Previous section → The Unfolding of Primordial Light
Why the Light Was Confined to Particular Parts of the Celestial Spheres
But why was that wondrous light not spread throughout all the celestial spheres, instead of being confined to particular portions of them? And why was there one star in one sphere, while another sphere contained many stars, some close together and crowded against one another, and others separated by a distance of a cubit or more?
All this demonstrates that the arrangement was the work of an Agent acting with intention and will, who did whatever was right in His eyes. For the human intellect is incapable of providing a satisfactory and firmly established explanation for these matters, as the Master of the Guide has already observed.
The Meaning of “In the Firmament of the Heavens”
As for the expression “luminaries in the expanse of the heavens”1 (Genesis 1:14), it does not mean “in the luminaries, which are the heavens,” as the commentators have explained.
Rather, because the appearance of the dry land is also described by the term rakia, or “spreading out,” as Scripture says, “To Him who spread out the earth above the waters” (Psalms 136:6), and, “Who spread out the earth and its offspring” (Isaiah 42:5), Scripture needed to clarify which firmament was intended as the location of the luminaries. It therefore specified the heavenly firmament, rather than the earthly one.
Nor does Scripture simply say, “Let there be luminaries in the heavens,” because the first and all-encompassing celestial sphere is called “heavens,” and it contains no luminaries.
Instead, Scripture says “in the expanse of the heavens,” meaning the firmament situated within the heavens and adjacent to them—that is, the enclosed celestial spheres created on the second day.
For it was within these spheres, or more precisely within certain portions of them, that the noble primordial light was to spread and become established. Those illuminated portions would then constitute the luminaries.
The third question is thereby resolved.
How the Luminaries Separate Day from Night
As for the words “to separate between the day and between the night”2 (Genesis 1:14), they do not mean that no distinction between day and night had previously existed.
Rather, the distinction which the primordial light had produced through its presence and absence during day and night, together with the appearances of morning and evening that it brought about through its varying degrees of intensity in a wondrous manner, would henceforth be produced by the celestial sphere through its continuous motion, once the light had become established permanently within certain portions of it.
From this you may understand that the expression “to separate” does not refer to the luminaries, nor to any one of them, as the commentators supposed. Rather, it refers to the firmament previously mentioned. For once the light had become established within portions of the firmament, that firmament, through its motion, would separate day from night. This is why Scripture employs the singular expression “to separate.” The fourth question is thereby resolved.
This separation is attributed to the firmament by virtue of the luminaries. For when the illuminated portion, namely the sun, is above the horizon, it gives light and there is day; when it is below the horizon, its light is absent and there is night.
The time at which night begins can be determined only by means of the stars. For when they become visible, it is evident that the sun’s light has perceptibly departed from the earth, and this marks the beginning of night.
Nevertheless, this separation may also be attributed to the moon and the stars, because the Torah does not define day and night in the same way as astronomers do.
According to the astronomers, day extends from the moment the sun becomes visible above the earth until it disappears, while all the remaining time is considered night.
But this is not the Torah’s definition. According to the Torah, day encompasses the entire period during which there is light upon the earth as a result of the sun’s illumination, even when the sun itself is not above the horizon.
And the time at which night begins can be determined only by means of the stars. For when they become visible, it is evident that the sun’s light has perceptibly departed from the earth, and this marks the beginning of night.
For this reason, our Sages said that, for all the laws of the Torah, the day extends from dawn until the appearance of the stars.
As Ibn Ezra wrote, morning light begins an hour and a third before sunrise, and likewise, for an hour and a third after sunset, it is not yet night.
For this reason, Scripture attributes the distinction between day and night to the firmament, which moves in a circular motion, bringing the sun, moon, and stars into view.
Moreover, the words “to separate between the day and between the night” have a broader meaning. The luminaries also produce distinctions between the various parts of the day itself and between the various parts of the night itself. For these periods differ in their natural characteristics according to the progression of day and night, as well as according to their particular hours, in relation to the celestial bodies that govern each hour, as maintained by the practitioners of judicial astrology.
This distinction, which the Torah attributes to the luminaries, constitutes the first benefit arising from their existence.
Parashat Bereshit — Genesis 1:14-19, The Rhythm of the Heavens in the Commentary of Don Isaac Abarbanel)
Next section →
