Judges Chapter 15
King James Version (KJV)
Other Translations
asv (asv) - eBible.org engASV USFM
1
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
2
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore are we turned again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and thou shalt be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
3
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Jehovah deliver them before me, shall I be your head?
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And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Jehovah shall be witness between us; surely according to thy word so will we do.
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Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spake all his words before Jehovah in Mizpah.
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And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come unto me to fight against my land?
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And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan: now therefore restore those
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lands again peaceably.
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And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon;
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and he said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah: Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon;
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but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh;
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then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land; but the king of Edom hearkened not. And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
13
Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they came not within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
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And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land unto my place.
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But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
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And Jehovah, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
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And they possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan.
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So now Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess them?
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Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.
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And now art thou anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?
darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext
1
And it came to pass after a time, in the days of the wheat-harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid of the goats. And he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber; but her father would not suffer him to go in.
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And her father said, I verily thought that thou didst utterly hate her; therefore I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Let her, I pray thee, be thine instead of her.
3
And Samson said to them, This time I am blameless toward the Philistines, though I do them harm.
4
And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between the two tails.
5
And he set the torches on fire, and let [them] run into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, and the olive gardens.
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And the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire.
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And Samson said to them, If ye act thus, for a certainty I will avenge myself on you, and then I will cease.
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And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. And he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the cliff Etam.
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And the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
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And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they said, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us.
11
Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the cliff Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? And what is this that thou hast done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.
12
And they said to him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may give thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me that ye will not fall on me yourselves.
13
And they spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand; but we certainly shall not put thee to death. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the cliff.
14
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him. And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and the cords that were on his arms became as threads of flax that are burned with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
15
And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand and took it, and slew with it a thousand men.
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And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, a heap, two heaps, With the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
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And it came to pass when he had ended speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-Lehi.
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And he was very thirsty, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given by the hand of thy servant this great deliverance, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
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AndGod clave the hallow rock which was in Lehi, and water came out of it. And he drank, and his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.
20
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM
1
And it came to pass after a time, in the days of wheat harvest, that Sampson visited his wife with a kid, and said, I will go in to my wife even into the chamber: but her father did not suffer him to go in.
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And her father spoke, saying, I said that thou didst surely hate her, and I gave her to one of thy friends: [is] not her younger sister better than she? let her be to thee instead of her.
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And Sampson said to them, Even for once am I guiltless with regard to the Philistines, in that I do mischief among them.
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And Sampson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch between two tails, and fastened it.
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And he set fire to the torches, and sent [the foxes] into the corn of the Philistines; and every thing was burnt from the threshing floor to the standing corn, and even to the vineyard and olives.
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And the Philistines said, Who [has done] these things? and they said, Sampson the son-in-law of the Thamnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to one of his friends; and the Philistines went up, and burnt her and her father's house with fire.
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And Sampson said to them, Though ye may have dealt thus with her, verily I will be avenged of you, and afterwards I will cease.
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And he smote them leg on thigh [with] a great overthrow; and went down and dwelt in a cave of the rock Etam.
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And the Philistines went up, and encamped in Juda, and spread themselves abroad in Lechi.
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And the men of Juda said, Why are ye come up against us? and the Philistines said, We are come up to bind Sampson, and to do to him as he has done to us.
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And the three thousand men of Juda went down to the hole of the rock Etam, and they said to Sampson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? and what [is] this [that] thou hast done to us? and Sampson said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.
12
And they said to him, We are come down to bind thee to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines: and Sampson said to them, Swear to me that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13
And they spoke to him, saying, Nay, but we will only bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand, and will by no means slay thee: and they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him from that rock.
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And they came to Lechi: and the Philistines shouted, and ran to meet him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as tow which is burnt with fire; and his bonds were consumed from off his hands.
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And he found the jaw-bone of an ass that had been cast away, and he put forth his hand and took it, and smote with it a thousand men.
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And Sampson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass I have utterly destroyed them, for with the jaw-bone of an ass I have smitten a thousand men.
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And it came to pass when he ceased speaking, that he cast the jaw-bone out of his hand; and he called that place the Lifting of the jaw-bone.
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And he was very thirsty, and wept before the Lord, and said, Thou hast been well pleased to grant this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
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And God broke open a hollow place in the jaw, and there came thence water, and he drank; and his spirit returned and he revived: therefore the name of the fountain was called ‘The well of the invoker,’ which is in Lechi, until this day.
20
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)
1
Post aliquantulum autem temporis, cum dies triticeæ messis instarent, venit Samson, invisere volens uxorem suam, et attulit ei hœdum de capris. Cumque cubiculum eius solito vellet intrare, prohibuit eum pater illius, dicens:
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Putavi quod odisses eam, et ideo tradidi illam amico tuo: sed habet sororem, quæ iunior et pulchrior illa est, sit tibi pro ea uxor.
3
Cui Samson respondit: Ab hac die non erit culpa in me contra Philisthæos: faciam enim vobis mala.
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Perrexitque et cepit trecentas vulpes, caudasque earum iunxit ad caudas, et faces ligavit in medio:
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quas igne succendens, dimisit, ut huc illucque discurrerent. Quæ statim perrexerunt in segetes Philisthinorum. Quibus succensis, et comportatæ iam fruges, et adhuc stantes in stipula, concrematæ sunt, in tantum, ut vineas quoque et oliveta flamma consumeret.
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Dixeruntque Philisthiim: Quis fecit hanc rem? Quibus dictum est: Samson gener Thamnathæi: quia tulit uxorem eius, et alteri tradidit, hæc operatus est. Ascenderuntque Philisthiim: et combusserunt tam mulierem quam patrem eius.
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Quibus ait Samson: Licet hæc feceritis, tamen adhuc ex vobis expetam ultionem, et tunc quiescam.
