And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
What does Genesis 1:4 mean?
God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the word of God!
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Genesis 1:3-5 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Genesis 1:4
Then saw God the light that it was good. - God contemplates his work, and derives the feeling of complacence from the perception of its excellence. Here we have two other archetypal faculties displayed in God, which subsequently make their appearance in the nature of man, the understanding, and the judgment. The perception of things external to Himself is an important fact in the relation between the Creator and the creature. It implies that the created thing is distinct from the creating Being, and external to Him. It therefore contradicts pantheism in all its forms. The judgment is merely another branch of the apprehensive or cognitive faculty, by which we note physical and ethical relations and distinctions of things.
Key words
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And God saw the light, that it was good,.
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And God saw the light, that it was good,.
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And God saw the light, that it was good,.
Context in Genesis 1
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Genesis 1 belongs to the opening movement of the book, especially the section often described as primeval history from creation to Babel. Genesis opens the whole Bible with creation, fall, flood, Babel, and the long patriarchal story that carries the reader from Eden to Egypt. Read this chapter with the wider themes of creation, fall, and covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
Related topics
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A collection of passages on hope under pressure, future inheritance, resurrection expectation, and confidence in God’s final faithfulness.
Passages on the nature of truth, honesty, deception, the word of God as truth, and Jesus' claim to be the truth.
Who quoted Genesis 1:4?
Find out who used Genesis 1:4 in their speeches and writings. Which famous people quoted Genesis 1:4?
Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders used Genesis 1:4 in Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast.