Genesis 1:21 | 7 of the sky to sep a rate the day from the night , and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times , and days and years , 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth .” And it was so . 16 God made two great lights — the great er light to gov ern the day and the less er light to gov ern the night . He also made the stars . 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth , 18 to gov ern the day and the night , and to sep a rate
light from dark ness . And God saw that it was good . 19 And there was eve ning , and there was morn ing — the fourth day .
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And God said , “ Let the wa ter teem with liv ing crea tures , and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky .” 21 So God cre at ed the great crea tures of the sea and ev ery liv ing thing with which the wa ter teems and that moves about in it , ac cord ing to their kinds , and ev ery winged bird ac cord ing to its kind .
1:14 lights The creation of the lights in the heavens on the fourth day parallels the creation of light in general on the first day . These lights produce another separation — day from night ( compare note on vv . 1:9 – 13 ). signs to mark Celestial phenomena were often understood as divine signs in the ancient Near East ( see note on Jer 8:2 ). sacred times The Hebrew word used here , mo ’ adim , could refer to seasons — indicating the natural agricultural cycle — but mo ’ adim also frequently indicates religious festivals or sacred times . 1:16 two great lights This refers to the sun and the moon , but the writer deliberately avoids the words “ sun ” ( shemesh in Hebrew ) and “ moon ” ( yareach in Hebrew ) that correspond to the names of West Semitic deities : Shamash and Yarik . Avoiding the Hebrew words for “ sun ” and “ moon ” may be part of a larger agenda in the narrative to cast all of the heavenly bodies as natural , created phenomena that are subject to the Creator — not deities in themselves . In this way , Ge 1 offers a subtle critique of prevailing ancient Near Eastern beliefs about the sun , moon and stars .
1:20 – 25 Creation on the fifth day includes the creatures of the sky and sea . God creates land animals on the sixth day . These creative acts parallel the activity on the second day , when God separates sky and sea , and the third day , when land appears . The description focuses on order and balance in nature . The zoological categories reflect those known to human experience : sea creatures , birds , wild and domesticated animals , and creatures that move along the ground . ( The latter description is not restricted to insects as it describes movement , not species .)
1:20 living creatures Here , the Hebrew term nephesh refers to animal life .
Genesis 1:20
NEPHESH While the Hebrew word nephesh ( often translated as “ soul ”) can refer to animal life , it can also refer to human life or a person ’ s life force ( their soul ) along with emotions , intellect , personality and will ( see Ge 9:5 ; 27:4 ; Ex 23:9 ; 1Sa 19:11 ).
1:21 creatures of the sea A translation of the Hebrew word tannin , which does not refer to any specific member
NIGHT
DAY 3 DAY 4 NIGHT NIGHT
DAY DAY
Moon Sun
NIGHT
Stars
Mountains
And God said , “ Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place , and let dry ground appear .” God called the dry ground “ land ,” and the gathered waters he called “ seas .” Then God said , “ Let the land produce vegetation : seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it , according to their various kinds .”
And God said , “ Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night , and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times , and days and years , and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth .” God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night . He also made the stars .