Psalms 104:19

104:19 He made the moon to mark the months, ¹ 

and the sun sets according to a regular schedule. ² 

Psalms 136:7-9

136:7 to the one who made the great lights,

for his loyal love endures,

136:8 the sun to rule by day,

for his loyal love endures,

136:9 the moon and stars to rule by night,

for his loyal love endures,

Psalms 148:3

148:3 Praise him, O sun and moon!

Praise him, all you shiny stars! ³ 

Genesis 1:16-18

1:16 God made two great lights ⁴  – the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. ⁵  1:17 God placed the lights ⁶  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. ⁷  God saw that it was good.

Deuteronomy 4:19

4:19 When you look up ⁸  to the sky ⁹  and see the sun, moon, and stars – the whole heavenly creation ¹⁰  – you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, ¹¹  for the Lord your God has assigned ¹²  them to all the people ¹³  of the world. ¹⁴ 

Job 25:3

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ¹⁵ 

On whom does his light ¹⁶  not rise?

Job 25:5

25:5 If even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, ¹⁷ 

[104:19]  ¹ tn Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.

[104:19]  ² tn Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”

[148:3]  ³ tn Heb “stars of light.”

[1:16]  ⁴ sn Two great lights. The text goes to great length to discuss the creation of these lights, suggesting that the subject was very important to the ancients. Since these “lights” were considered deities in the ancient world, the section serves as a strong polemic (see G. Hasel, “The Polemical Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,” EvQ 46 [1974]: 81-102). The Book of Genesis is affirming they are created entities, not deities. To underscore this the text does not even give them names. If used here, the usual names for the sun and moon [Shemesh and Yarih, respectively] might have carried pagan connotations, so they are simply described as greater and lesser lights. Moreover, they serve in the capacity that God gives them, which would not be the normal function the pagans ascribed to them. They merely divide, govern, and give light in God’s creation.

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the stars.” Now the term “stars” is added as a third object of the verb “made.” Perhaps the language is phenomenological, meaning that the stars appeared in the sky from this time forward.

[1:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the lights mentioned in the preceding verses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:18]  ⁷ 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.

[4:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16-19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

[4:19]  ⁹ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[4:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the host of heaven.”

[4:19]  ¹¹ tn In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up…and see…and be seduced…and worship them…and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up…and seeing…, you are seduced.” See Joüon 2:635 §168.h.

[4:19]  ¹² tn Or “allotted.”

[4:19]  ¹³ tn Or “nations.”

[4:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “under all the heaven.”

[25:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ¹⁶ tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.

[25:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “not pure in his eyes.”