Gen 1:14-19

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The Old Testament > Genesis > Chapter 1

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Questions

Verse 16

  • Verse 16 says that God "made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth." Does this mean that they were not created at the same time as the greater and lesser light - but rather he created them and during this day, he "set them"?

Verse 18

  • Genesis ends each creation with God pointing out that the creation of that day is good and Moses ends each creation with God pointing out that the cumulative creation is good. Compare Genesis and Moses 18 with Abraham's phrase: "And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed." What does this difference teach us? What does the word until signify in this context?

Verse 19

  • Since the division of night and day was already noted in verse 5, why is it repeated here?

Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 16 “he made the stars also”

This phrase reads like an afterthought, almost an intrusion into the narrative flow. If we would like to translate it in more colloquial terms, we might say, “Oh, by the way, God made the stars too.”

When this creation account was set down in writing, the cultures surrounding Israel worshiped the sun, moon, and stars as gods. One reason the author avoids using the normal names for the sun and moon is because they are also the names of gods. Thus, the author uses the somewhat cryptic terms “greater light” and “lesser light.” The creation of the stars gets tacked on here just for good measure.

The author was probably not very concerned with the exact timing when God created the stars. Instead, he wanted to place the sun, moon, and stars in their proper place. They are merely creatures made by God to serve a purpose. God explains their purpose in verses 14 and 15; they act as timekeepers and illuminate the earth. That is it. They have no special powers over people, and they are certainly not gods.

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