Genesis 1: 3 Commentary
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Genesis 1 verse 3 is part of The Old
Testament.All Bible Verses on VBVBC.org are taken from the King James Bible (KJV). 
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Loading ...And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
143 Bible Commentaries on Genesis 1: 3
Word Up:
Think of the Book of Genesis as a movie script. Up until now the narrator (Moses) has been speaking. Now the first character utters the first line. The character is God, the same ‘Elohiym in verses 1 and 2.. However since He is speaking, we can assume that we are now introduced to the Word. The Hebrew term is dabar (masculine noun) while the Greek is usually logos. John makes the connection between God, Word, and Jesus in his Gospel. So now we have ‘Elohiym, Ruwach, and Dabar. The Trinity is implied as the agent in Creation. (Three is a Magic Number.) Logos was a buzz word for concepts such as order and reason. For the Hebrews there was power in the word, therefore praying out loud, oaths, and insults were taken seriously. (The Hebrew use of wisdom (chokmowth; feminine noun) can also be compared with logos.) The Word is the agent that brings discernable order out of chaos. The first pattern is light. I plan on discussing the nature of this light in later verses. I think it is also implied that space is now separated from matter, but I’m not dogmatic on that point. Some people may believe that the light was created from nothing. I think it was called out of the pre-existing chaos, similar to forming man from dust.
By
Terik Q
(wrote 65 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)
Posted on:
2/11/2009 21:51 pm 
1)Interesting comments indeed!Phil Johnston,I wish to say something & to repeat something I’ve said earlier.
2)”And the earth was without form and void,and darkness was upon the face of the earth…”.Gen.1:2.There was no order or form.Emptiness & darkness existed before Day 1.
3)On Day 1,the dark chaos began to disappear.Order has appeared.There was progress on each day of creation & perfection was reached on Day 6,when all the creative acts were completed after the creation of man & woman.
4)”And God saw the light that it was GOOD.” Gen.1:4.-God’s approval of First Day’s creative act.
“…and God saw that it was GOOD.” Gen.1:10,12,18,21,25)-God’s approval of creative acts of Day 3 to day 6.
And God saw everything that he had made,and behold it was VERY GOOD.” Gen.1:31.-God’s final & complete approval after all the creative acts were completed.
5)We can find that the words “God said” are mentioned 10 times in Genesis 1.
“For he spoke,and it was done;he commanded,and it stood fast.” Ps.33:9.
“For God,who commanded the light to shine out of darkness…” 2 Cor.4:5.
6)True Light:”There it was-the true Light(was then)coming into the world
(the genuine,perfect,steadfast Light)that illumines every person.[Isa.49:6]
-John 1:9(Amp).
Jesus said:”i am the light of the world;he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12.
7)”For ye were sometimes darkness,but now are ye light in the Lord;walk as children of light.”Eph.1:8.Read Isa.9:2.
“….who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
1 Pet.2:9.
There must be progress in the spiritual life of every individual believer.
The final destiny of the believer in Christ is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.Please read 2 Cor.3:18;Rom.8:29.
Interesting discussion if at times a tad tetchy lol…
I have substituted the word ‘order’ for ‘light’ as illumination carries that connitation and it links with the creation of the sun, moon stars which are spoken of in 1:14 in a context of government or bringing order to the natural world. It also fits if you substitute ‘order for light’ in John 1 & the desciption of Jesus as being light not understood by darkness or IN Ephesians where christians as to live as chuildrfen of light/ order.
Interestingly the Hebrew word for darkness which carries an ‘opposite’ meaning can be translated ‘misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow,’ wickedness which could further add to the suggestion that God was bringing order to the chaos of an unformed universe on Day one.
By
Phil Johnston
(wrote 1 Bible Commentary - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
2/2/2009 19:14 pm 
1)Actually,light is a form of energy.In a dynamo,mechanical energy is converted into light energy.
2)Apostle Paul has cited this reference in 2 Cor.4:6.He is a great scholar.
“for God commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts…..”
3)Jesus Christ is the light of the world.John 8:12.He was the true Light, which lighteth everyman that cometh into the world.John 1:9.Read Isaiah 9:2;49:6;Luke 2:32.
1)Yes.Let us note the acts of creation in Genesis Chapter 1.It is significant to note that each creative act is introduced by the phrase “And God said.” See the verses 3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26.
2)The writer of Hebrews tells that by faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at the command of God.Heb.11:3.
3)God spoke & things happened.Ps.33:6,9.There is the creator.The world did not come into existence by accident.God created everything in the world.
