Bible fact · Direct biblical statement
Light on day one, sun on day four
Genesis 1 describes light on the first day and the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day. Genesis 1:3–5Genesis 1:14–19
Discover why
"God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light... There was evening and there was morning, the first day." Genesis 1:3–5
On the fourth day God made "the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars." Genesis 1:14–19
What the Bible does not say
Genesis does not explain how there was light before the sun; readers interpret the order of the days in different ways.
Read the passage
Genesis 1:3–5 WEB
3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Genesis 1:14–19 WEB
14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. 16God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, 18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Test yourself
For children
In Genesis 1, God made light on the first day, and the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day.