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יהי מארת BE THERE LUMINARIES — They had been created on the first day, but on the fourth He commanded them to be suspended in the firmament (Chagigah 12a). Indeed, all the productions of heaven and earth were created on the first day, but each of them was put in its place on that day when it was so commanded. In reference to this it is written את השמים (v. 1) In the beginning God created that which was את with the heavens etc., in order to include all the productions of heaven, ואת הארץ to include all its (the earth’s) productions (Genesis Rabbah 12:4).

יהי מארות, “let there be luminaries;” it is common for the Torah to apply a singular mode to nouns described in the plural, such as in Numbers 9,6 ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים, “there was (singular) men who were ritually impure, etc." The meaning of our verse here is: “let a certain process occur as a result of which luminaries will materialise in the sky of the heavens.”

יהי מאורות ברקיע השמים, the planets created on the second day should now begin to function by providing light. Their influence should be concentrated on the “lower” universe, as it is visible to us with our senses. Everything mentioned in this paragraph refers to sensations perceived by the creatures on earth. By traversing pure waters on the way to earth, the light refracted by these luminaries is increased manifold.

"Let there be (yehi) luminaries:" When the [verb], being, is before the noun, it does not always adhere to the gender and number [of the noun]; as it is like an anonymous (impersonale) verb. It is like in French, il y aura, il y a; and as in (Numbers 9:6) "And there was (vayehi) people," and (Deuteronomy 22:23) "If there is (yehieh which is masculine) a virgin maiden."

LET THERE BE LIGHTS. Now the light was created on the first day, illuminating the elements, but when on the second day the firmament was made, it intercepted the light and prevented it from illuminating the lower elements. Thus, when the earth was created on the third day there was darkness on it and not light. And now on the fourth day the Holy One, blessed be He, desired that there be in the firmament luminaries, the light of which would reach the earth. This is the meaning of the words, in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,¹⁴⁴Verse 17. for there already was light above the firmament which did not illuminate the earth.
The meaning of the words, Let there be lights, is as follows: He decreed on the first day that from the substance of the heavens there should come forth a light for the period of the day, and now He decreed that it become corporeal and that a luminous body come forth from it which would give light during the day with a great illumination, and that another body of lesser light [should come into existence] to illumine at night, and He suspended both in the firmament of the heavens in order that they illumine below as well.
It is possible that just as He endowed the earth with the power of growth in certain places thereof, so He placed in the firmament certain areas that are prepared and ready to receive the light, and these bodies which receive the light reflect it, just as window-panes and onyx stones. This is why He called them me’oroth and not orim. [Orim would imply that they have their own light; me’oroth on the other hand implies that they reflect the light which they receive], even though they are called orim, in the Psalm.¹⁴⁵Psalms 136:7. To Him that made great ‘orim’ (lights).

"Let there be luminaries in the firmament of the heavens:" Luminaries (meorot) is written in [its] incomplete spelling [meaning that it lacks the letter vav]. Rashi explains that [hence] this [can be read also] as the word, curses (ma'arot), etc. I say that the following is the reason a word that indicates curse is mentioned specifically with the luminaries: since the luminaries are the cause of time and all things that come under time involve pain. As the Rabbis, of blessed memory, said (Megillah 10b), "Every place where it is stated, 'and it was' is nothing but a place of pain" and [the Talmud] concludes that it is only in a place where it is stated "and it was in the days of" that it is an expression of pain; and the reason for this matter is because any thing that is dependent on days - meaning, on time - involves pain, but all of the higher existences that are above time, and time does not rule over them, they do not involve any pain. Therefore, it is stated, "Let there be luminaries," in [its] incomplete spelling, because all things that are under the sun involve curses and pain, since time wears everything out. And that which variants of the word, luminary (me'ohr), appear in this section five time and, so [too] in the first section, five variants of the word, light (ohr), agrees with the words of the midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 2:5), which says, "'And the Lord said, "let there be light,"' these are the actions of the righteous, etc.," and wants to explain the five times [that] light [is mentioned] corresponds to the five books of the Torah, [the study and practice of] which are the actions of the righteous.

Luminaries (meorot): is [written in its] incomplete spelling [meaning that it lacks the letter vav], since only the sun was created to give light. And the moon was only created so that [people] would not worship the sun, [which might have been the case] had it been alone.

And God said, "let there be luminaries:" The reason for it saying, "let there be," in the singular form, about two [luminaries] is to hint with this that [only] one of them would shine during the day, and for this reason it did not use the plural form. And through God speaking in this way, it allowed for the thing that happened to result in the moon getting reduced - as they, of blessed memory, stated (Chullin 60b) - since if God had said at the beginning of His words, "let [them] be," the matter would have stood like that [with their size being equal] perforce, because the word of Our God stands forever.