By
Alex
(wrote 499 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
10/27/2008 08:12 am
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. 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; because in the act of distinguishing his wisdom begins to be conspicuous. Which thing alone is sufficient to confute
the blasphemy of Servetus. This impure caviler asserts, that the first beginning of the Word was when God commanded the light to be; as
if the cause, truly, were not prior to its effect. Since however by the Word of
God things which were not came suddenly into being, we ought rather to infer the
eternity of His essence. Wherefore the Apostles rightly prove the Deity of
Christ from hence, that since he is the Word of God, all things have been
created by him. Servetus imagines a new quality in God when he begins to speak.
But far otherwise must we think concerning the Word of God, namely, that he is
the Wisdom dwelling in God, and without which God could never be; the effect of which, however, became
apparent when the light was created.
Let there be light . It we proper that the light, by
means of which the world was to be adorned with such excellent beauty, should be
first created; and this also was the commencement of the distinction, (among the
creatures. )
It did not, however, happen from inconsideration or by accident, that the light
preceded the sun and the moon. To nothing are we more prone than to tie down the
power of God to those instruments the agency of which he employs. The sun an
moon supply us with light: And, according to our notions we so include this
power to give light in them, that if they were taken away from the world, it
would seem impossible for any light to remain. Therefore the Lord, by the very
order of the creation, bears witness that he holds in his hand the light, which
he is able to impart to us without the sun and moon. Further, it is certain from
the context, that the light was so created as to be interchanged with darkness.
But it may be asked, whether light and darkness succeeded each other in turn
through the whole circuit of the world; or whether the darkness occupied one
half of the circle, while light shone in the other. There is, however, no doubt
that the order of their succession was alternate, but whether it was everywhere
day at the same time, and everywhere night also, I would rather leave undecided;
nor is it very necessary to be known.
By
John Calvin
(wrote 19 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
10/22/2008 11:31 am 
Even Dr. Black’s quotation does not mention or indicate energy in any way whatsoever. This “energy” is a figment of his imagination. It does not come from the Bible. The writers of the Bible had no idea what energy was.
By
Charles Fiott
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/28/2008 22:00 pm 
There is no evidence because the story is a myth. At the time they wrote it theyt didnt even know what energy was. It is a myth, and nothing more. A fictional story.
Dr. Black, I asked for evidence, not from quotations from the Bible.
By
Charles
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/28/2008 13:54 pm
“Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:3-5).
God then endowed energy into His creation by the power of His Word. Matter was energized and gave forth light. God separated the energized matter from the dark matter and that constituted the first day. Scripture tells us that he later created the sun, moon & stars as ‘HOLDERS’….which would harness that ENERGY. You can read the Word, but unless it is ENERGIZED by the Holy Spirit….
I’d love to continue but am on my way to Service. May God Richly bless you in the reading & understanding of His Holy Word
By
Dr. Black
(wrote 3 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/28/2008 13:46 pm 
Dr. Black. how do you know that the light of Genesis is actually energy? What evidence do you have?
By
Charles
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/28/2008 11:48 am
That ‘LIGHT’ being referred to is actually ENERGY. The energy that set the world in motion….spinning on its axis if you will.
By
Dr. Black
(wrote 3 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/28/2008 11:31 am
Ah I understand. Well in the next few verses that is explained. Basically they’re saying that even though God created light, there was still darkness. They didn’t get much more technical than that. Once you begin discussing the rotation of the earth, then you get into scientific stuff.
Mike, my point is that if they want to say that light didn’t come from the sun they would need to explain how it got dark at night.
By
Charles
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/26/2008 10:05 am
No, actually the opposite. The writers were leaning towards the idea that God created light from nothing, it was just there, and that shows that he is all powerful. There was light, it just didn’t come from the sun, but from God, as he created. But a warning: Genesis should not be taken literally, until after Noah, when Abraham begins. None of it actually happened, rather it is a myth that is used to express the Catholic belief of Creation.
That’s an interesting hypothesis, Mike, but it still doesn’t explain how there could have been three days and three nights without the sun. Was God a blinking light?
By
Charles
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/24/2008 23:13 pm
Actually, the meaning of this is simple. When the ancient Hebrews wrote this section of the bible, and I believe this was written by the Priestly Writers, they were monotheists. They were alone in religious aspects by this characteristic. Most other religions involved polytheism. Now the most important god in any pantheon of the day was the sun god. The hebrews did this to show that God was more powerful than any other god, and by giving god the power to introduce light, and thus stripping that power from the greatest god in the eyes of the polytheists, the sun god, they are able to take a stab at the other relgions, and say that their god, in essence, is the most powerful.
Can someone explain the following: “God creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn’t make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day (1:14-19). And how could there be “the evening and the morning” on the first day if there was no sun to mark them?”. Some mentioned this before, but I haven’t read a satisfactory answer yet.
By
Edward N.
(wrote 3 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
6/25/2008 11:35 am 
Ok, Dr. Black, first of all I am sure you have the wrong translation because the words “let there be light” are followed by a description of the difference between light and darkness and between day and night. Energy does not account for such a distincton.
