Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Genesis 1:16 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ge 1:16	Strong Concordance	And God [0430] made [06213] two [08147] great [01419] lights [03974]; the greater [01419] light [03974] to rule [04475] the day [03117], and the lesser [06996] light [03974] to rule [04475] the night [03915]: he made the stars [03556] also.
	King James	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.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
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 these lights may be said to be "made" on the fourth day--not created, indeed, for it is a different word that is here used, but constituted, appointed to the important and necessary office of serving as luminaries to the world, and regulating by their motions and their influence the progress and divisions of time.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

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 these lights may be said to be "made" on the fourth day--not created, indeed, for it is a different word that is here used, but constituted, appointed to the important and necessary office of serving as luminaries to the world, and regulating by their motions and their influence the progress and divisions of time.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
greater light The "greater light" is a type of Christ, the "Sun of righteousness" (Mal 4:2). He will take this character at His second advent. Morally the world is now in the state between; (Gen 1:3-16); (Eph 6:12); (Act 26:18); (Pe1 2:9). The sun is not seen, but there is light. Christ is that light (Joh 1:4); (Joh 1:5-9) but "shineth in darkness," comprehended only by faith. As "Son of righteousness" He will dispel all darkness. Dispensationally the Church is in place as the "lesser light," the moon, reflecting the light of the unseen sun. The stars (Gen 1:16) are individual believers who are "lights"; (Phi 2:15-16); (Joh 1:5). A type is a divinely purposed illustration of some truth. It may be: (1) a person (Rom 5:14) (2) an event (Co1 10:11) (3) a thing (Heb 10:20) (4) an institution (Heb 9:11) (5) a ceremonial (Co1 5:7). Types occur most frequently in the Pentateuch, but are found, more sparingly, elsewhere. The antitype, or fulfillment of the type, is found, usually, in the New Testament . made The word does not imply a creative act; (Gen 1:14-18) are declarative of function merely.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
And 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 said otherwise he had not spoken the truth. It is, in reference to the earth, next to the sun himself, the greatest light in the solar system; and so true is it that the moon is a great light, that it affords more light to the earth than all the planets in the solar system, and all the innumerable stars in the vault of heaven, put together. It is worthy of remark that on the fourth day of the creation the sun was formed, and then "first tried his beams athwart the gloom profound;" and that at the conclusion of the fourth millenary from the creation, according to the Hebrew, the Sun of righteousness shone upon the world, as deeply sunk in that mental darkness produced by sin as the ancient world was, while teeming darkness held the dominion, till the sun was created as the dispenser of light. What would the natural world be without the sun? A howling waste, in which neither animal nor vegetable life could possibly be sustained. And what would the moral world be without Jesus Christ, and the light of his word and Spirit? Just what those parts of it now are where his light has not yet shone: "dark places of the earth, filled with the habitations of cruelty," where error prevails without end, and superstition, engendering false hopes and false fears, degrades and debases the mind of man. Many have supposed that the days of the creation answer to so many thousands of years; and that as God created all in six days, and rested the seventh, so the world shall last six thousand years, and the seventh shall be the eternal rest that remains for the people of God. To this conclusion they have been led by these words of the apostle, Pe2 3:8 : One day is with the Lord as a thousand years; and a thousand years as one day. Secret things belong to God; those that are revealed to us and our children. He made the stars also - Or rather, He made the lesser light, with the stars, to rule the night. See Claudlan de Raptu Proser., lib. ii., v. 44. Hic Hyperionis solem de semine nasci Fecerat, et pariter lunam, sed dispare forma, Aurorae noctisque duces. From famed Hyperion did he cause to rise The sun, and placed the moon amid the skies, With splendor robed, but far unequal light, The radiant leaders of the day and night. Of the Sun On the nature of the sun there have been various conjectures. It was long thought that he was a vast globe of fire 1,384,462 times larger than the earth, and that he was continually emitting from his body innumerable millions of fiery particles, which, being extremely divided, answered for the purpose of light and heat without occasioning any ignition or burning, except when collected in the focus of a convex lens or burning glass. Against this opinion, however, many serious and weighty objections have been made; and it has been so pressed with difficulties that philosophers have been obliged to look for a theory less repugnant to nature and probability. Dr. Herschel's discoveries by means of his immensely magnifying telescopes, have, by the general consent of philosophers, added a new habitable world to our system, which is the Sun. Without stopping to enter into detail, which would be improper here, it is sufficient to say that these discoveries tend to prove that what we call the sun is only the atmosphere of that luminary; "that this atmosphere consists of various elastic fluids that are more or less lucid and transparent; that as the clouds belonging to our earth are probably decompositions of some of the elastic fluids belonging to the atmosphere itself, so we may suppose that in the vast atmosphere of the sun, similar decompositions may take place, but with this difference, that the decompositions of the elastic fluids of the sun are of a phosphoric nature, and are attended by lucid appearances, by giving out light." The body of the sun he considers as hidden generally from us by means of this luminous atmosphere, but what are called the maculae or spots on the sun are real openings in this atmosphere, through which the opaque body of the sun becomes visible; that this atmosphere itself is not fiery nor hot, but is the instrument which God designed to act on the caloric or latent heat; and that heat is only produced by the solar light acting upon and combining with the caloric or matter of fire contained in the air, and other substances which are heated by it. This ingenious theory is supported by many plausible reasons and illustrations, which may be seen in the paper he read before the Royal Society. On this subject see the note on Gen 1:3. Of the Moon There is scarcely any doubt now remaining in the philosophical world that the moon is a habitable globe. The most accurate observations that have been made with the most powerful telescopes have confirmed the opinion. The moon seems, in almost every respect, to be a body similar to our earth; to have its surface diversified by hill and dale, mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and seas. And there is the fullest evidence that our earth serves as a moon to the moon herself, differing only in this, that as the earth's surface is thirteen times larger than the moon's, so the moon receives from the earth a light thirteen times greater in splendor than that which she imparts to us; and by a very correct analogy we are led to infer that all the planets and their satellites, or attendant moons, are inhabited, for matter seems only to exist for the sake of intelligent beings. Of the Stars The Stars in general are considered to be suns, similar to that in our system, each having an appropriate number of planets moving round it; and, as these stars are innumerable, consequently there are innumerable worlds, all dependent on the power, protection, and providence of God. Where the stars are in great abundance, Dr. Herschel supposes they form primaries and secondaries, i.e., suns revolving about suns, as planets revolve about the sun in our system. He considers that this must be the case in what is called the milky way, the stars being there in prodigious quantity. Of this he gives the following proof: On August 22,1792, he found that in forty-one minutes of time not less than 258,000 stars had passed through the field of view in his telescope. What must God be, who has made, governs, and supports so many worlds! See Clarke's note on Gen 1:1.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

