Genesis 1:3-5
3 And God said, Let there be light,
and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
You wouldn’t think there would be a lot of controversy about this verse, but there is. The debate revolves around the phrase, and God said.
The reason is that this phrase starts each day of creation. Each day of creation ends with the words and there was evening, and there was morning, the first, second, third, etc. day.
1 For thousands of years, theologians have taught that the first day of creation happened in verse three. People who believe in a young earth (6000 years old) have realized their theory doesn’t work if the first day of creation happens in verse three.
For this reason, some theologians back up the first day of creation to verse 1. The Seventh-day Adventists were some of the first to back up the first day
to include verses 1 and 2. This update of day 1 happened in the late 1800s when Ellen G. White, a co-founder of the SDA, had visions about what occurred during creation.2 This pushing of the first day to include verses 1 and 2 has become pretty much accepted across denominational lines.
Genesis 1:3
And God (אֱלהִים - Elohim) said (אָמַר - amar), Let there be (יְהִ֣י - yehi) light (אוֹר - owr), and there was (וַֽיְהִי - wayhi) light (אוֹר - owr).
The word Elohim - אֱלהִים (Strong’s #H430) is generally translated as God.
Elohim is not a name. Elohim is a common noun, not a proper noun. Clarifying the difference: common nouns are words for types of things, people, and places, such as dog,
professor,
and city.
Common nouns are not capitalized. A common noun is a descriptor in that it describes what something is. Proper nouns are words for specific things, people, and places, such as Max,
Dr. Jenner,
and London
by its name. They are always capitalized.3
The word Elohim can be used a proper or common noun, depending on thentext of the sentence. When used in relation to YHWH, it is used as a proper noun. As a name
Elohim emphasizes God’s creative power and might, including his attributes of justice and rulership.4 The name
Elohim (as used in Genesis 1:1) is a plural noun but is singular in concept. In Hebrew, the plural ending im
indicates a plural ending, just as the letter s
does in English. The plural in Elohim is understood as the plural of fullness; God is the God who really, and in the fullest sense of the word, is God.5
In the context of Genesis chaper one, the word Elohim by itself is used to refer to the true God in an honorific way.6 To describe something in an honorific way is to convey esteem, respect, and honor when referring to a person, in this case, God. In other words, Elohim is being used as a proper noun in this context. Elohim means strength, might, and power(ful).
7 It describes God’s creative power and might. It can also include his attributes of justice and rulership. The word Elohim in the Old Testament can refer to God, angels, or men in positions of rulership.
The word said (Strong’s #H559, pronounced aw-mar) means to speak, say.
The word often refers to what a person is thinking or has thought. In this case, the heart of God is speaking.
An example is Ecclesiastes 3:17, I said (amar) in my heart.
In most cases, however, amar tends to reflect the act of speaking. It is essential to realize that there are two different words in Hebrew for to speak.
The first word is amar, and the second word is debar. Debar has been recognized as a more direct, clear, and forceful speech, whereas amar is more like everyday conversation.8 The other thing to remember is that in Genesis 1, God’s word is creative. God created everything through his words and speech. This use of speech was not necessary, but it was his choice to demonstrate his creative power. He could have thought the universe into existence. He could have willed it to be so, and it would have happened. He could have snapped his fingers, and it would have happened. Instead, he used words that carried divine thoughts, patterns, plans, and designs. God created everything as he envisioned it. In no other religion was creation carried out by the words of the gods, which set Judaism apart from all those other religions.
The phrase let there be, יְהִ֣י - yehi (Strong’s #H1961) is typically translated as let there be, to become or became, will be.
This word (in Hebrew) is a Qal imperfect in a jussive form, which means it is not command, but a desire or a wish.9 Our English translations imply that let there be
is a command. That is not completely accurate. God is really saying; My desire is for …
or I wish for ….
In plain English, the best we can do is say: Let there be.
While the phrase Let there be.
is accurate, it fails to convey the desire of God’s heart. What he is speaking is the desire of his heart. This desire is God’s love in action. His love carries the weight of a command, so his words come to pass. In Genesis 1, yehi declares God’s intention to create something, in this case, light.10
The word for light, אוֹר - owr, (Strong’s #216) is fascinating. As a noun, owr can mean light, illumination, or understanding. As a verb, it often gets translated as fire. In Genesis 1:3, owr is used as a noun. Many people often wonder why God created light three days before he created the sun. One possibility is that since ancient religions usually worshiped the sun as the bringer of light, God’s role as creator of light is stressed and demonstrated to Israel that they must worship the God who created light, rather than the sun.11
There is another possibility of what the phrase let there be light
could mean. That possibility is that the phrase let there be light
is a Hebrew idiom. An idiom is an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as raining cats and dogs for heavy downpour
) or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way).12 The phrase let there be light
could a Hebrew idiom for let there be understanding.
13 Romans 1:20 states, For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
If indeed God said, Let there be understanding,
then from that point forward, all creation would have some understanding that God exists and the creation and everything in it belongs to him. In this sense, owr does not mean illumination of light; it would mean illumination of understanding. Let there be understanding, and there was understanding.
Darkness would, therefore, represent a lack of understanding. This perspective looks at light
from a metaphorical or symbolic point of view. Still, it is worth looking at if for no other reason than it is another perspective that we seldom hear.
The phrase and there was (וַֽיְהִי - wayhi), literally means and it happened
.14 Notice the similarity between יהי - yehi and ויהי - wayhi. The two are the same word, except “wayhi” has an extra letter. Wayhi has the prefix letter ו (waw), which acts like the word and
when placed at the beginning of a word. Wayhi could be translated as and it became.
