, plants and seeds came into existence before stars. For what comes into existence later cannot cause what is prior to it.''
(i) Astro-Theology, B. 1. c. 2. & B. 6. c. 2. (j) Cited from Impact 251. ICR "Acts and Facts" (May 1994); Theophilus, "To Autolycus" 2. 4, Oxford Early Christian Texts, as cited in Louis Lavalle, "The Early Church Defended Creation Science" Impact 160. ICR "Acts and Facts" (October 1986): ii. (k) Chambers's Dictionary in the word "Moon". (l) Dictionary in the word "Moon".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v16 Verse 16. And God made two great lights] Moses…
Verse 16. And God made two great lights] Moses speaks of the sun and moon here, not according to their bulk or solid contents, but according to the proportion of light they shed on the earth. The expression has been cavilled at by some who are as devoid of mental capacity as of candour. "The moon," say they, "is not a great body; on the contrary, it is the very smallest in our system." Well, and has Moses said the contrary? He has said it is a great LIGHT; had he said otherwise he had not spoken the truth. It is, in reference to the earth, next to the sun himself, the greatest light in the solar system; and so true is it that the moon is a great light, that it affords more light to the earth than all the planets in the solar system, and all the innumerable stars in the vault of heaven, put together. It is worthy of remark that on the fourth day of the creation the sun was formed, and then "first tried his beams athwart the gloom profound;" and that at the conclusion of the fourth millenary from the creation, according to the Hebrew, the Sun of righteousness shone upon the world, as deeply sunk in that mental darkness produced by sin as the ancient world was, while teeming darkness held the dominion, till the sun was created as the dispenser of light. What would the natural world be without the sun? A howling waste, in which neither animal nor vegetable life could possibly be sustained. And what would the moral world be without Jesus Christ, and the light of his word and Spirit? Just what those parts of it now are where his light has not yet shone: "dark places of the earth, filled with the habitations of cruelty," where error prevails without end, and superstition, engendering false hopes and false fears, degrades and debases the mind of man.
Many have supposed that the days of the creation answer to so many thousands of years; and that as God created all in six days, and rested the seventh, so the world shall last six thousand years, and the seventh shall be the eternal rest that remains for the people of God. To this conclusion they have been led by these words of the apostle, 2Pe 3:8: One day is with the Lord as a thousand years; and a thousand years as one day. Secret things belong to God; those that are revealed to us and our children.
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He made the stars also.] Or rather, He made the lesser light, with the stars, to rule the night. See Claudlan de Raptu PROSER., lib. ii., v. 44.
Hic Hyperionis solem de semine nasci
Fecerat, et pariter lunam, sed dispare forma,
Aurorae noctisque duces.
From famed Hyperion did he cause to rise
The sun, and placed the moon amid the skies,
With splendour robed, but far unequal light,
The radiant leaders of the day and night.
OF THE SUN
On the nature of the sun there have been various conjectures. It was long thought that he was a vast globe of fire 1,384,462 times larger than the earth, and that he was continually emitting from his body innumerable millions of fiery particles, which, being extremely divided, answered for the purpose of light and heat without occasioning any ignition or burning, except when collected in the focus of a convex lens or burning glass. Against this opinion, however, many serious and weighty objections have been made; and it has been so pressed with difficulties that philosophers have been obliged to look for a theory less repugnant to nature and probability. Dr. Herschel's discoveries by means of his immensely magnifying telescopes, have, by the general consent of philosophers, added a new habitable world to our system, which is the SUN. Without stopping to enter into detail, which would be improper here, it is sufficient to say that these discoveries tend to prove that what we call the sun is only the atmosphere of that luminary; "that this atmosphere consists of various elastic fluids that are more or less lucid and transparent; that as the clouds belonging to our earth are probably decompositions of some of the elastic fluids belonging to the atmosphere itself, so we may suppose that in the vast atmosphere of the sun, similar decompositions may take place, but with this difference, that the decompositions of the elastic fluids of the sun are of a phosphoric nature, and are attended by lucid appearances, by giving out light." The body of the sun he considers as hidden generally from us by means of this luminous atmosphere, but what are called the maculae or spots on the sun are real openings in this atmosphere, through which the opaque body of the sun becomes visible; that this atmosphere itself is not fiery nor hot, but is the instrument which God designed to act on the caloric or latent heat; and that heat is only produced by the solar light acting upon and combining with the caloric or matter of fire contained in the air, and other substances which are heated by it. This ingenious theory is supported by many plausible reasons and illustrations, which may be seen in the paper he read before the Royal Society. On this subject See Clarke on Ge 1:3.
