God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth,
Parallel translations
- WEB God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,
- KJV And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
- NKJV God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
- NASB God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
- NLT God set these lights in the sky to light the earth,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God sets the lights in the sky to give light to the earth. He personally appoints each part of creation to its task.
Overview
God places the heavenly lights in the expanse to illuminate the earth, underscoring that their position and purpose are his deliberate doing. Nothing in the cosmos is self-existent or autonomous; all is ordered by God's hand. This sovereign placement assures believers that the same God orders their lives and times with intention.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 8:3When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place—
- Ps 8:1For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.
- Job 38:12In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
- Gen 9:13I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
- Acts 13:47For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Lay
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 1:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.