Genesis 1:14-19

GENESIS—NOTE ON Genesis 1:14 These verses, describing the fourth day, correspond with the separating of light and darkness on the first day (vv. Genesis 1:3). Here is the creation of lights that will govern time, as well as provide light upon the earth (v. Genesis 1:15). By referring to them as the greater light and lesser light (v. Genesis 1:16), the author of Genesis 1:1 avoids using terms that were also proper names for pagan gods linked to the sun and the moon. The term made may simply mean that God “fashioned” or “worked on” these greater and lesser lights. It does not necessarily mean that they did not exist in any form before this. On this day God made it possible that the sun and moon would define the passing of time. The references to seasons (v. Genesis 1:14) or “appointed times” (esv footnote) and to days and years probably refer to appointed times for religious observances in the Hebrew calendar (see Exodus 13:10).