OF THE MOON
There is scarcely any doubt now remaining in the philosophical world that the moon is a habitable globe. The most accurate observations that have been made with the most powerful telescopes have confirmed the opinion. The moon seems, in almost every respect, to be a body similar to our earth; to have its surface diversified by hill and dale, mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and seas. And there is the fullest evidence that our earth serves as a moon to the moon herself, differing only in this, that as the earth's surface is thirteen times larger than the moon's, so the moon receives from the earth a light thirteen times greater in splendour than that which she imparts to us; and by a very correct analogy we are led to infer that all the planets and their satellites, or attendant moons, are inhabited, for matter seems only to exist for the sake of intelligent beings.
OF THE STARS
The STARS in general are considered to be suns, similar to that in our system, each having an appropriate number of planets moving round it; and, as these stars are innumerable, consequently there are innumerable worlds, all dependent on the power, protection, and providence of God. Where the stars are in great abundance, Dr. Herschel supposes they form primaries and secondaries, i.e., suns revolving about suns, as planets revolve about the sun in our system. He considers that this must be the case in what is called the milky way, the stars being there in prodigious quantity. Of this he gives the following proof: On August 22, 1792, he found that in forty-one minutes of time not less than 258,000 stars had passed through the field of view in his telescope. What must God be, who has made, governs, and supports so many worlds! For the magnitudes, distances, revolutions, &c., of the sun, moon, planets, and their satellites, see the preceding TABLES. See Clarke on Ge 1:1.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v16 Gen 1:16. Two great lights — Or enlighteners, מארת,…
Gen 1:16. Two great lights — Or enlighteners, מארת, meoroth, distinguishable from all the rest, for their beauty and use. Moses terms the moon a great light, only according to its appearance, and the use it is of to us, and not according to the strictness of philosophy. For there is abundant proof that most of the stars are much greater than the moon; although their immense distance makes them appear so much smaller to us. The greater light — Not only greater, as it appears to us, but incomparably greater in itself; being abundantly larger even than the earth; to rule the day — By its rise and gradual ascension in the heavens, to cause and increase the light and heat of the day; and by its declining and setting to impair and end the same: or to direct men in their actions and affairs during the day. To rule the night — To measure the hours of it, and give some, though a lesser light. “The best and most honourable way of ruling,” says Henry, “is by giving light and doing good.” Psa 136:9, and Jer 31:35, the stars are mentioned as being joined with the moon in ruling the night.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v16 Two great lights. God created on the first day…
Two great lights. God created on the first day light, which being moved from east to west, by its rising and setting made morning and evening. But on the fourth day he ordered and distributed this light, and made the sun, moon, and stars. The moon, though much less than the stars, is here called a great light, from its giving a far greater light to earth than any of them. (Challoner) --- To rule and adorn, for nothing appears so glorious as the sun and moon. (Menochius) --- Many have represented the stars, as well as the sun and moon, to be animated. Ecclesiastes xvi, speaking of the sun says, the spirit goeth forward surveying all places: and in Esdras ix. 6, the Levites address God, Thou hast made heaven and all the host thereof; and thou givest life to all these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee. St. Augustine Ench. and others, consider this question as not pertaining to faith. See Spencer in Origen, contra Cels. v. (Calmet) --- Whether the stars be the suns of other worlds, and whether the moon, &c. be inhabited, philosophers dispute, without being able to come to any certain conclusion: for God has delivered the world to their consideration for dispute, so that man cannot find out the work which God hath made from the beginning to the end, Ecclesiastes. iii. 11. If we must frequently confess our ignorance concerning the things which surround us, how shall we pretend to dive into the designs of God, or subject the mysteries of faith to our feeble reason? If we think the Scriptures really contradict the systems of philosophers, ought we to pay greater deference to the latter, than