ויאמר אלוקים יהי מארות ברקיע השמים, we do not find many occasions when the verb היה occurs within strictly defined grammatical parameters in accordance with the rules applying to differentiating between singular and plural, or the rules applying to distinguishing between masculine and feminine subjects. As a result, the Torah here writes יהי in the singular mode, although G’d gave a directive involving a whole multitude of new phenomena that were to appear in the sky. Compare also Deut 22,23 כי יהיה נערה בתולה, where the Torah employs the masculine pronoun when referring to a young girl, still a virgin.
These luminaries were created during the first “day” together with the planets (fixed stars) as we explained on verse 3; however, their light was not transmitted to earth seeing there had not been an atmosphere at yet. [our astronauts only discovered that there is utter darkness beyond the stratosphere when they took the first space flight beyond these regions. Ed.] Besides, the earth was not yet sufficiently dry. Once it had dried sufficiently, in accordance with G’d’s will, it commenced complying with G’d’s directive on the morning of the third “day” to produce herbs, etc. By the fourth “day” it had become much stronger, firmer, so that when G’d gave a directive to the luminaries, these were able to respond in accordance with G’d’s directive. As a result the plants produced by the earth would contain seeds, the trees would bear fruit, etc. This is the meaning of the statement by our sages in Rosh Hashanah 11 that the entire work of creation was created in their full potential, fully mature, i.e. on the fourth day the vegetation, including herbs and trees had attained its full growth. All the creatures created subsequently also were created in their full size, maturity, as appropriate to each separate species. When the Talmud there adds the words בדעתן בצביונן נבראו, this means that the creatures equipped with intelligence possessed it from the moment they were created, whereas those not meant to possess intelligence would not develop it at a later stage either. Man was able to recognise the nature and essence of each creature as well as its function in the universe. This is what Solomon had in mind when he said in Kohelet 3,11 את הכל עשה יפה בעתו, “He brought everything to pass precisely at its time.”
The reason the herbs, etc. attained their ultimate size, etc. on the fourth “day,” was because they required the input of the celestial bodies for this, something that had not been present on the third “day.” This is what the sages (Chagigah 12) referred to when they said הן הן המאורות שנבראו ביום ראשון אלא שלא תלאן עד יום רביעי, “these (the ones mentioned on the fourth ‘day’) are the ones which had been created on the first ‘day,’ but He had not placed them in orbit until the fourth ‘day.’” The word תלה means to hang something from the top down. ברקיע השמים, the atmosphere; this is also the meaning of the word when we read על פני רקיע השמים. (verse 20) This region is called רקיע, because, as we explained on verse 8, it is something stretched taut over a large expanse of space. G’d attached it to the heaven, i.e. to the various planets, seeing that it is secondary in importance to them, receiving its light from them.

To separate: According to their movement, a separation was made between the day and the night. And there is also the dawn and the dusk, which are what separates the two ends [of the day.] And this is [what is meant by] 'between, and between.' (And see the adjacent verse, Genesis 1:17.)

יהי מאורות, “let there be luminaries;” according to Rashi these luminaries had already been created on the first day but were not made operative, i.e. placed in their respective orbits in the sky until the fourth day. Nachmanides explains that the light which had been created on the first day illuminated the basic universe still in a state of chaos, and on the second day G’d prevented this light from illuminating the earth’s foundation (shining only in the sky, the רקיע), whereas once the dry land, יבשה came into existence on the third day, there was darkness on the face of the earth, until, on the fourth day, G’d created sun and moon, etc This is why the Torah bothered to tell us that these luminaries were intended to provide light in our part of the universe. The word ברקיע indicates that until that time this light had functioned only above the sky. Now it was available also for creatures whose habitat was below the sky. The phrasing יהי אורות, which suggests there had not been any such luminaries prior to that day, means only that G’d had decreed already on the first day that the raw material functioning as light in the heavens should henceforth also be the one giving illumination on earth. Now, on the fourth day, the time had come to translate that potential into practice, the larger luminary to shine by day and the smaller one by night.

Were created from the first day. Rashi is answering the question: It should have said first, “Let there be luminaries,” marking their creation. And then, “And the luminaries shall be in the canopy,” marking their suspension in the canopy. [Thus Rashi explains, “They were created from the first day.”]

