Darby Bible
Genesis 1:16
16And 1God made the two great lights, the great light to rule the day, and the small light to rule the night, — and the stars.
Genesis 1:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then 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.
Context of Genesis 1:16
14And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens, to give light on the earth. And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the great light to rule the day, and the small light to rule the night, — and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light on the earth, 18and to rule during the day and during the night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Read all of Genesis 1Genesis 1:16 word by word
וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־שְׁנֵ֥י הַמְּאֹרֹ֖ת הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים אֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַגָּדֹל֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַיּ֔וֹם וְאֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַקָּטֹן֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַלַּ֔יְלָה וְאֵ֖ת הַכּוֹכָבִֽים׃Read the interlinear
- Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
- greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- lightsמָאוֹרmâ'ôr mâ'ôr me'ôrâh me'ôrâh · lightH3974
- dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- smallקָטֹןqâţân qâţôn · smallH6996
- nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
- starsכּוֹכָבkôkâb · starH3556
Cross-references for Genesis 1:16
- Deuteronomy 4:19and lest thou lift up thine eyes to the heavens, and see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, the whole host of heaven, and be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath assigned unto all peoples under the whole heaven.
- Joshua 10:12Then spoke Joshua to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah gave up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand still upon Gibeon; And thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon!
- Job 31:26If I beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness,
- Job 38:7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- Psalms 8:3When I see thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars, which thou hast established;
- Psalms 19:6His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
- Psalms 74:16The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the moon and the sun:
- Psalms 136:7To him that made great lights, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
- Psalms 148:3Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all ye stars of light.
- Isaiah 13:10For the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
- Isaiah 24:23And the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts shall reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients in glory.
- Isaiah 45:7forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil: I, Jehovah, do all these things.
- Habakkuk 3:11The sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation, At the light of thine arrows which shot forth, — At the shining of thy glittering spear.
- Matthew 24:29But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
- Matthew 27:45Now from [the] sixth hour there was darkness over the whole land until [the] ninth hour;
- 1 Corinthians 15:41one [the] sun's glory, and another [the] moon's glory, and another [the] stars' glory; for star differs from star in glory.
Commentaries on Genesis 1:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16And 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14-19Verses 14-19 - VI. The Fourth Day 14. מאור mā'ôr “a light, a luminary, a center of radiant light.” מועה mô‛ēd “set time, season.” Words beginning with a formative מ m usually signify that in which the simple quality resides or is realized. Hence, they often denote place. 17. נתן nāthan “give, hold out, show, stretch, hold out.” Latin: tendo, teneo; ́ teinō darkness has been removed from the face of the deep, its waters have been distributed in due…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-19Verses 14-19 In the fourth day's work, the creation of the sun, moon, and stars is accounted for. All these are the works of God. The stars are spoken of as they appear to our eyes, without telling their number, nature, place, size, or motions; for the Scriptures were written, not to gratify curiosity, or make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints. The lights of heaven are made to serve him; they do it faithfully, and shine in their…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16In the surrounding pagan cultures, people worshiped the sun and moon as gods. But in Genesis, they serve God and humanity (see Psalm 136:7–9; Jeremiah 31:35). Here, this verse does not name the sun and moon. They are simply called the greater light and the lesser light. Not naming them may have reminded Israel that they were not gods. rule: Compare 1:26, 28; Psalm 136:9. the stars: The stars bear witness to God's power to create, and they declare his…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 1:16
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Genesis 1:16 1.16 Elohim ↩
Commentaries on Genesis 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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