to the unerring word of God? But we must remember, that the sacred writings were given to instruct us in the way to heaven, and not to unfold to us the systems of natural history; and hence God generally addresses us in a manner best suited to our conceptions, and speaks of nature as it appears to the generality of mankind. At the same time, we may confidently asset, that the Scriptures never assert what is false. If we judge, with the vulgar, that the sun, moon, and stars are no larger than they appear to our naked eye, we shall still have sufficient reason to admire the works of God; but, if we are enabled to discover that the sun’s diameter, for example, is 763 thousand miles, and its distance from our earth about 95 million miles, and the fixed stars (as they are called, though probably all in motion) much more remote, what astonishment must fill our breast! Our understanding is bewildered in the unfathomable abyss, in the unbounded expanse, even of the visible creation. --- Sirius, the nearest to us of all the fixed stars, is supposed to be 400,000 times the distance from the sun that our earth is, or 38 millions of millions of miles. Light, passing at the rate of twelve millions of miles every minute, would be nearly 3,000 years in coming to us from the remotest star in our stratum, beyond which are others immensely distant, which it would require about 40,000 years to reach, even with the same velocity. Who shall not then admire thy works and fear thee, O King of ages! (Walker.) --- Geog. justly remarks, "we are lost in wonder when we attempt to comprehend either the vastness or minuteness of creation. Philosophers think it possible for the universe to be reduced to the smallest size, to an atom, merely by filling up the pores;" and the reason they allege is, "because we know not the real structure of bodies." Shall any one then pretend to wisdom, and still call in question the mysteries of faith, transubstantiation, &c., when the most learned confess they cannot fully comprehend the nature even of a grain of sand? While on the one hand some assert, that all the world may be reduced to this compass; others say, a grain of sand may be divided in infinitum! (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v16 two great lights--In consequence of the day being reckoned…
two great lights--In consequence of the day being reckoned as commencing at sunset--the moon, which would be seen first in the horizon, would appear "a great light," compared with the little twinkling stars; while its pale benign radiance would be eclipsed by the dazzling splendor of the sun; when his resplendent orb rose in the morning and gradually attained its meridian blaze of glory, it would appear "the greater light" that ruled the day. Both these lights may be said to be "made" on the fourth day--not created, indeed, for it is a different word that is here used, but constituted, appointed to the important and necessary office of serving as luminaries to the world, and regulating by their motions and their influence the progress and divisions of time.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v16 16. Two great lights — This designation of the…
16. Two great lights — This designation of the sun and moon is of itself sufficient to show that the work of the fourth day is phenomenal and popular, not scientific. We know that the moon is but the small satellite of a relatively small planet, and a mere atom as compared with the magnitude of some of the stars. But to man it is one of the two great lightbearers.
He made the stars also — The Hebrew is simply, and the stars. That is, they, too, were made and placed in the heavenly expanse. They now first appeared above the newly elevated land where man was about to be created.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–17 16. And God made, &c.] The work of creation…
16. And God made, &c.] The work of creation on the fourth day is twofold. In Gen_1:16 God is said to make the sun, the moon, and the stars; in Gen_1:17 He is said to set them in their place.
It is noticeable that, although the “greater” and the “lesser lights” are here mentioned, the names of “sun” and “moon” are omitted: possibly in order to avoid reference by name to heavenly bodies whose worship was a source of idolatrous superstition, from the peril of which Israel was not free.
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to rule] This expression assigns to the sun and moon a kind of quasi-personal dominion over the realms of day and night. Cf. Job_38:33, “Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?” Possibly the expression “rule” may be a survival of an earlier stage in the Hebrew cosmogony, in which the sun and moon received some kind of personification. At least, the word is noticeable in a context singularly tree from metaphor.