(14-19) V. 14 — 19. מאור ,אור ,מארת. Bis dahin war אור, der Lichtstrom, über die ganze Erde verbreitet und ׳ויבדל א, und Gott mit seiner Allmacht schied Licht und Finsternis. Nachdem das Licht bei Erzeugung der Pflanzen, dieser eigentlichsten Lichtkinder, mitgewirkt, soll das Licht an Lichtträger gebunden werden, und die Erde fortan ihr Licht durch diese Lichtträger vom Himmelsgewölbe herab erhalten. מאור wie משכן ,מזבח ,מנורה usw. מארת doppelt חסר. Der mangelhaft geschriebene plur. fem. oder mit dem Prädikat im Singular, wie הכמות בנתה, lässt überall die geteilte Vielheit in den Hintergrund treten und stellt vielmehr den abstrakten einheitlichen Begriff dar, der sich an vielen Objekten offenbart, in vielen Objekten in die Erscheinung tritt. So heißt es bei den חטאות פנימיות ונתן וגו׳ על קרנות מזבח הקטרת קרנות מלא, und dort ist מתנה אחת מהן מעכבת. Dagegen bei den ונתן על קרנת מזבח העולה: חטאות חצוניות קרנת חסר, und dort bezeichnet es nur die Höhenwinkel des מזבח im allgemeinen, und ואם נתן מתנה א׳ כפר. Hier ist die Einheit doppelt hervorgehoben, die Pluralform ist gekürzt und das Verbum יהי steht im Singular. Es ist damit die harmonische Einheit der zahllosen lichttragenden Gestirne gezeichnet, sie allesamt in ihrer unermess- lichen Vielheit bilden doch ein einheitliches System. Indem auch אור, das Licht selbst, hier חסר, nicht voll ausgedrückt ist, מארת, so erkannten die Weisen darin zugleich den Ausdruck, dass das Licht, wie es uns jetzt in seiner Gebundenheit an die Lichtträger erscheint, nicht in der ursprünglichen Fülle und Reinheit, sondern in jener geminderten Kraft uns zustrahlt, die unserem zeitlichen, noch unvollkommenen Zustande entspricht; vgl.oben zu וירא א׳ את האור כי טוב. Dieser unvollkommene Zustand bekundet sich wohl durch nichts mehr, als durch die Sterblichkeit junger Kinder, deren frühzeitiger Tod nur in der physischen und sittlichen Mangelhaftigkeit der Eltern wurzeln kann, und begreift sich somit das Fasten der אנשי מעמד am vierten Wochentage על התינוקות שלא יעלה עליהם אסכרה. In dem folgenden Verse והיו למאורת, in welchem ihre Bestimmung, der Erde ihr zeitliches Licht zu spenden, ausgesprochen wird, ist der Stamm אור voll; denn diese ihre Bestimmung wird allerdings vollständig gelöst. Die Bezeichnung מאור für die Gestirne gibt übrigens die Tatsache, dass diese nicht Quelle, sondern Träger des Lichtes sind. Ganz besonders wird aber wiederholt, dass sie nur ברקיע שמים, an dem Erdhimmel zu Lichtträgern bestimmt sind. Was sie an sich sind und welche Bestimmung sie sonst noch haben, das liegt jenseits der Betrachtung, welche aufzuklären diese Schöpfungsgeschichte bestimmt ist. Sie spricht nur von deren Einfluss und Bestimmung für die physische und sittliche irdische Welt. Sie spricht daher vorzugsweise nur von Sonne und Mond, deren Wirksamkeit für die Erde augenfällig ist, und fügt die Sterne, ואת הככבים, deren Bedeutung für die Erde weniger erkennbar ist, nur ergänzend bei. Ist doch die Tendenz des Ganzen nur, uns zu sagen, dass Gott die großen Himmelslichter, durch deren Lichtspende das ganze physische und sittliche Erdleben geregelt wird, und auch die Sterne geschaffen, und Er ihnen ihre Bahnen und ihr Wirken an dem Himmel der Erde angewiesen. Diese Bestimmung wird ausgesprochen: Es soll ein System von Lichtträgern sein an dem Gewölbe des Himmels, zu unterscheiden zwischen Tag und Nacht. Diese große, das ganze Erdenleben regelnde Ordnung steht im Vordergrunde. Sekundär heißt es ferner: sie seien auch zu אותות und מועדים, zu ימים und אותות .שנים Merkzeichen, מועדים Zeitbestimmungen (rad. ועד), dürften die Orientierung in Raum und Zeit auf Erden bedeuten, die durch den bestimmten Ort und den regelmäßigen, periodischen Lauf der Gestirne vermittelt wird. Das Gestirn wird durch seinen Standpunkt am Himmel das Merkzeichen zur räumlichen Orientierung und Messung auf Erden. Es wird durch seinen periodischen Verlauf das Mittel zur irdisch genauesten Bestimmung der Zeit. Beides setzt die genaueste Fixierung des Standpunktes und die regelmäßigste Bestimmung der Bahnen und des Laufes der Himmelskörper voraus, und es wird uns gesagt, dass Gott ihnen die Regelmäßigkeit in Ort und Zeit erteilt und angewiesen. Diese Zeitbestimmung wird noch erweitert durch: ולימים ושנים. Durch den regelmäßigen Gang der Gestirne ist die ganze irdische Zeit in מועדים, auch der Tag in wechselnde Stunden und Minuten geteilt. Allein auch die Tage sind einander nicht gleich, und bilden durch den Stand der Erde zu Mond und Sonne kleinere und größere Kreise, es entstehen ימים und שנים, kleinere Tageskreise: Monate, und größere: Jahre oder ימים, Tageskreise: Jahr, und שנים, Jahreskreise: Cykel (Zyklen).

