Genesis 1:5
An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
Genesis 1:5 is the fifth verse in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, part of the Genesis creation narrative. In this verse, God names the newly created day and night. Interpretation of this passage hinges on the interpretation of Genesis 1:4. Evening and morning bring the first day of Creation to a close.
Day and night
Commentator Paul Kissling writes that, by naming the day and the night, God reveals his sovereign power over them,[1] seeing the light and darkness here as purely physical.
The Zohar, on the other hand, interprets the verse as describing an emanation which would be "the foundation root of universal life."[2]
Evening and morning
The verse ends with a reference to evening and morning, which bring the first day of Creation to a close. This raises the question of how evening and morning are possible in the absence of the yet-to-be-created sun.
Augustine of Hippo, in his City of God, writes: "our ordinary days have no evening but by the setting, and no morning but by the rising, of the sun; but the first three days of all were passed without sun, since it is reported to have been made on the fourth day."[3] He explains the dilemma by interpreting the evening and morning in a metaphorical sense.[3]
Text
| Translation | Text |
|---|---|
| World English Bible | "God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." There was evening and there was morning, one day." |
| American Standard Version | "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day." |
| Bible in Basic English | "Naming the light, Day, and the dark, Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." |
| Darby Bible | "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning the first day. " |
| King James Version | "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." |
| Webster's Bible Translation | "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night: and the evening and the morning were the first day." |
| Jewish Publication Society (3rd ed.) | "And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day." |
| Young's Literal Translation | "and God calleth to the light 'Day,' and to the darkness He hath called 'Night;' and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day one." |
References
- ^ Kissling, Paul J., Genesis, Volume 1, College Press, 2004, ISBN 0899008755, p. 101.
- ^ Zohar, Bereshith to Lekh Lekha: Or, Book of Light, Forgotten Books, ISBN 1605067466, pp. 89–90.
- ^ a b Augustine, City of God, Book XI, Chapter 7.