And 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 said otherwise he had not spoken the truth. It is, in reference to the earth, next to the sun himself, the greatest light in the solar system; and so true is it that the moon is a great light, that it affords more light to the earth than all the planets in the solar system, and all the innumerable stars in the vault of heaven, put together. It is worthy of remark that on the fourth day of the creation the sun was formed, and then "first tried his beams athwart the gloom profound;" and that at the conclusion of the fourth millenary from the creation, according to the Hebrew, the Sun of righteousness shone upon the world, as deeply sunk in that mental darkness produced by sin as the ancient world was, while teeming darkness held the dominion, till the sun was created as the dispenser of light. What would the natural world be without the sun? A howling waste, in which neither animal nor vegetable life could possibly be sustained. And what would the moral world be without Jesus Christ, and the light of his word and Spirit? Just what those parts of it now are where his light has not yet shone: "dark places of the earth, filled with the habitations of cruelty," where error prevails without end, and superstition, engendering false hopes and false fears, degrades and debases the mind of man.

Many have supposed that the days of the creation answer to so many thousands of years; and that as God created all in six days, and rested the seventh, so the world shall last six thousand years, and the seventh shall be the eternal rest that remains for the people of God. To this conclusion they have been led by these words of the apostle, Pe2 3:8 : One day is with the Lord as a thousand years; and a thousand years as one day. Secret things belong to God; those that are revealed to us and our children.

He made the stars also - Or rather, He made the lesser light, with the stars, to rule the night. See Claudlan de Raptu Proser., lib. ii., v. 44.