יהי מאורות, “let there be luminaries;” it is the style of the Holy Scriptures to refer even to phenomena that exist in multiples as if they existed as individuals, by using the singular mode [יהי instead of יהיו, Ed.] Examples are: ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים “there were men who were ritually unclean,” [where we would have expected the Torah to have written: ויהיו אנשים.] (Numbers 9,6) We should therefore understand the word יהי as referring to a creative act about to occur, and what follows as referring to the details, i.e. the answer to the question: “what was there to develop?” The answer is: “luminaries.” The term מאורות, reminds the reader that these luminaries were derivatives of the אור, light, created already on the first day. These derivatives were now divided into two separate light giving bodies, one larger than the other. They were named “sun,” and” moon,” respectively. As to the Torah adding: ואת הכוכבים, “and the stars,” this applies only to the execution of G-d’s directive, not to the directive itself. It is to teach us that these “stars” came into existence without a specific directive from the Creator, but as a result of fragments, sparks, resulting when G-d split the original luminary into sun and moon respectively.

יהי מארת The word is written without the ו after the א (so that it may be read מארת, cursed), because it is a cursed day when children are liable to suffer from croup. In reference to this we read (in Taanit 27b): On the fourth day of the week they used to fast to avert croup from the children (Yerushalmi Taanit 4:3).

ברקיע השמים, in the firmament which spans the heavens.

"Luminaries:" The stars - all the ones that are visible to our eyes - are included in this name, since they all shine upon us, if [dimly], if [brightly].

And they will be for signs: We explained, in the Book of Exodus 7:9 and in several places, that its meaning is that it [allows one to] time a natural [process]. And this is impossible without luminaries.

להבדיל בין היום ובין הלילה, to create a separation between the day and the night. Up until this point there was either complete light (day) or complete darkness (night). From now on there would be some light at night. The large luminary, the sun, would provide its light for the day, whereas the smaller luminary, the moon, would provide some light at night. We know from Deut. 33,14 that the influence of the moon on certain crops is beneficial, i.e. that light provided during the night promotes the growth of crops sensitive to such light.

Was stored away... Rashi is answering the question: It is already written (v. 4): “Elohim divided the light from the darkness.”

It also appears, in its making a point of stating, "to separate between the day and between the night," [to be saying that] if the luminaries were equal and one of them serves during the day and one serves during the night, in what way could night be distinguishable from day, since night 'shines like the day?'

TO DIVIDE THE DAY FROM THE NIGHT. Rashi wrote: “This took place after the primeval light was concealed for the righteous, but during the six¹⁴⁶In our text of Rashi: “seven.” See my note to Berliner’s edition of Rashi (p. 436) that both texts can be explained as correct. days of creation the [primeval] light and darkness functioned, one by day and one by night.”¹⁴⁷In our text of Rashi: “functioned together both by day and by night.” However, during the seven days of creation it was the primeval light that functioned, its concealment taking place on the eve following the Sabbath (so clearly explained in Maharal’s commentary on Rashi — Gur Aryeh).
Now I do not see that this is the opinion of our Rabbis who mention concealment in connection with the primeval light. In their opinion, rather, the primeval light functioned for three days, and on the fourth an emanation took place from which was formed these two luminaries, just as the Rabbis have said,¹⁴⁸Bereshith Rabbah 17:7. “The sphere of the sun is an offshoot of the upper light.” For since this world was not deserving of being served by this primeval light without an intermediary, He concealed it for the righteous in the World to Come, and He made use of this offshoot of the upper light from the fourth day on. Thus the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah:¹⁴⁹3:6. “It was taught: The light which was created during the six days of creation could not give light at daytime because it would then dim the sphere of the sun; at night it could not give light, since it was created to light only at daytime. So where is it? It was concealed. And where is it? It is prepared for the righteous in the hereafter, as it is said, And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and as the light of the seven days.¹⁵⁰Isaiah 30:26. ‘Seven?’ I wonder! Were they not three?¹⁵¹For since the present light was created on the fourth day, the primeval light functioned only for the first three days during Creation. It is like a man who says thus: ‘I am keeping this for the seven days of my wedding feast.’” That is to say, it is common parlance that one say: “I am keeping and guarding this meat for the seven days of my wedding festivity.” It is not that this would suffice him for all seven days, only that he will use it during that time. In the same way the Rabbis explained the expression seven days, meaning as the light which functioned during some of those days.
There in Bereshith Rabbah the Rabbis also said:¹⁵²3:7. “And He separated the light.¹⁵³Verse 4. Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Simon said, ‘He separated it for Himself.’¹⁵⁴Just as the verse says, And the light dwelleth with Him. (Daniel 2:22). And the Rabbis say, ‘He separated it for the righteous in the hereafter.’” Now if you could know the intent of the Rabbis in their saying in the Blessing of the Moon,¹⁵⁵Sanhedrin 42a. “A crown of glory to those borne by Him from the birth,” you would know the secret of the primeval light, the conserving thereof, and the matter of separation mentioned [in the words of Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Simon] — i.e., “He separated it for Himself” — as well as the secret of “the two kings making use of one crown,”¹⁵⁶Chullin 60 b, and mentioned in Rashi here, Verse 16: “The sun and the moon were created of equal size. When the moon complained, ‘It is impossible for two kings to make use of one crown,’ G-d said to it, ‘Go and diminish thyself.’” as will indeed be the case at the end when the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun after the light of the sun shall be sevenfold.¹⁵⁰Isaiah 30:26.

