Bible HebrewDay One Genesis 1:4–5
The first day ends. God sees, separates and names, and then the day is counted: “day one”.
Genesis 1:4
וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאוֹר כִּי־טוֹב וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ
Wayyar ʾĕlōhīm ʾeth-hāʾōr kī-ṭōv wayyavdēl ʾĕlōhīm bēn hāʾōr ūvēn haḥōshekh
“And God saw the light, that it was good, and God separated between the light and the darkness.”
Word by word
| Hebrew | Sounds | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| וַיַּרְא | wayyar | and (he) saw |
| אֱלֹהִים | ʾĕlōhīm | God |
| אֶת | ʾeth | (object marker) |
| הָאוֹר | hāʾōr | the light |
| כִּי | kī | that |
| טוֹב | ṭōv | good |
| וַיַּבְדֵּל | wayyavdēl | and (he) separated |
| אֱלֹהִים | ʾĕlōhīm | God |
| בֵּין | bēn | between |
| הָאוֹר | hāʾōr | the light |
| וּבֵין | ūvēn | and between |
| הַחֹשֶׁךְ | haḥōshekh | the darkness |
- וַיַּרְא: וַיַּרְא, “and he saw”: the short story form of רָאָה. The final ה has dropped (see the Weak Verbs lesson).
- כִּי: After a verb of seeing or knowing, כִּי means “that”: “saw the light, that (it was) good”. There is no “it was”; Hebrew leaves it out.
- וַיַּבְדֵּל: A story verb meaning “and he separated”, from בדל. Its stem, the Hiphil (“cause to …”), comes in level 5; story verbs in this stem have ַ under the prefix, as here: וַיַּבְדֵּל.
- בֵּין: בֵּין … וּבֵין, “between … and between”: Hebrew repeats “between” before each of the two things.
Genesis 1:5
וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יוֹם אֶחָד
Wayyiqrā ʾĕlōhīm lāʾōr yōm wəlaḥōshekh qārā lāylā wayhī-ʿerev wayhī-vōqer yōm ʾeḥādh
“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning: day one.”
Word by word
| Hebrew | Sounds | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָא | wayyiqrā | and (he) called |
| אֱלֹהִים | ʾĕlōhīm | God |
| לָאוֹר | lāʾōr | (to) the light |
| יוֹם | yōm | day |
| וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ | wəlaḥōshekh | and (to) the darkness |
| קָרָא | qārā | he called |
| לָיְלָה | lāylā | night |
| וַיְהִי | wayhī | and there was |
| עֶרֶב | ʿerev | evening |
| וַיְהִי | wayhī | and there was |
| בֹקֶר | vōqer | morning |
| יוֹם | yōm | day |
| אֶחָד | ʾeḥādh | one |
- וַיִּקְרָא: קָרָא לְ … means “call (something) by a name”: “called the light Day”.
- וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ: The order turns around: “and the darkness he called Night”. Putting וְ + a noun first breaks the chain of story verbs to set up a contrast, and the verb that follows, קָרָא, is a plain perfect.
- וַיְהִי: וַיְהִי, “and there was, and it came to be”, is the story form of הָיָה, one of the most common words in Hebrew narrative.
- אֶחָד: יוֹם אֶחָד, “day one”, uses the plain number “one”; the later days use “second”, “third” and so on (see the Numbers lesson).
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