But let’s for a moment assume that you are right. That all there was at first was energy. That Earth was in virtual darkness for the first three days of creation. That light was not created until the sun came along in the fourth. So how do you explain the existence of grass, herbs, trees and fruit before the creation of the sun? Don’t you agree that it is scientifically impossible for these things to grow without light?
By
Charles Fiott
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
6/22/2008 12:46 pm
That ‘light’ listed first is actually ENERGY….if you’ll look up the word in your Hebrew lexion & Dictionary. Everything was created IN ORDER….things that were made relied on the things made the day before. The ‘ENERGY” is what started the world rotating on its axis which is what was necessary
By
Dr. Black
(wrote 3 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
6/22/2008 02:33 am
Stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. So this “temporary sourceless light” behaved exactly like the sun - it shut itself off during the night and was even called “day” by God - and yet it was not the sun? If it walks like a duck and squawks like a duck …
If you are so literate you should have picked up that the Bible writers created the sun twice by mistake. There is no other logical explanation. The Bible doe not say the light was temporary or that it was sourceless. This is all a baseless and irresponsible fabrication.
Again I understand why you’re having such a hard time trying to explain the Bible. It’s way too flawed.
By
Charles Fiott
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
4/22/2008 01:36 am
The sun separates day from night NOW, but not then. Then there was no sun, as a literate person will see if he keeps reading a few verses on. This light created here was a temporary sourceless light that did then what the sun does now.
Dear JK, I understand that you have a problem digesting the actual words of the Bible but, by creating your own account of creation, you are actually giving the Bible a vote of no confidence.
The actual words of the Bible are “Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
There is of course only one thing that distinguishes the day from the night, and that is the light from the sun. The Bible couldn’t have been clear about this: the light that God made in the first day is the light that separates the day from the night, not some mysterious rays or energy or anything else that creationists fabricate. It amazes me how people who profess belief in the Bible go out of their way to remake the holy words.
By
Charles Fiott
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
4/19/2008 22:21 pm
I don’t mean that light preexisted his saying “Let there be light.” When he said that, light was created for the first time. But light, being made of rays that are absorbed and turned into heat, is by its nature impermanent. It will always exist as energy, but not always be light. The light that he created there by saying “Let there be light” was no permanent source of light but was transient light (raw light separated from source) that was converted upon abortion and therefore is no longer around, at least not as light.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:6) Note that the apostle gives us the inspired interpretation of Genesis 1:3, which is not (as you seem to be saying) that God created a permanent light source, but rather that he commanded raw light to shine out of nowhere, having no source other than himself. In otherwise, this “Let there be light” did not create anything like a star, but God called forth mere and raw light out of non-existence into existence without creating any source whatsoever.
“Let there be light” is a straightforward and unequivocal statement of a permanent creation. Contending that this was “a mere ambient light to temporarily exist until the creation of the sun” is taking unreasonable and excessive liberty with the written word of the Bible. God went through a methodical process, creating one permanent thing after another. Why would he adopt a two-step process to create light as opposed to everything else? Why would he need to? What logical sense would it make? Why would it be part of the creation story if nothing was in fact created yet?
By
Charles Fiott
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
4/19/2008 18:14 pm
Since God created the Sun, moon, and stars later, this light could not be light from any of them. In fact, why assume that this light was projected from any body at all rather than mere ambient light to temporarily exist until the creation of the sun? Catching this fact that God created light before the sun, the apocryphal book of 2nd Esdras (also called 4th Esdras) says in 6:40 (Revised Standard Version) “Then thou didst command that a ray of light be brought forth from thy treasuries, so that thy works might then appear.” A ray of light is light itself and not the body that projects the light, which I assume is what the apocryphal writer is saying. He is interpreting this light as just that, light, without any body that is projecting it.
God created light in the first day but didn’t create the sun till the fourth, where the Bible tells us that the sun is the source of light. So what was the source of light in the first three days?
By
Charles
(wrote 1421 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
10/8/2007 16:18 pm
When God said :”let there be light”, it hit the universe running at 186,000 miles per second, and it has not stopped.
By
michael meurett
(wrote 6 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
9/23/2007 12:35 pm 
God spoke light into existence - nothing grows without light - he created light as the next step to survival. Just as Jesus came to be the light of the world for our salvation.
By
Sharon Corea
(wrote 5 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)Posted on:
6/6/2007 06:41 am 
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Genesis 1:3 says,”And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Like I said on Genesis 1:2 the Word of God is what created this whole thing. Notice the word light. It comes from the Hebrew word “rwa” or ore and one of its uses is to cause to shine or give light. So out of the vast darkness and chaos of Genesis 1:2, we have God giving His light to the situation. Oh how we need God’s light in this old sin troubled darkened world! As one getting ready to go to Bible college and to go into full time ministry, I pray for God’s direction. I seek to do His will for my life. May we see His light in our lives.