In English, however, the phrases and it was so/and it came to pass/and there was
are just as accurate and more elegant in structure. While it may seem obvious, wayhi shows the power of Elohim. In other religions, the gods are not all-powerful, but Elohim is. When Elohim speaks, what he says comes to pass or happens. The phrase let there be
tells us what will happen. The concluding phrase and there was
lets us know that God’s words performed the intended action.
Scientists recently discovered something exciting that I would like to share with you. Astronomers know that countless galaxies are composed of innumerable stars that shine light across the Universe. We also know that between these galaxies are clouds of hydrogen and helium that emit specific amounts of light. However, a study led by Juna Kollmeier of the Carnegie Institution For Science found that there is 400% more light in the Universe than can be explained by galaxies and quasars. The paper was published in 2014 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. It’s as if you’re in a big, brightly-lit room, but you look around and see only a few 40-watt lightbulbs,
Kollmeier said in a press release. Where is all that light coming from? It’s missing from our census.
15
What’s missing in their census is God. If they read the book of Genesis, they would know where all that light is coming from. It is the light that God created. God created light before he created the stars, so there is more light in the Universe than they can account for. Once again, science backs up, or supports, the Bible.
Genesis 1:4
And God (אֱלהִים - Elohim) saw (רָאָה - raah) that the light (אוֹר - owr) was good (תוֹב - towb). And God (אֱלהִים - Elohim) separated (בָּדל - badal) the light (אוֹר - owr) from the (בֵּין - bayin) darkness (חשֶׁךְ - chosek).
The word seeing
that occurs in the verse is deliberate. God did not accidentally notice that the light was good. He inspected his creation by looking it over and giving it his approval.
His creation of light was תוֹב - towb; good. The Hebrew word towb (Strong’s H2896) means good, beneficial, pleasant, or superior quality. Most of the definition comes into play when God declared the things he created as good.
Genesis does not explain where the light came from or its source, if any. The inference is that light was everywhere; God illuminated the entire universe.
Verse 4 continues by talking about God dividing and separating the light from the darkness. The word boundary.
You could step from complete light into complete darkness. The implication is that the division
between light and darkness does not have a mixture of semi-darkness or twilight. God divided it into complete opposites, making the light and dark areas obvious.
The Hebrew word בֵּין - bayin (Strong’s #996) is typically translated as from the. The word means between, among, in the midst, and literally means between two things.
18 God badal the light bayin darkness. The word bayin is a word picture of a demarcation, boundary, or barrier between light and darkness. Where one ends, the other starts. God separated the light from the darkness by setting a demarcation (boundary) between the two.
Genesis 1:5
God (אֱלהִים - Elohim) called קָרָא - qara) the light (אוֹר - owr) day (יוֹם - yom), and the darkness (חשֶׁךְ - chosek) he called קָרָא - qara) night (לַיִל - layil). And there was (וַֽיְהִי - wayhi) evening (עָרָב - ereb) and there was (וַֽיְהִי - wayhi) morning (בֹּקָר - boqer), the first (אֶחָד - echad) day (יוֹם - yom).
The word called קָרָא - qara (Strong’s #7121, pronounced kaw-raw) is typically translated as called
or proclaimed.
The meaning of the word is to give someone or something a name.19 In the Old Testament, the act of bestowing a name on someone or something is a demonstration of authority over that person or thing.20 By naming day and night, God is announcing his authority over them. It’s not the sun that controls daylight or darkness; God maintains complete control over his creation. At this point in creation, God is giving things names. While Adam was given the privilege of naming the animal kingdom, God retained the right to provide the initial creation names of his design.
The word day day.
The word day
typically means 24 hours
. Jewish Rabbis traditionally defined a day as a timespan that commenced in the evening, continued through the morning, ending twenty-four hours after it started with the onset of the next nightfall.21 Remember, the sun has not yet been created, so a day
is not how long it took the earth to go around the sun. However, the original audience already knew what a day
was. A day
was a full rotation of the sun. In recording the first 3 day
of creation as days,
the original audience understood a day
of creation to be the same type of day
that they were familiar with. To put this another way, evening and morning were a way of announcing a twenty-four-hour period.
God named the period of darkness night. The Hebrew word לַיִל - layil (Strong’s #H3915) is translated as night. Night
means precisely what we consider it to be: the opposite of day. Verse five introduces us to two new concepts: evening and morning. The word עָרָב - ereb (Strong’s #H6153) is translated as evening, and בֹּקָר - boqer (Strong’s #H1242) is translated as morning. Evening and morning serve as transitions from darkness to light. There would no longer be a jolt
from sudden darkness to sudden light but a smooth transition from one to the other. Evening, which begins at sunset, is the transition from light/day to darkness/night. Morning, which starts at sunrise, transitions from darkness/night to light/day. The combination of an evening and a morning amounts to a full day.
God stated in verse five that the evening and morning comprised the first day. The word אֶחָד - echad (Strong’s #259) can be translated as first or one. In verse five, echad is being used as a cardinal number (i.e., one , two, three, etc.).22 Since echad is expressing a cardinal number, a better translation would be one day
rather than first day.
Verse five expresses the equation that evening + morning = one day. This equation is needed because it differentiates between daylight and evening + morning = yom. The purpose is not to set up what happened on the first day but to define a day. It also sets up the context for the rest of the days
of creation. The days will fit into the solar pattern that the Israelites were familiar with. The difference is that God set up the pattern and would later cause the sun and moon to fit into that pattern. God was establishing his sovereignty over his creation.