Genesis 1:3

_AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHT: AND THERE WAS LIGHT._ Let there be light, х_ YªHIY_ (H1961) _ 'OWR_ (H216)]. It is deserving of particular notice that the substantive verb is used here, and not either х_ BAARAA'_ (H1254)] 'created' or х_ `AASAAH_ (H6213)] 'made.' It was manifestation of what had been previously in existence-`Let light be,' or rather, 'Light shall be;' not the formation of an element or matter which had no being at all until this divine command was issued. The effect, which immediately followed, is described in the name DAY, which in Hebrew signifies warmth, heat; while the name NIGHT signifies a rolling up, as night wraps all things in a shady mantle. DIVIDED THE LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS - literally, 'divided between the light and be

3._And God said _Moses now, for the first time, introduces God in the act of _speaking_, as if he had created the mass of heaven and earth without the Word. (48) Yet John testifies that ‘without him nothing was made of the things which were made,’ (John 1:3.) And it is certain that the world had been _begun _by the same efficacy of the Word by which it was _completed_. God, however, did not put forth his Word until he proceeded to originate light; (49) because in the act of distinguishing (50) his wisdom begins to be conspicuous. Which thing alone is sufficient to confute the blasphemy of Servetus. This impure caviler asserts, (51) that the first beginning of the Word was when God commanded the light to be; as if the cau

3-5 God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the word of God! And in the new creation, the first thing that is wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit works upon the will and affections by enlightening the understanding. Those who by sin were darkness, by grace become light in the Lord. Darkness would have been always upon fallen man, if the Son of God had not come and given us understanding, 1 John 5:20. The light which God willed, he approved of. God divided the light from the darkness; for what fellowship has light with darkness? In heaven there is perfect light, and no darkness at all; in hell, utter darkness, and no gleam of light. The day and the night are the Lord's; let us use both to his honour, by working for him every day, and resting in him every night, meditating in his law both day and night....

Verse Genesis 1:3. _AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHT_] הי אור ויהי אור YEHI OR, _vaihi or_. Nothing can be conceived more dignified than this form of expression. It argues at once uncontrollable authority, and omnific power; and in human language it is scarcely possible to conceive that God can speak more like himself. This passage, in the Greek translation of the Septuagint, fell in the way of Dionysius Longinus, one of the most judicious Greek critics that ever lived, and who is highly celebrated over the civilized world for a treatise he wrote, entitled Περι Ὑψους, Concerning the SUBLIME, both in prose and poetry; of this passage, though a heathen, he speaks in the following terms: - Ταυτῃ και ὁ των Ιουδαιων θεσμοθετης (ουχ ὁ τυχων ανηρ,) επειδη την του θειου δυναμιν κατα την αξιαν εχωρησε, καξεφηνεν· ευθυς εν τῃ εισβολη γραψας των νομων, ΕΙΠΕΝ Ὁ ΘΕΟΣ, φησι, τι; ΓΕΝΕΣΘΩ ΦΩΣ·...

- III. The First Day 3. אמר _'āmar_, “say, bid.” After this verb comes the thing said in the words of the speaker, or an equivalent expression. In this respect it corresponds with our English “say.” אור _'ôr_, “light.” Light is simply what makes a sensible impression on the organs of vision. It belongs to a class of things which occasionally produce the same effect. ויאמר _vayo'mer_ “then said.” Here we have come to the narrative or the record of a series of events. The conjunction is prefixed to the verb, to indicate the connection of the event it records with what precedes. There is here, therefore, a sequence in the order of time. In a chain of events, the narrative follows the order of occurrence. Collateral chains of events must of necessity be recorded in successive p

AND GOD SAID,.... This phrase is used, nine times in this account of the creation; it is admired by Longinus the Heathen in his treatise "of the Sublime", as a noble instance of it; and it is most beautifully paraphrased and explained in Psalms 33:6 as expressive of the will, power, authority, and efficacy of the divine Being; whose word is clothed with power, and who can do, and does whatever he will, and as soon as he pleases; his orders are always obeyed. Perhaps the divine Person speaking here is the Logos or Word of God, which was in the beginning with God, and was God, and who himself is the light that lightens every creature. The words spoke were, LET THERE BE LIGHT, AND THERE WAS LIGHT: it at once appeared; "God commanded light to shine out of darkness"; as the apostle says, 2 C

Genesis 1:1. _In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth._ When that «beginning» was, we cannot tell. It may have been long ages before God fitted up this world for the abode of man, but it was not self-existent; it was created by God, it sprang from the will and the word of the all-wise Creator. Genesis 1:2. _And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep._ When God began to arrange this world in order, it was shrouded in darkness, and it had been reduced to what we call, for want of a better name, «chaos.» This is just the condition of every soul of man when God begins to deal with him in his grace; it is formless, and empty of all good things. «There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is

LET THERE BE LIGHT Neither here nor in (Genesis 1:14) is an original creative act implied. A different word is used. The sense is, made to appear; made visible. The sun and moon were created "in the beginning." The "light" of course came from the sun, but the vapour diffused the light. Later the sun appeared in an unclouded sky....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE CREATION ACCOUNT The manner in which the book of Genesis begins leaves no doubt that it is the revelation of God. The creation account is historical truth. The question is how was it given? An answer to this question claims that the Jews obtained the account from the records of other nations concerning the origin of the universe and that they altered it according to their own religious ideas. This is an impossibility. The ancient heathen nations considered God and the universe one and had absolutely no knowledge of the existence of God independent of the universe, nor did they know anything of a creation of the world. Here is something wholly different from all the theories, mythologies and other inventions of the human race. How then was it given? By revelation of God is the only answer. No human being knew anything about the origin of the heavens and t...

A. THE PRIESTLY STORY OF CREATION. This section belongs to the Priestly Document (P). This is shown by the use of several of its characteristic terms, by the constant repetition of the formulæ, and by the formal arrangement. P's interest in the origin of religious institutions is displayed in the explanation of the origin of the Sabbath. The lofty monotheism of the section is also characteristic of his theological position. The story rests upon a much older tradition, mainly, it would seem, Babylonian in its origin. There are several striking parallels with the Babylonian creation legend. The deep or watery chaos (_tehom)_ (Genesis 1:12) corresponds to the Babylonian Tiamat. Darkness is over this chaos. There is a rending of sky and earth from each other, and the creation of a solid expanse or firmament which divides the upper waters from the waters of the earth, and in which the he