Hic Hyperionis solem de semine nasci Fecerat,

et pariter lunam, sed dispare forma, Aurorae noctisque duces.

From famed Hyperion did he cause to rise

The sun, and placed the moon amid the skies,

With splendor robed, but far unequal light,

The radiant leaders of the day and night.

Of the Sun

On the nature of the sun there have been various conjectures. It was long thought that he was a vast globe of fire 1,384,462 times larger than the earth, and that he was continually emitting from his body innumerable millions of fiery particles, which, being extremely divided, answered for the purpose of light and heat without occasioning any ignition or burning, except when collected in the focus of a convex lens or burning glass.

Against this opinion, however, many serious and weighty objections have been made; and it has been so pressed with difficulties that philosophers have been obliged to look for a theory less repugnant to nature and probability. Dr. Herschel's discoveries by means of his immensely magnifying telescopes, have, by the general consent of philosophers, added a new habitable world to our system, which is the Sun. Without stopping to enter into detail, which would be improper here, it is sufficient to say that these discoveries tend to prove that what we call the sun is only the atmosphere of that luminary; "that this atmosphere consists of various elastic fluids that are more or less lucid and transparent; that as the clouds belonging to our earth are probably decompositions of some of the elastic fluids belonging to the atmosphere itself, so we may suppose that in the vast atmosphere of the sun, similar decompositions may take place, but with this difference, that the decompositions of the elastic fluids of the sun are of a phosphoric nature, and are attended by lucid appearances, by giving out light." The body of the sun he considers as hidden generally from us by means of this luminous atmosphere, but what are called the maculae or spots on the sun are real openings in this atmosphere, through which the opaque body of the sun becomes visible; that this atmosphere itself is not fiery nor hot, but is the instrument which God designed to act on the caloric or latent heat; and that heat is only produced by the solar light acting upon and combining with the caloric or matter of fire contained in the air, and other substances which are heated by it. This ingenious theory is supported by many plausible reasons and illustrations, which may be seen in the paper he read before the Royal Society. On this subject see the note on Gen 1:3.

Of the Moon

There is scarcely any doubt now remaining in the philosophical world that the moon is a habitable globe. The most accurate observations that have been made with the most powerful telescopes have confirmed the opinion. The moon seems, in almost every respect, to be a body similar to our earth; to have its surface diversified by hill and dale, mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and seas. And there is the fullest evidence that our earth serves as a moon to the moon herself, differing only in this, that as the earth's surface is thirteen times larger than the moon's, so the moon receives from the earth a light thirteen times greater in splendor than that which she imparts to us; and by a very correct analogy we are led to infer that all the planets and their satellites, or attendant moons, are inhabited, for matter seems only to exist for the sake of intelligent beings.

Of the Stars

The Stars in general are considered to be suns, similar to that in our system, each having an appropriate number of planets moving round it; and, as these stars are innumerable, consequently there are innumerable worlds, all dependent on the power, protection, and providence of God. Where the stars are in great abundance, Dr. Herschel supposes they form primaries and secondaries, i.e., suns revolving about suns, as planets revolve about the sun in our system. He considers that this must be the case in what is called the milky way, the stars being there in prodigious quantity. Of this he gives the following proof: On August 22,1792, he found that in forty-one minutes of time not less than 258,000 stars had passed through the field of view in his telescope. What must God be, who has made, governs, and supports so many worlds! See Clarke's note on Gen 1:1.

Top

¹⁴ And God [0430] said [0559], Let there be lights [03974] in the firmament [07549] of the heaven [08064] to divide [0914] the day [03117] from the night [03915]; and let them be for signs [0226], and for seasons [04150], and for days [03117], and years [08141]:
¹⁵ And let them be for lights [03974] in the firmament [07549] of the heaven [08064] to give light [0215] upon the earth [0776]: and it was so.
¹⁶ And God [0430] made [06213] two [08147] great [01419] lights [03974]; the greater [01419] light [03974] to rule [04475] the day [03117], and the lesser [06996] light [03974] to rule [04475] the night [03915]: he made the stars [03556] also.
¹⁷ And God [0430] set [05414] them in the firmament [07549] of the heaven [08064] to give light [0215] upon the earth [0776],
¹⁸ And to rule [04910] over the day [03117] and over the night [03915], and to divide [0914] the light [0216] from the darkness [02822]: and God [0430] saw [07200] that it was good [02896].