he made the stars also] A translation must fail to do justice to, the abruptness of the original, which literally runs, “and the stars.” The brevity of this clause, together with the absence of any further definition of the function of “the stars” as distinguished from “the greater lights,” is very noteworthy. It may possibly indicate a necessary abbreviation, in order to remove some older features of the cosmogony which conflicted with the pure monotheism of Israel.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v16 (16) He made the stars also.—The Hebrew is, God…
(16) He made the stars also.—The Hebrew is, God made two great lights . . . to rule the night; and also the stars. Though the word “also” carries back “the stars” to the verb “made,” yet its repetition in our version makes it seem as if the meaning was that God now created the stars; whereas the real sense is that the stars were to rule the night equally with the moon. But besides this, there was no place where the stars—by which the planets are chiefly meant—could be so well mentioned as here. Two of them, Venus and Mercury, were formed somewhere between the first and the fourth day; and absolutely it was not till this day that our solar system, consisting of a central sun and the planets, with their attendant satellites, was complete. To introduce the idea of the fixed stars is unreasonable, for it is the planets which, by becoming in their turns morning and evening stars, rule the night; though the fixed stars indicate the seasons of the year. The true meaning, then, is that at the end of the fourth day the distribution of land and water, the state of the atmosphere, the alternation of day and night, of seasons and years, and the astronomical relations of the sun, moon, and planets (with the stars) to the earth were all settled and fixed, much as they are at present. And to this geology bears witness. Existing causes amply suffice to account for all changes that have taken place on our globe since the day when animal life first appeared upon the earth.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19 And God made two great lights. Perhaps no part…
And God made two great lights. Perhaps no part of the material universe more irresistibly demands a supreme Intelligence as its only proper origin and cause. "Elegantissima haecce solis, planetarum et cometarum compages non nisi consilio et domino entis intelligentis et potentis oriri potuit" (Newton, "Principia," lib. 3. sub fin. Ed. of Le Seur and Jacquier, vol. 2. p. 199). The greater light to rule (literally, to make like; hence to judge; then to rule. Mashal; cf. basileuw Gesenins) the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. The greater light is obviously the sun, which is sometimes denominated chammah, the warm" (Psa_19:7; Isa_30:26) sometimes there, "the glistering"; (Job_9:7) but usually shemesh, "the minister. (Deu_4:19 Deu_33:14) Here it is described by its bulk or magnitude, which is larger than that of the moon, the second of the two luminaries, which is also spoken of as great relatively to the stars, which, though in reality immensely exceeding it in size, yet appear like little bails of light (kokhavim) bestudding the blue canopy of night, and are so depicted the Biblical narrative being geocentric and phenomenal, not heliocentric or scientific. How the work of this day was effected does not fall within the writer"s scope to declare, the precise object of revelation being to teach not astronomy, or any other merely human gnosis, but religion. Accepting, however, the guidance of physical astronomy, we may imagine that the cosmical light of day one, which had up to this point continued either encompassing our globe like a luminous atmosphere, or existing at a distance from it, but in the plane of the earth"s orbit, was now, if in the first of these positions, gradually broken up, doubtless through the shrinking of the earth"s mass and the consequent lessening of its power Of attraction, and slowly drawn off towards, and finally concentrated, as a photosphere round the sun, which was thereby constituted chief luminary or "lightholder" the system, the moon and planets becoming, as a necessary consequence, "light-holders" in the secondary sense of "light-reflectors." It is interesting to note that some such explanation as this appears to have suggested itself to Willet, who wrote before the birth of Newton, and at a time when solar physics and spectrum analysis were things of the remote future. It m not unlike, says he, "but that this light (of the first day), after the creation of the celestial bodies, might be drawn upward and have his reflection upon the beame of the sunne and of other starres" And again, "Whereas the light created the first day is called or, but the starres (meaning the heavenly bodies) are called meoroth, as of the light, hence it may appear that these lightsome (i.e. luminous) bodies were made the receptacles of that light thou created, which was now increased and united to these lights" ("Hexapla," vers. 3, 14, London, 1632); an explanation which, though certainly hypothetical, must be regarded as much more in accordance with the requirements of the sacred text than that which discovers in the making of the lights only a further dissipation of terrestrial mists so as to admit not the light-bringing beams of the celestial bodies alone, but the forms of those shining orbs themselves ("Speaker"s Commentary"). He made the stars also. Though the stars are introduced solely because of their relation to the earth as dispensers of light, and no account is taken of their constitution as suns and planets, it is admissible to entertain the opinion that, in their case, as in that of the chief luminary of our tellurian heavens, the process of "sun" making reached its culmination on the fourth day. Perhaps the chief reason for their parenthetical introduction in this place was to guard against the notion that there were any luminaries which were not the work of Elohim, and in particular to prevent the Hebrews, for whom the work was written, from yielding to the heathen practices of star-gazing and star-worship. "The superstition of reading the destiny of man in the stars never took root among the Israelites; astrology is excluded by the first principle of Mosaism the belief in one all-ruling God, who is subject to no necessity, no fate, no other will. Jeremiah warns the Hebrews not to be afraid of the "signs of heaven," before which the heathen tremble in vain terror; (Jer_10:2) and Isaiah speaks with taunting irony against the astrologers, stargazers, and monthly prognosticators, in whose counsel it is folly and wickedness to rely. (Isa_47:13) But the Israelites had not moral strength enough to resist the example of star-worship in general; they could not keep aloof from an aberration which formed the very focus of the principal Eastern religions; they yielded to that tempting influence, and ignominious incense rose profusely in honor of the sun and the hosts of heaven (Jer_19:13; Eze_8:16; Zep_1:5 @/RAPC Wis 13:2) (Kalisch)
Ver. 16.
