Genesis 1:3-5

1:3 God said, ¹  “Let there be ²  light.” ³  And there was light! 1:4 God saw ⁴  that the light was good, ⁵  so God separated ⁶  the light from the darkness. 1:5 God called ⁷  the light “day” and the darkness ⁸  “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. ⁹ 

Genesis 1:17-18

1:17 God placed the lights ¹⁰  in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 1:18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. ¹¹  God saw that it was good.

Psalms 8:3

8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,

and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, ¹² 

Psalms 104:20-23

104:20 You make it dark and night comes, ¹³ 

during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.

104:21 The lions roar for prey,

seeking their food from God. ¹⁴ 

104:22 When the sun rises, they withdraw

and sleep ¹⁵  in their dens.

104:23 Men then go out to do their work,

and labor away until evening. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 31:35

The Lord Guarantees Israel’s Continuance

31:35 The Lord has made a promise to Israel.

He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day

and the moon and stars to give light by night.

He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll.

He promises it as the one who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 31:2

Israel Will Be Restored and Join Judah in Worship

31:2 The Lord says,

“The people of Israel who survived

death at the hands of the enemy ¹⁸ 

will find favor in the wilderness

as they journey to find rest for themselves.

Colossians 4:6

4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ¹⁹  is from above, coming down ²⁰  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ²¹ 

[1:3]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the narrative sequence. Ten times in the chapter the decree of God in creation will be so expressed. For the power of the divine word in creation, see Ps 33:9, John 1:1-3, 1 Cor 8:6, and Col 1:16.

[1:3]  ² tn “Let there be” is the short jussive form of the verb “to be”; the following expression “and there was” is the short preterite form of the same verb. As such, יְהִי (yÿhi) and וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) form a profound wordplay to express both the calling into existence and the complete fulfillment of the divine word.

[1:3]  ³ sn Light. The Hebrew word simply means “light,” but it is used often in scripture to convey the ideas of salvation, joy, knowledge, righteousness, and life. In this context one cannot ignore those connotations, for it is the antithesis of the darkness. The first thing God does is correct the darkness; without the light there is only chaos.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “And God saw the light, that it was good.” The verb “saw” in this passage carries the meaning “reflected on,” “surveyed,” “concluded,” “noted.” It is a description of reflection of the mind – it is God’s opinion.

[1:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word טוֹב (tov) in this context signifies whatever enhances, promotes, produces, or is conducive for life. It is the light that God considers “good,” not the darkness. Whatever is conducive to life in God’s creation is good, for God himself is good, and that goodness is reflected in all of his works.

[1:4]  ⁶ tn The verb “separate, divide” here explains how God used the light to dispel the darkness. It did not do away with the darkness completely, but made a separation. The light came alongside the darkness, but they are mutually exclusive – a theme that will be developed in the Gospel of John (cf. John 1:5).

[1:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.”

[1:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:5]  ⁹ tn Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.”

[1:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the lights mentioned in the preceding verses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:18]  ¹¹ sn In days one to three there is a naming by God; in days five and six there is a blessing by God. But on day four there is neither. It could be a mere stylistic variation. But it could also be a deliberate design to avoid naming “sun” and “moon” or promoting them beyond what they are, things that God made to serve in his creation.

[8:3]  ¹² tn Heb “when I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you established.” The verb “[and] see” is understood by ellipsis in the second half of the verse.

[104:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”

[104:21]  ¹⁴ sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.

[104:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lie down.”

[104:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”

[31:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for this title. In the Hebrew text the verse reads: “Thus says the Lord who provides the sun for light by day, the fixed ordering of the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar, whose name is Yahweh of armies, ‘…’” The hymnic introduction to the quote which does not begin until v. 36 has been broken down to avoid a long awkward sentence in English. The word “said” has been translated “made a promise” to reflect the nature of the content in vv. 36-37. The first two lines of the Hebrew poetry are a case of complex or supplementary ellipsis where the complete idea of “providing/establishing the fixed laws” is divided between the two lines (cf. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 110-13). The necessity for recombining the ellipsis is obvious from reference to the fixed ordering in the next verse. (Some commentators prefer to delete the word as an erroneous glossing of the word in the following line (see, e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 277, n. y).

[31:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “who survived the sword.”

[1:17]  ¹⁹ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).