Kejadian 1:5

1:5 God called ¹  the light “day” and the darkness ²  “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. ³ 

Mazmur 74:16

74:16 You established the cycle of day and night; ⁴ 

you put the moon ⁵  and sun in place. ⁶ 

Mazmur 136:7-8

136:7 to the one who made the great lights,

for his loyal love endures,

136:8 the sun to rule by day,

for his loyal love endures,

Mazmur 148:3-5

148:3 Praise him, O sun and moon!

Praise him, all you shiny stars! ⁷ 

148:4 Praise him, O highest heaven,

and you waters above the sky! ⁸ 

148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he gave the command and they came into existence.

[1:5]  ¹ tn Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.”

[1:5]  sn God called. Seven times in this chapter naming or blessing follows some act of creation. There is clearly a point being made beyond the obvious idea of naming. In the Babylonian creation story Enuma Elish, naming is equal to creating. In the Bible the act of naming, like creating, can be an indication of sovereignty (see 2 Kgs 23:34). In this verse God is sovereign even over the darkness.

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:5]  ³ tn Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.”

[1:5]  sn The first day. The exegetical evidence suggests the word “day” in this chapter refers to a literal twenty-four hour day. It is true that the word can refer to a longer period of time (see Isa 61:2, or the idiom in 2:4, “in the day,” that is, “when”). But this chapter uses “day,” “night,” “morning,” “evening,” “years,” and “seasons.” Consistency would require sorting out how all these terms could be used to express ages. Also, when the Hebrew word יוֹם (yom) is used with a numerical adjective, it refers to a literal day. Furthermore, the commandment to keep the sabbath clearly favors this interpretation. One is to work for six days and then rest on the seventh, just as God did when he worked at creation.

[74:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”

[74:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the] light.” Following the reference to “day and night” and in combination with “sun,” it is likely that the Hebrew term מָאוֹר (ma’or, “light”) refers here to the moon.

[74:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”

[148:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “stars of light.”

[148:4]  ⁸ sn The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. See also Ps 104:3. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 47.