⁷ Purge out [1571] therefore [3767] the old [3820] leaven [2219], that [2443] ye may be [5600] a new [3501] lump [5445], as [2531] ye are [2075] unleavened [106]. For [1063] even [2532] Christ [5547] our [2257] passover [3957] is sacrificed [2380] for [5228] us [2257]:

¹¹ But [1161] Christ [5547] being come [3854] an high priest [749] of good things [18] to come [3195], by [1223] a greater [3187] and [2532] more perfect [5046] tabernacle [4633], not [3756] made with hands [5499], that is to say [5123], not [3756] of this [5026] building [2937];

²⁰ By a new [4372] and [2532] living [2198] way [3598], which [3739] he hath consecrated [1457] for us [2254], through [1223] the veil [2665], that is to say [5123], his [846] flesh [4561];

¹¹ Now [1161] all [3956] these things [5023] happened [4819] unto them [1565] for ensamples [5179]: and [1161] they are written [1125] for [4314] our [2257] admonition [3559], upon [1519] whom [3739] the ends [5056] of the world [165] are come [2658].

¹⁴ Nevertheless [235] death [2288] reigned [936] from [575] Adam [76] to [3360] Moses [3475], even [2532] over [1909] them that had [264] not [3361] sinned [264] after [1909] the similitude [3667] of Adam's [76] transgression [3847], who [3739] is [2076] the figure [5179] of him that was to come [3195].

⁵ And [2532] the light [5457] shineth [5316] in [1722] darkness [4653]; and [2532] the darkness [4653] comprehended [2638] it [846] not [3756].

¹⁵ That [2443] ye may be [1096] blameless [273] and [2532] harmless [185], the sons [5043] of God [2316], without rebuke [298], in [1722] the midst [3319] of a crooked [4646] and [2532] perverse [1294] nation [1074], among [1722] whom [3739] ye shine [5316] as [5613] lights [5458] in [1722] the world [2889];
¹⁶ Holding forth [1907] the word [3056] of life [2222]; that [1519] I [1698] may rejoice [2745] in [1519] the day [2250] of Christ [5547], that [3754] I have [5143] not [3756] run [5143] in [1519] vain [2756], neither [3761] laboured [2872] in [1519] vain [2756].

¹⁶ And God [0430] made [06213] two [08147] great [01419] lights [03974]; the greater [01419] light [03974] to rule [04475] the day [03117], and the lesser [06996] light [03974] to rule [04475] the night [03915]: he made the stars [03556] also.

⁵ And [2532] the light [5457] shineth [5316] in [1722] darkness [4653]; and [2532] the darkness [4653] comprehended [2638] it [846] not [3756].
⁶ There was [1096] a man [444] sent [649] from [3844] God [2316], whose [846] name [3686] was John [2491].
⁷ The same [3778] came [2064] for [1519] a witness [3141], to [2443] bear witness [3140] of [4012] the Light [5457], that [2443] all [3956] men through [1223] him [846] might believe [4100].
⁸ He was [2258] not [3756] that [1565] Light [5457], but [235] was sent to [2443] bear witness [3140] of [4012] that Light [5457].
⁹ That was [2258] the true [228] Light [5457], which [3739] lighteth [5461] every man [3956] [444] that cometh [2064] into [1519] the world [2889].

⁴ In [1722] him [846] was [2258] life [2222]; and [2532] the life [2222] was [2258] the light [5457] of men [444].

⁹ But [1161] ye [5210] are a chosen [1588] generation [1085], a royal [934] priesthood [2406], an holy [40] nation [1484], a peculiar [1519] [4047] people [2992]; that [3704] ye should shew forth [1804] the praises [703] of him who hath called [2564] you [5209] out of [1537] darkness [4655] into [1519] his [846] marvellous [2298] light [5457]:

¹⁸ To open [455] their [846] eyes [3788], and to turn [1994] them from [575] darkness [4655] to [1519] light [5457], and [2532] from the power [1849] of Satan [4567] unto [1909] God [2316], that they [846] may receive [2983] forgiveness [859] of sins [266], and [2532] inheritance [2819] among [1722] them which are sanctified [37] by faith [4102] that is in [1519] me [1691].