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Percussitque eos ingenti plaga, ita ut stupentes suram femori imponerent. Et descendens habitavit in spelunca petræ Etam.
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Igitur ascendentes Philisthiim in Terram Iuda castrametati sunt in loco, qui postea vocatus est Lechi, id est, maxilla, ubi eorum effusus est exercitus.
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Dixeruntque ad eos de tribu Iuda: Cur ascendistis adversum nos? Qui responderunt: Ut ligemus Samson, venimus, et reddamus ei quæ in nos operatus est.
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Descenderunt ergo tria millia virorum de Iuda, ad specum silicis Etam, dixeruntque ad Samson: Nescis quod Philisthiim imperent nobis? quare hoc facere voluisti? Quibus ille ait: Sicut fecerunt mihi, sic feci eis.
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Ligare, inquiunt, te venimus, et tradere in manus Philisthinorum. Quibus Samson, Iurate, ait, et spondete mihi quod non occidatis me.
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Dixerunt: Non te occidemus, sed vinctum trademus. Ligaveruntque eum duobus novis funibus, et tulerunt eum de petra Etam.
14
Qui cum venisset ad locum Maxillæ, et Philisthiim vociferantes occurrissent ei, irruit Spiritus Domini in eum: et sicut solent ad odorem ignis lina consumi, ita vincula quibus ligatus erat, dissipata sunt et soluta.
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Inventamque maxillam, id est, mandibulam asini, quæ iacebat, arripiens, interfecit in ea mille viros,
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et ait: In maxilla asini, in mandibula pulli asinarum delevi eos, et percussi mille viros.
17
Cumque hæc verba canens complesset, proiecit mandibulam de manu, et vocavit nomen loci illius Ramathlechi, quod interpretatur elevatio maxillæ.
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Sitiensque valde, clamavit ad Dominum, et ait: Tu dedisti in manu servi tui salutem hanc maximam atque victoriam: en siti morior, incidamque in manus incircumcisorum.
19
Aperuit itaque Dominus molarem dentem in maxilla asini, et egressæ sunt ex eo aquæ. Quibus haustis, refocillavit spiritum, et vires recepit. Idcirco appellatum est nomen loci illius, Fons invocantis de maxilla, usque in præsentem diem.
20
Iudicavitque Israel in diebus Philisthiim viginti annis.
web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV
1
But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I will go in to my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in.
2
Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.”
3
Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in the case of the Philistines when I harm them.”
4
Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails.
5
When he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves.
6
Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” They said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” The Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire.
7
Samson said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.”
8
He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock.
9
Then the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10
The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”
11
Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in Etam’s rock, and said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”
12
They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”
13
They spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will bind you securely and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
14
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then the LORD’s Spirit came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burned with fire; and his bands dropped from off his hands.
15
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, put out his hand, took it, and struck a thousand men with it.
16
Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.”
17
When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi.
18
He was very thirsty, and called on the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
19
But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day.
20
He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8
1
And it cometh to pass, after <FI>some<Fi> days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looketh after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and saith, `I go in unto my wife, to the inner chamber;' and her father hath not permitted him to go in,
2
and her father saith, I certainly said, that thou didst certainly hate her, and I give her to thy companion; is not her sister--the young one--better than she? Let her be, I pray thee, to thee, instead of her.'
3
And Samson saith of them, `I am more innocent this time than the Philistines, though I am doing with them evil.'
4
And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst,
5
and kindleth fire in the torches, and sendeth <FI>them<Fi> out into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burneth <FI>it<Fi> from heap even unto standing corn, even unto vineyard--olive-yard.
6
And the Philistines say, `Who hath done this?' And they say, `Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken away his wife, and giveth her to his companion;' and the Philistines go up, and burn her and her father with fire.
7
And Samson saith to them, `Though ye do thus, nevertheless I am avenged on you, and afterwards I cease!'
8
And he smiteth them hip and thigh--a great smiting, and goeth down and dwelleth in the cleft of the rock Etam.
9
And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi,
10
and the men of Judah say, `Why have ye come up against us?' and they say, `To bind Samson we have come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.'
11
And three thousand men of Judah go down unto the cleft of the rock Etam, and say to Samson, `Hast thou now known that the Philistines are rulers over us? and what <FI>is<Fi> this thou hast done to us?' And he saith to them, `As they did to me, so I did to them.'
12
And they say to him, `To bind thee we have come down--to give thee into the hand of the Philistines.' And Samson saith to them, `Swear to me, lest ye fall upon me yourselves.'
13
And they speak to him, saying, No, but we certainly bind thee, and have given thee into their hand, and we certainly do not put thee to death;' and they bind him with two thick bands, new ones, and bring him up from the rock.
14
He hath come unto Lehi--and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him--and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and the thick bands which <FI>are<Fi> on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are wasted from off his hands,
15
and he findeth a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and putteth forth his hand and taketh it, and smiteth with it--a thousand men.
16
And Samson saith, `With a jaw-bone of the ass--an ass upon asses--with a jaw-bone of the ass I have smitten a thousand men.'
17
And it cometh to pass when he finisheth speaking, that he casteth away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and calleth that place Ramath-Lehi;
18
and he thirsteth exceedingly, and calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Thou--Thou hast given by the hand of Thy servant this great salvation; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.'
19
And God cleaveth the hollow place which <FI>is<Fi> in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinketh, and his spirit cometh back, and he reviveth; therefore hath <FI>one<Fi> called its name `The fountain of him who is calling,' which <FI>is<Fi> in Lehi unto this day.
20
And he judgeth Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Explanations by Age Level
Explain Like I'm 5
A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!
Explain Like I'm 10
Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.
Explain Like I'm 15
Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).