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The celestial luminaries.
I Display the DIVINE WISDOM. "The heavens declare the glory of God". (Psa_19:1) M. Comte believed they declared no other glory than that of Hipparchus, Kepler, Newton, and their successors. Newton agreed with the Hebrew poet (vid. Expos. on ver. 16). The astronomical argument in behalf of theism has always been impressive, if not absolutely conclusive. Certainly, granting the Divine existence, nowhere does God"s glory shine out more conspicuously; and perhaps the attribute which most imperiously arrests attention is that of wisdom. This would seem to be the aspect of the Divine glory which a contemplation of the midnight heavens discovered to the writer of Psalm 104. (vid. ver. 24, which is introduced after a poetic version of the fourth day"s work) and of Psalm 136. (vid. ver. 7 in the same connection; cf. (Pro_3:19 Pro_8:27; Jer_51:15) Many things about the orbs of heaven evince their Creator"s wisdom: these specially
1. Their formation, as explained by the highly credible teachings of physical astronomy.
2. Their varieties consisting of sun, moon, planets, comets, nebulas.
3. Their motions: in elliptical and parabolic orbits.
4. Their dispositions: the suns, moons, and planets in systems; the stars in constellations, clusters, galaxies.
II Attest the DIVINE GOODNESS. Displayed chiefly by the threefold purpose the celestial orbs were designed to serve:
1. To give light upon the earth. Even the stars could scarcely be dispensed with without a sense of loss. Feeble as their light is, owing to their immense distance from the earth, they are yet invaluable to voyagers and travelers. (Act_27:20) Still less could the moons light, so pale and silvery in its whiteness, be spared. The night without its chaste beams would be shrouded in thick gloom, while with them an air of cheerfulness is imparted to the darkened earth. And, of course, least of all could the sun be wanted (for "The Value of Light" rid. p. 13).
2. To distinguish day and night. The beneficence of this arrangement appears by reflecting on the inconvenience of either of the other two alternatives, perpetual day and perpetual night. The disadvantages of the latter have been indicated; those of the former are scarcely less numerous. The alternation of darkness
(1) Introduces variety in nature, which is always pleasing. Continuous day would be in danger of becoming monotonous, at least in this mundane world, if not in the celestial (Isa_60:20; Rev_22:5)
(2) Meets the necessities of creature life, by supplying constantly-recurring periods of repose, which are eminently beneficial for the growth of plants, animals, and man. Vegetable sleep is that relaxation of the vital processes which is indicated by the folding together and drooping of the leaves as night approaches" (Leo Grindon, "Life: its Nature," &c., p. 306). The animal tribes generally, with the exception of the wild beasts, ; (Psa_104:20) seek repose with the shades of evening. And man, without the recuperative slumber which darkness brings, would speedily exhaust his energies.
(3) Solemnizes the mind of man, by suggesting thoughts of his frailty, of his end in the sleep of death, but also of his resurrection to the light of a better morning.
3. To mark times and seasons. That the different seasons of the year are somehow connected with the celestial bodies is perhaps all that the Mosaic narrative can be made to teach. But we know them to be dependent on the earth"s revolution round the sun. And the fact that God has so arranged the earth"s relation to the sun as to produce these seasons is a signal proof of the Divine goodness. Another is that God has so fixed and determined their movements as to enable man to measure time by their means. Without the help of sun, moon, and stars chronology would be impossible.