Wir dürfen uns jedoch nicht verhehlen, dass אות und מועד sonst in תנ"ך nicht in diesem allgemeinen astronomischen Sinne vorkommt, vielmehr bewegt sich die Bedeutung von אותות und מועדים fast ausschließlich im Gebiete des intellektuellen und sittlichen Menschenlebens. אותות sind sinnlich wahrnehmbare Erscheinungen, die zu Gedanken führen, Gedanken vermitteln oder wecken sollen. (Vergl. V. 1 את.) So heißen die Großtaten Gottes אותות, insofern sie die Gedanken der göttlichen Allmacht und des göttlichen Waltens auf Erden wecken sollen. Sind sie zugleich solche, die überzeugen und wo möglich auf die Willenskraft des Menschen einwirken sollen, so heißen sie מופתים, von יפת gleichbedeutend mit פתה, im Hifil: überführen, überzeugen, zu einem Entschluss be- wegen. מועדים von יעד, ein Stelldichein bestimmen, Ort und Zeit zu einer Zusammenkunft bestimmen, davon מועדים, die von Gott, und durch קידוש החדש auch von der Nation, zur Zusammenkunft mit Gott bestimmten Festzeiten. Zu Beiden, zu אותות und מועדים dienen aber die leuchtenden Himmelskörper. Sie sind im allgemeinen der Mensch- heit אותות geworden. Der Anblick des gestirnten Himmels, die regelmäßigen Lichtphasen des Mondes, vor allem der geregelte und das ganze Erdenleben regelnde Gang der Sonne ist, wie das תהלים-Lied singt, אין אמר ואין דברים ohne Rede und ohne Worte, doch die große Gottespredigt von dem Himmel herab an die Menschen geworden, die in die Brust des Menschen die Ahnung einer höheren Macht senkte und über die Welt hin die Verkündigung ruft: Es ist ein Gott! Es hat sie aber auch der Menschheit und Israels Gott zu besonderen אותות, zu besonderen Denk- und Wahrzeichen seiner Verheißungen und seiner Bestimmungen gebraucht. Seine erste Verheißung an die Menschheit und sein erstes Gesetz an Israel, das Israel für immer seiner eigenen Bestimmung inne werden lassen soll, hat Gott durch Sternenschrift verewigt. Er wies die auf wiedergeschenkter Erde neu entstandene Menschheit auf den Regenbogen am Himmel hin und sprach: זאת אות הברית dies ist das Zeichen des Bundes, den ich zwischen mir und allem Fleische auf Erden errichtet habe. Als Abraham eine Ahnung von der Zukunft seines Volkes haben sollte, führte er ihn in den Anblick des Sternenhimmels hinaus und sprach: כה יהיה זרעך so soll dein Same werden, so zahlreich und so unmittelbar an Gottes Munde hangend wie die Sterne. Und als Israel den ersten Schritt in seine nationale, geschichtlich und sittlich kampfreiche Zukunft tun sollte, rief Er seine Führer in den Anblick des zu neuem Lichte erstehenden Mondes hin und sprach: החדש הזה לכם, diese Lichterneuerung ist euer Wahrzeichen, דוגמא שלכם. Wie dort sich׳s immer neu zum Lichte emporringt, so sollet auch ihr euch immer aufs neue zu neuer Reinheit und Klarheit und zu neuem Leben und Glanze aus jeder Verdunkelung des Geistes und der Sitte und aus jedem Dunkel des Geschickes emporringen. Diese Verkündigung der immer zu findenden Erlösung von Übel und Schuld, der nimmer zu verlierenden Verjüngung zu Freiheit und Leben durch die Welt zu tragen, ist euer Beruf, und כזה ראה וקדש, und so oft der dem neuen Lichte zuwachsende Mond sich zeigt, heiliget die Zeit in eurem Kreise zur Vollbringung solcher Erstehung zu neuem Lichte des Geistes und der Sitte, des Heiles und des Lebens. — So wurden Gestirne zu אותות: zu Wahrzeichen für die heiligsten, erlösungsreichsten Verheißungen an die Menschheit und Israel — (und eben damit קידוש החדש nicht zur bloßen inhaltlosen astronomischen Zeitrechnung hinabsinke, ist neben der astronomischen Berechnung wesentlich: מצוה לקדש על פי ראיה) — und zu מועדים: zu von Gott für Israel zu immer neuer Beherzigung seiner Erlösungs- und Heiligungswahrheiten vor Seinem Angesichte im Anschluß an Sein Gesetz bestimmten Zeiten; sie sind alle ebenfalls an den Lauf der Gestirne, an den Umlauf des Mondes und an die von dem Laufe der Sonne bestimmten Jahreszeiten geknüpft, überall den jüdischen Blick zugleich auf die Natur und die Geschichte heftend, denselben Gott und in derselben Weise in der Natur und in der Geschichte waltend zu zeigen. Auch diese Möglichkeit, die אורות ברקיע השמים zu אותות ומועדים für die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechtes und Israels zu verwenden, ist nicht minder durch den vom Schöpfer gegebenen regelmäßigen Gang derselben bedingt, und wohl dürften die Einsetzungsworte derselben: ׳והיו לאותות ולמועדי auf diese menschengeschichtliche Heroldschaft der Gestirne für die Gottes-Wahrheiten an die Menschheit und Israel sich beziehen. Es darf dabei nicht Wunder nehmen, schon hier bei der Schöpfungsgeschichte, wie auch bei dem Werke des dritten Tages, einem Hinblicke auf das spätere Gesetz zu begegnen. War doch dieses Gesetz bereits vierzig Jahre dem Volke mündlich vollständig gelehrt und zum großen Teile auch bereits praktisch ins Leben eingelebt, als seine Grundzüge und der Grundriss der Geschichte schriftlich fixiert und zur Erhaltung der vollständigen mündlichen Lehre ihm überantwortet wurden. Eine Wahrheit, die man sich nicht oft genug für das Verständnis und die richtige Auffassung der תשב"כ, des geschriebenen Gotteswortes, vergegenwärtigen kann. Als dem jüdischen Volke zuerst diese Schöpfungsgeschichte in die Hand gegeben wurde, waren ihm bereits die מאורות zu אותות und מועדים geworden. Es begreift sich hiernach auch, wie die Weisen die Bedeutung des מאור הקטן als Wahrzeichen Israels in seinem Verhältnis zum größeren Lichte, als dem Wahrzeichen der übrigen, nach der Sonne zählenden Völker, zu dieser Stelle hier weiter entwickeln.

