Genesis 1:14

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמ֣וֹעֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃

Transliteration

And wayyōʾmer ʾĕlōhîm yĕhî mĕʾōrōt in rĕqîaʿ the šāmayim to habdîl between the yôm and between the lāylāh and hāyû for ʾōtōt and for môʿădîm and for yāmîm and šānîm

Grammar Details

• *mĕʾōrōt*: noun, masculine plural - lights/luminaries
• *bi-rĕqîaʿ*: preposition + noun, masculine singular construct - in firmament of
• *lĕ-habdîl*: preposition + hiphil infinitive construct - to separate/divide
• *hāyû*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural - they will be
• *lĕ-ʾōtōt*: preposition + noun, masculine plural - for signs
• *û-lĕ-môʿădîm*: conjunction + preposition + noun, masculine plural - and for appointed times
• *û-lĕ-yāmîm*: conjunction + preposition + noun, masculine plural - and for days
• *wĕ-šānîm*: conjunction + noun, feminine plural - and years

Word Meanings

• *mĕʾōrōt*: lights/luminaries/light-bearers
• *habdîl*: to separate/to divide/to distinguish
• *ʾōtōt*: signs/signals/markers
• *môʿădîm*: appointed times/festivals/seasons
• *yāmîm*: days/periods of time
• *šānîm*: years/annual cycles

Referenced Verses

• Ps 136:7-9 : 7 To him that made great lights; For his lovingkindness [endureth] for ever: 8 The sun to rule by day; For his lovingkindness [endureth] for ever; 9 The moon and stars to rule by night; For his lovingkindness [endureth] for ever:
• Ps 104:19-20 : 19 He appointed the moon for seasons: The sun knoweth his going down. 20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night, Wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
• Ps 8:3-4 : 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
• Ps 74:16-17 : 16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter.
• Deut 4:19 : 19 and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.
• Isa 40:26 : 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
• Jer 31:35 : 35 Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name:
• Amos 5:8 : 8 [ seek him] that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);
• Ps 148:3 : 3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: Praise him, all ye stars of light.
• Ps 148:6 : 6 He hath also established them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which shall not pass away.
• Job 38:12-14 : 12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days [began], [And] caused the dayspring to know its place; 13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? 14 It is changed as clay under the seal; And [all things] stand forth as a garment:
• Job 38:31-32 : 31 Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the bands of Orion? 32 Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?
• Joel 2:30-31 : 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh.
• Joel 3:15 : 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
• Matt 24:29 : 29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
• Jer 33:20 : 20 Thus saith Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;
• Jer 10:2 : 2 thus saith Jehovah, Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them.
• Ezek 32:7-8 : 7 And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. 8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.
• Luke 21:25-26 : 25 And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; 26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
• Luke 23:45 : 45 the sun's light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
• Acts 2:19-20 : 19 And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the day of the Lord come, That great and notable [day].
• Rev 6:12 : 12 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and {G2400} there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood;
• Rev 8:12 : 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.
• Rev 9:2 : 2 And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
• Ezek 46:1 : 1 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
• Ezek 46:6 : 6 And on the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish:
• Joel 2:10 : 10 The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
• Jer 33:25 : 25 Thus saith Jehovah: If my covenant of day and night [stand] not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
• Mark 13:24 : 24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
• Amos 8:9 : 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
• Matt 2:2 : 2 Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
• Matt 16:2-3 : 2 But he answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, [It will be] fair weather: for the heaven is red. 3 And in the morning, [It will be] foul weather to-day: for the heaven is red and lowering. Ye know how to discern the face of the heaven; but ye cannot [discern] the signs of the times.
• Gen 8:22 : 22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
• Gen 9:13 : 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
• Job 3:9 : 9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:
• Job 25:3 : 3 Is there any number of his armies? And upon whom doth not his light arise?
• Job 25:5 : 5 Behold, even the moon hath no brightness, And the stars are not pure in his sight:
• Ps 119:91 : 91 They abide this day according to thine ordinances; For all things are thy servants.
• Ps 81:3 : 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, At the full moon, on our feast - day.
• Ps 19:1-6 : 1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night showeth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language; Their voice is not heard. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course. 6 His going forth is from the end of the heavens, And his circuit unto the ends of it; And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.