III Proclaim the DIVINE POWER. More than any other science, astronomy enables us to realize the physical omnipotence of the Deity. Imagination becomes bewildered by the effort to represent the quantity of force required to propel a globe like our earth through the depths of splice at the immense velocity of 65, 000 miles an hour. What, then, must be the strength of that arm which, in addition, hurls Jupiter, equal in weight to 1400 earths, along his orbit with a velocity of 29, 000 miles an hour? And not Jupiter alone, but suns immensely greater, at rates of motion that transcend conception. Well said Job. (Gen_26:14) Yet, perhaps, the Divine power is as much evinced by the perpetuation of these celestial masses and movements as by their first production. Not only has God made the sidereal firmament, with its stupendous globes and amazing velocities, but he has so established them that since the beginning they have kept on their mystic paths without rebellion and without confusion. (Psa_147:5)
IV Reflect the DIVINE BEAUTY. Perhaps glory is the better word. The counterpart of glory in the Creator is beauty in the creature. The celestial luminaries were approved as good, doubtless, for their uses, but likewise for themselves, as being of incomparable splendor. "God hath made everything beautiful in his time". (Ecc_3:11) Nothing that God does make can be otherwise than beautiful; and by their splendor, their order, their unity, they seem to mirror forth the majesty, and purity, and oneness of him to whom they owe their being.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv16–17 greater light
greater light
The "greater light" is a type of Christ, the "Sun of righteousness" Mal 4:2. He will take this character at His second advent. Morally the world is now in the state between; Gen 1:3-16; Eph 6:12; Act 26:18; 1Pe 2:9. The sun is not seen, but there is light. Christ is that light Joh 1:4; Joh 1:5; Joh 1:9 but "shineth in darkness," comprehended only by faith. As "Son of righteousness" He will dispel all darkness. Dispensationally the Church is in place as the "lesser light," the moon, reflecting the light of the unseen sun. The stars Gen 1:16 are individual believers who are "lights"; Php 2:15; Php 2:16; Joh 1:5.
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A type is a divinely purposed illustration of some truth. It may be:
(1) a person Rom 5:14
(2) an event 1Co 10:11
(3) a thing Heb 10:20
(4) an institution Heb 9:11
(5) a ceremonial 1Co 5:7
Types occur most frequently in the Pentateuch, but are found, more sparingly, elsewhere. The antitype, or fulfilment of the type, is found, usually, in the New Testament.
made The word does not imply a creative act; vs. Gen 1:14-18 are declarative of function merely.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 God made the two great lights
God made the two great lights
"In this way God made the two great lights." This sentence explains what God did when he spoke.
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the two great lights
"the two large lights" or "the two bright lights." The two great lights are the sun and the moon.
to rule the day
The lights that controlled the day are spoken of as if they were a human ruler that controlled what people do. AT: "to direct the daytime as a ruler directs a group of people" or "to mark the times of the day" (See: Personification and Metaphor)
day
This refers only to the daylight hours.
the lesser light
"the smaller light" or "the dimmer light"
in the sky
"in the heavens" or "in the open space of the sky"
to divide the light from the darkness
"to separate the light from the darkness" or "to make it light at one time and dark at another." See how you translated this in Genesis 1:4.
God saw that it was good
Here "it" refers to the sun, moon, and stars. See how you translated this in Genesis 1:4.
evening and morning
This refers to the whole day. The writer speaks of the whole day as if it were these two parts. In the Jewish culture, a day begins when the sun sets. See how you translated this in Genesis 1:5. (See: Merism)
the fourth day
This refers to the fourth day that the universe existed. See how you translated "the first day" in Genesis 1:5 and decide if you should translate this the same way.
translationWords
God
good
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 1:16 In the surrounding pagan cultures, the two great…
1:16 In the surrounding pagan cultures, the two great lights were worshiped as deities, but in Genesis they serve God and humanity (see Ps 136:7-9; Jer 31:35). The sun and moon are not named; they are simply called the larger one and the smaller one. Not including their names may have reminded Israel that they were not gods. • govern: Cp. 1:26, 28; Ps 136:9. • the stars: The starry heavens testify to God’s creative power as they proclaim his glory (Pss 19:1; 148:3). They do not predict the future, as Israel’s neighbors believed (see Jer 10:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.