Genesis 1:14-18 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 1:14-19

This is the history of the fourth day's work, the creating of the sun, moon, and stars, which are here accounted for, not as they are in themselves and in their own nature, to satisfy the curious, but as they are in relation to this earth, to which they serve as lights; and this is enough to furnish us with matter for praise and thanksgiving. Holy Job mentions this as an instance of the glorious power of God, that by the Spirit he hath garnished the heavens (Job 26:13); and here we have an... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:14

And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven ,.... In the upper part of it, commonly called the starry heaven: some writers, both Jewish and Christian, and even modern astronomers, understand this only of the appearance of them, and not of the formation of them; they suppose they were made on the first day, but did not appear or shine out so clearly and visibly as now on the fourth day: but it seems rather, that the body of fire and light produced on the first day was now... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:15

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven ,.... To continue there as luminous bodies; as enlighteners, as the word signifies, causing light, or as being the instruments of conveying it, particularly to the earth, as follows: to give light upon the earth ; and the inhabitants of it, when formed: and it was so : these lights were formed and placed in the firmament of the heaven for such uses, and served such purposes as God willed and ordered they should. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:16

And God made two great lights ,.... This was his own work which he himself did, and not by another; and may be particularly observed to express the folly of idolaters in worshipping these luminaries which were the creations of God, and were placed by him in the heaven to serve some purposes on earth beneficial to men, but not to be worshipped. These two "great lights" are the sun and the moon; and they may well be called great, especially the former, for the diameter of the sun is reckoned... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:17

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven ,.... He not only ordered that there they should be, and made them that there they might be, but he placed them there with his own hands; and they are placed, particularly the sun, at such a particular distance as to be beneficial and not hurtful: had it been set nearer to the earth, its heat would have been intolerable; and had it been further off it would have been of no use; in the one case we should have been scorched with its heat, and in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:18

And to rule over the day, and over the night ,.... The one, namely the sun, or greater light, to rule over the day, and the moon and stars, the lesser lights, to rule over the night: this is repeated from Genesis 1:16 to show the certainty of it, and that the proper uses of these lights might be observed, and that a just value might be put upon them, but not carried beyond due bounds: and to divide the light from the darkness ; as the day from the night, which is done by the sun, ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:14

And God said, Let there be lights, etc. - One principal office of these was to divide between day and night. When night is considered a state of comparative darkness, how can lights divide or distinguish it? The answer is easy: The sun is the monarch of the day, which is the state of light; the moon, of the night, the state of darkness. The rays of the sun, falling on the atmosphere, are refracted and diffused over the whole of that hemisphere of the earth immediately under his orb; while... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:16

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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:14

Verse 14 14.Let there be lights (67) Moses passes onwards to the fourth day, on which the stars were made. God had before created the light, but he now institutes a new order in nature, that the sun should be the dispenser of diurnal light, and the moon and stars should shine by night. And He assigns them this office, to teach us that all creatures are subject to his will, and execute what he enjoins upon them. For Moses relates nothing else than that God ordained certain instruments to diffuse... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:15

Verse 15 15.Let them be for lights It is well again to repeat what I have said before, that it is not here philosophically discussed, how great the sun is in the heaven, and how great, or how little, is the moon; but how much light comes to us from them. (71) For Moses here addresses himself to our senses, that the knowledge of the gifts of God which we enjoy may not glide away. Therefore, in order to apprehend the meaning of Moses, it is to no purpose to soar above the heavens; let us only... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 1:14-19

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:18

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:14

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:16

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:14

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:15

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