מארת, the word is spelled defectively, the letter ו of the plural ending being absent. The reason it is spelled defective is that the stars were not meant to dispense light but were meant to guide us navigationally merely by being visible, and to help us tell time as they appeared at regular intervals.

להבדיל בין היום ובין הלילה TO CAUSE A DIVISION BETWEEN THE DAY AND THE NIGHT — This took place after the primeval (divine) light was conserved for the righteous; but during the first seven [another reading is “three”] days of Creation the primeval light and darkness functioned together both by day and by night.

ברקיע, seeing that the word ברקיע is in the construct mode, linked to the word following it, i.e. “the sky of the heaven, the ra-kia, the vowel under the letter ר is a brief one, chataf, such as the difference between katzir, harvest, and k’tzir chittim, “wheat harvest,” where the word k’tzir is in the construct mode, belonging to the word chittim, wheat. (Ruth 2,23) להבדיל בין היום ובין הלילה, the Torah had already mentioned earlier (verse 4) that G’d had made a separation between light and dark, so what need was there for the luminaries in order to accomplish this? The fact is that up until this point the precise point when night or day commences and ends had not yet been defined. This came about only when the sunrise and sunset became visible observable phenomena on earth. Similarly, the advent of visible stars in the sky now signaled that dusk had come to an end. להבדיל בין (תחלת) היום ובין (תחלת) הלילה, to separate night from the beginning of the day and day from the beginning of the night.

"In the firmament of the heavens:" In the firmament that is called the heavens, [meaning in the firmament which is [our] heavens. And this is one use of the relational form (smikhut), as in the 'River of Euphrates' (Parat), [which means] the river that is called Euphrates; [and] (Jeremiah 14:17) "the virgin of the daughter of my people," [ which means] the virgin which is the daughter of my people; [and] (Isaiah 37:22) "the virgin of the daughter of Zion," [which means that she] is the daughter of Zion. [And so too are understood the next few verses:] (I Kings 10:15), "the people of trade;" (Judges 19:22) "the people of the sons of lawlessness;" and so [too] (Isaiah 1:4) "the seed of evildoers;" (Isaiah 65:23) "the seed of those blessed by God." And so [too], 'God of Hosts,' [which means] God who is the Hosts. (And so too Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra wrote below [verse 31], "'the day of the sixth (yom hashishi)' - the day that is the sixth." Here too, the firmament of the heavens [means] the firmament that is the heavens.)