¹² For [3754] we [2254] wrestle [3823] not [3756] against [2076] [4314] flesh [4561] and [2532] blood [129], but [235] against [4314] principalities [746], against [4314] powers [1849], against [4314] the rulers [2888] of the darkness [4655] of this [5127] world [165], against [4314] spiritual [4152] wickedness [4189] in [1722] high [2032] places.

³ And God [0430] said [0559], Let there be [01961] light [0216]: and there was light [0216].
⁴ And God [0430] saw [07200] [0853] the light [0216], that [03588] it was good [02896]: and God [0430] divided [0914] [0996] the light [0216] from [0996] the darkness [02822].
⁵ And God [0430] called [07121] the light [0216] Day [03117], and the darkness [02822] he called [07121] Night [03915]. And the evening [06153] and the morning [01242] were the first [0259] day [03117].
⁶ And God [0430] said [0559], Let there be a firmament [07549] in the midst [08432] of the waters [04325], and let it divide [0914] the waters [04325] from the waters [04325].
⁷ And God [0430] made [06213] the firmament [07549], and divided [0914] the waters [04325] which [0834] were under [08478] the firmament [07549] from the waters [04325] which [0834] were above [05921] the firmament [07549]: and it was so [03651].
⁸ And God [0430] called [07121] the firmament [07549] Heaven [08064]. And the evening [06153] and the morning [01242] were the second [08145] day [03117].
⁹ And God [0430] said [0559], Let the waters [04325] under the heaven [08064] be gathered together [06960] unto [0413] one [0259] place [04725], and let the dry [03004] land appear [07200]: and it was so.
¹⁰ And God [0430] called [07121] the dry [03004] land Earth [0776]; and the gathering together [04723] of the waters [04325] called [07121] he Seas [03220]: and God [0430] saw [07200] that it was good [02896].
¹¹ And God [0430] said [0559], Let the earth [0776] bring forth [01876] grass [01877], the herb [06212] yielding [02232] seed [02233], and the fruit [06529] tree [06086] yielding [06213] fruit [06529] after his kind [04327], whose [0834] seed [02233] is in itself, upon the earth [0776]: and it was so.
¹² And the earth [0776] brought forth [03318] grass [01877], and herb [06212] yielding [02232] seed [02233] after his kind [04327], and the tree [06086] yielding [06213] fruit [06529], whose seed [02233] was in itself, after his kind [04327]: and God [0430] saw [07200] that it was good [02896].
¹³ And the evening [06153] and the morning [01242] were the third [07992] day [03117].
¹⁴ And God [0430] said [0559], Let there be lights [03974] in the firmament [07549] of the heaven [08064] to divide [0914] the day [03117] from the night [03915]; and let them be for signs [0226], and for seasons [04150], and for days [03117], and years [08141]:
¹⁵ And let them be for lights [03974] in the firmament [07549] of the heaven [08064] to give light [0215] upon the earth [0776]: and it was so.
¹⁶ And God [0430] made [06213] two [08147] great [01419] lights [03974]; the greater [01419] light [03974] to rule [04475] the day [03117], and the lesser [06996] light [03974] to rule [04475] the night [03915]: he made the stars [03556] also.

² But unto you that fear [03373] my name [08034] shall the Sun [08121] of righteousness [06666] arise [02224] with healing [04832] in his wings [03671]; and ye shall go forth [03318], and grow up [06335] as calves [05695] of the stall [04770].

¹ In the beginning [07225] God [0430] created [01254] [0853] the heaven [08064] and [0853] the earth [0776].

³ And God [0430] said [0559], Let there be [01961] light [0216]: and there was light [0216].

⁸ But [1161], beloved [27], be [2990] not [3361] [5209] ignorant [2990] of this one [1520] thing [5124], that [3754] one [3391] day [2250] is with [3844] the Lord [2962] as [5613] a thousand [5507] years [2094], and [2532] a thousand [5507] years [2094] as [5613] one [3391] day [2250].