Category Archives: God CreAted Light before the Sun

God CreAted Light before the Sun

The grammar of the verse does not support such a reading. The main verse in question is Genesis 1:16, which is:

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־שְׁנֵ֥י הַמְּאֹרֹ֖ת הַגְּדֹלִ֑ים אֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַגָּדֹל֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַיּ֔וֹם וְאֶת־הַמָּא֤וֹר הַקָּטֹן֙ לְמֶמְשֶׁ֣לֶת הַלַּ֔יְלָה וְאֵ֖ת הַכּוֹכָבִֽים
The first grammatical problem is that the word מאור (ma’or) which appears three time in the verse is not the same as the word אור (or), meaning “light” as in Genesis 1:3. The word מאור in Genesis 1:16 has a mem (מ) prefix, meaning something that gives light, a source of illumination rather than light itself. This distinction is critical to correct understanding of the verse but is not apparent in any of the main English translations because in English there is no distinction between “light” meaning light itself and “a light” meaning a lamp or source of illumination. Only Young’s Literal Translation comes close to providing this distinction:

And God maketh the two great luminaries, the great luminary for the rule of the day, and the small luminary — and the stars — for the rule of the night.
The second grammatical problem is the form of the verse, which is

God made two: this one and that one
This is a common form in the OT, for example, Exodus 29:38-39 (KJV):

Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:
No one would suggest that this form indicates that the two lambs (or two sources of light) could be identical