And for appointed times: The change of seasons; cold and heat and so forth, all of which occurs through the luminaries.

והיו לאותות ולמועדים ולימים ושנים. The word לאותות refers to hours; the word ולמועדים refers to the seasons of the year and the festivals to be observed during these seasons. For, just as the year is divided into four seasons, a hot season, a cold season, spring and fall, so day and night are divided into 24 hours. The word ולימים refers to the number of days in a month, i.e. 29 and a half days plus 2/3rds of an hour and 73 parts [of the 1080 parts an hour is divided into halachically. Ed.] The word ולשנים refers to years, i.e. solar years of 365 and a quarter days [as opposed to lunar “years,” i.e. 12 x a lunar month. Ed.] This is implied by the very meaning of the word שנה, which refers to something which occurs again and again, such as the completion of the sun’s orbit around the earth after the four seasons. [the assumption of the astronomers in the author’s time. Ed.] According to Targum Yerushalmi the appropriate translation of the word שנים is לאתין וסימנן, as visible reminders למקדש רישי ירחין ושנין when to sanctify the new moon and the New Year.

You need not worry. But if they follow the ways of the gentiles, they indeed should fear.

Indeed, the verse [also] wants [to teach] that - given that He preceded on the first day to create the light and you will find that it states [the word] light five times in the first section; and the Rabbis, of blessed memory, hinted (Bereishit Rabbah 3:6) that five lights were created and God separated them for His inheritance in the future, for the righteous ones, and then - now on the fourth day, He emanated from the lights a portion sufficient for the world and suspended it in the firmament of the skies; and that is [why] it states, let there be luminaries (meohrot, which can also be understood as 'from the lights'), the explanation of which is that it be one portion from the lights that were created on the first day. And He embedded that they should not be fixed but should rotate, such that through their rotation, night and day be distinguishable, and this He did as a sign for the recognition of the holy days, as it states it, "for signs and for appointed times etc. And when the luminary was emanated, two [different] parts were emanated and both of them were created to serve the purposes of day. And this is why you will find (Chullin 60b) that the moon claimed that it it impossible for two kings to use one crown, the explanation [of the 'one crown'] is at one time, and this is how it is brought in the words of our Rabbis; because if the boundary of the moon had been the night and that of the sun, the day, there is not [here] one crown for both of them, but [rather] each one has a boundary of its own. And so you will find that it states, "and they will be for luminaries in the firmament of the skies to shine on the earth," without [mention] of the setting of a time.

AND THEY SHALL BE FOR SIGNS. These are the changes which they will bring forth, making signs and wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.¹⁵⁷Joel 3:3. This is similar in meaning to the expression, And be not dismayed at the signs of heaven.¹⁵⁸Jeremiah 10:2.

ברקיע השמים, “in the part of the horizon that spans the atmosphere.” [like an umbrella. Ed.] It is positioned below the upper layers of heaven.

והיו לאותות AND THEY SHALL BE FOR SIGNS — When the heavenly luminaries are eclipsed it is a sign of ill-omen for the world, as it is written, (Jeremiah 10:2) “Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven” — when you carry out the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, you need apprehend no calamity (Sukkah 29a).

והיו לאותות ולמועדים, an oblique reference to Kings II 20,8-9 where King Chizkiyah had asked G’d for a sign in the sky that Isaiah’s promise that the decree of his death had been cancelled and that G’d had added another 15 years to his life was definitive. We have other verses (Yoel 3,3) as well as Jeremiah 10,2 in which these phenomena in the sky are described as clear signals by G’d to man of things to come.

"To separate between the day and the night:" That which was the will of God at the beginning and without an intermediary (since on the first three days the light would serve for a certain time and afterwards leave and the darkness would take its place, and all of this was through the actions of God and through his proclamation), [and] now it would be through the luminaries. And all of this was to make known that the sun and all the hosts of the heavens are only His servants who follow His will.

And for days and years: To know the change from one day to another, and so [too] with years; all of which is only through the movement of the luminaries.

By the new moon. This results from the interaction of both luminaries [sun and moon], as known to astronomers. Thus the Torah connects the holidays to both.

AND FOR SEASONS. This means seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter.¹⁵⁹Genesis 8:22.

להבדיל בין היום ובין הלילה “to form a visible partition between day and night.” The sun separates day from the preceding night, whereas the moon separates what follows after the day that preceded it.

ולמועדים AND FOR SEASONS (FESTIVALS) — This is written with a view to the future when Israel would receive command regarding the festivals which would be calculated from the time of the lunar conjunction (Genesis Rabbah 6:1).

