GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GENESIS 1:5a
5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
There are several examples of God naming things during the week of creation, but only during the first three days. After that, God refrains from naming things. I think that he does this in anticipation of man giving names to things. This is one of the differences between the first and second parts of creation week.
In the first days (days 1-3), God makes the great portions of creation: the heavens and the earth, light (day) and darkness (night), the sea and sky, and then the land separated from the sea. God names those things, but then refrains from further naming with just one or two exceptions. On land, God also produces various kinds of vegetation, but he does not give names to the various kinds.
In the second part of the week (days 4-6), God fills what he had previously made. To begin with, the sun, moon and stars fill the heavens. Then birds and fish (or more precisely, flying and swimming things) fill the sky and the seas. Sometimes children need to be shown that since there was already land and trees, the birds had places to land on and rest and to build their nests. Then, living creatures are made on land in their various forms, and at last, the crown of creation: man.
To show that man was the point of everything, and the crown of the creation, God allows Adam and his wife to give names to things. Later we will told that “the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19). Since the creatures and the plants were for man to rule and to use, he was given leave to give names to those things. As we confess, “God makes all creation help provide the comforts and necessities of life for man– sun, moon, and stars in the heavens, day and night, air, fire, water, and earth and all that it brings forth, birds and fish, beasts, grain and all kinds of produce. Moreover, he gives all physical and temporal blessings– good government, peace, security” (Large Catechism, First Article §14-15).
Now, the names that God gives here are given by Moses in ordinary Hebrew. “Day” is Yom (with a long “o”), and “night” is Layala. The Greek translator uses his usual Greek words, “heméran” and “nykta,” and in Latin, “diem” and “noctem.” It isn’t as if there is anything special or magical about these words. We don’t even know for certain what language God gave to Adam and Eve. Was it changed when God confused the language of the whole world after the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:7-9)? I think that it’s likely, even certain, that this was so. But Moses still tells us that, in whatever language or dialect we happen to speak, we who read the Bible, what we mean by “day” is what God meant, and what we mean by “night” is what God meant. This helps us to interpret the Bible and to understand it better. We should take the Bible at face value, that the words mean what they say in context.
We might remember here that many names in the Bible are given in their Hebrew or Greek forms, and the people of the time would have understood their meaning. But the names are so familiar and well-known that we do not translate the name as a word that had meaning, but just as a word in another language. So “Daniel” remains Daniel, and not “God is my Judge.” “Jeremiah” would be “the exaltation of God,” but we just say Jeremiah. And Jesus means “The LORD saves,” but most people don’t think about that meaning, but only that his name was Jesus, the way we might talk about a man named Ron, or a woman called Karen, or their dear little children Danny and Nola. This is why I think that it is good when a Bible translation is able to have footnotes, so that readers can see what certain names mean. So the Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV) tells the reader in a footnote that “Eve” means “life,” “Noah” means “rest or comfort,” and so on.
To the mind of a beast, a name has little or no significance, unless (in some cases) it is that beast’s name, repeated by long use and perhaps also by good care or affection. But I don’t think the goldfish in my office knows her name. For a human being, names in general identify, contextualize, define, explain, and bring a person, a thing, and idea, or a place to mind, so that we can understand, and appreciate, and know. The very idea of a name for things is divine, and has its origin in God in this verse. We may not use these names, yom velayalah, in our everyday speech any longer, but how wonderful that God has blessed us with the idea of naming. And praise his holy name forever. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Listen or watch Bible classes online. https://splnewulm.org/invisible-church/
Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2026
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Genesis 1:5a Day and Night