ולמועדים, the orbit of the moon which renews its path every 29 and a half days serves as a legal instrument used in determining dates which appear in documents used by the Jewish people. Compare what David wrote about this in Psalms 104,19

"And they will be for signs:" The luminaries will be the cause of the signs of the heavens, as per the explanation of (Jeremiah 10:4), "of the signs of the heavens do not be afraid" (Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra); and the explanation of signs is indicators. And the nations of the world called them this because they believed that they were indicators of what will come in the future; and it is as Yirmiyahu said [in the verse just cited], that the nations feared from them. And behold, it would have been fitting for Him to first say, "and they will be for days and years and appointed times," and at the end He would mention the signs, [since] they are only occasional; except that He wanted to start with the [most] important (like below, verse 21); as the signs are the main intention of this half of the verse, since the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to let Israel know that even the signs of the heavens are only like the days and years - all of them are structured by His will, like the other laws of nature: the day and the night, 'the planting and the harvest and the coldness and the heat.' And just like the day and the night and the planting and the harvest don't have their own specific gods and do not inform of the future, so too [is it] with the signs of the heavens. And since the belief that one could learn about the future from the signs of the heavens and from solar and lunar eclipses was widespread among the nations and [nonetheless] Moshe (and after him, Yirmiyahu) pushed off this mistake and made known that they are natural [occurrences] like the days and the years, behold this is a great proof that the Torah is of divine origin (min hashamayim). And one should not wonder, why didn't the Holy One, blessed be He, want to reveal to His people the other errors to which [man] had become accustomed. As the other errors did not cause damage to the fundamental principles of faith nor to the rectification of human character traits. [But] this is not the case of faith in the signs of the heavens, as it is damaging - like faith in fortune telling and similar matters that were forbidden by the Torah - as it weakens a person in his [Divine] service in which he toils, and it fills his heart with vain things and removes his trust in God.

A complete day. In other words, [each luminary has its own] complete day of twelve hours.

AND FOR DAYS. This means the length of day and the length of night.

והיו לאותות, “they will serve as (backgrounds to) miracles; such as when their orbits were arrested temporarily at the command of Joshua (Joshua 24,17) when he reminded the people of that. On an individual basis, G-d performed such a miracle for King Chizkiyahu to confirm that he had been granted an additional 15 years of life. (Kings II 20,911) A different way of understanding these words: the constellation of the stars will serve astrologers as indications when foretelling certain events in the future.

ולימים AND FOR DAYS — The sun functions half a day and the moon the other half — together a full day.

ולימים, and as days. Upon investigation it will be seen that certain stars orbit at intervals of exactly 24 hours.

"And for appointed times (moadim):" Moed is said about anything that comes back around at specific times. And so holidays are called moadim based on their regularity. And so too (Psalms 104:19), "He made the moon for moadim;" as it is visible and hidden at set times. And so too are all the luminaries the cause of moadim and the celebration of set times that come back around, and especially of days and years.

After 365 days. 365 days is for the solar year, while the lunar year of 354 days is included in the solar year. Since the solar year is determined by the sun’s cycle through the twelve constellations [of the zodiac], and the lunar year is determined by the moon’s interaction with the sun in each of these constellations, Rashi connects the [solar] year to both sun and moon — although in truth, the moon completes its cycle [through each constellation] in twenty-nine days and a specific number of hours. (Re’m)

AND YEARS. The luminaries are to complete their orbit and then traverse again the same course they followed, thus making the solar year consist of 365 days and the lunar year consist of [lunar cycles, each approximately] 30 days.

ולמועדים, and to determine certain calendar events which are tied to specific dates by the Torah, such as observance of the new moon, the fifteenth of Nissan as the day when the first day of Passover is to be observes, the sixth of Sivan for the observance of the festival commemorating the revelation and the giving of the Torah, etc. David confirmed this as one of the meanings of this term when he said in Psalms 104,19: עשה ירח למועדים שמש ידע מבואו, “He made the moon to mark the seasons, the sun knows when to set.”

ושנים AND FOR YEARS — At the end of three hundred and sixty five days [another version: 365¼] they complete their course through the twelve signs of the Zodiac that attend them, and that is one year [another version: and this makes 365¼ days]; they then begin to revolve a second time in a circle similar to their first cycle.

ושנים, and as years, a reference to the four seasons of the year, which together comprise an entire year.

Looking at the plain meaning of our verses: The reason why one of the two luminaries is described as (relatively ) small is because whenever there are two phenomena both described as “great or large,” it is usual that one of the two is larger than the other.
If you will examine the text of our paragraph in the Torah carefully, you will find that it explains four separate matters. 1) These luminaries are always found in the same positions which have been assigned to them initially, i.e. they are stationary and do not move. [Here too the astronomy of our author is based on outdated concepts. The luminaries are deemed captive on the periphery of the planet and are assumed to move with it automatically. The only part of this chapter which is relevant to our times is that the moon does not have light of its own and that only the sun has been assigned by G’d to emit light. I see no point in translating discarded concepts even if the author thought he could use scripture to support the theories current in his time. Ed.]