Psalms

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Psalm 136

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loyal love endures.⁠ 2 Give thanks to the God of gods,⁠ for his loyal love endures. 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his loyal love endures. 4 To the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself, for his loyal love endures. 5 To the one who used wisdom to make the heavens, for his loyal love endures.⁠ 6 To the one who spread out the earth over the water,⁠ for his loyal love endures. 7 To the one who made the great lights, for his loyal love endures,⁠ 8 the sun to rule by day, for his loyal love endures, 9 the moon and stars to rule by night, for his loyal love endures. 10 To the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his loyal love endures, 11 and led Israel out from their midst, for his loyal love endures, 12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his loyal love endures. 13 To the one who divided the Red Sea in two, for his loyal love endures, 14 and led Israel through its midst, for his loyal love endures, 15 and tossed Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea, for his loyal love endures. 16 To the one who led his people through the wilderness, for his loyal love endures. 17 To the one who struck down great kings, for his loyal love endures, 18 and killed powerful kings, for his loyal love endures, 19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his loyal love endures, 20 Og, king of Bashan, for his loyal love endures, 21 and gave their land as an inheritance, for his loyal love endures, 22 as an inheritance to Israel his servant, for his loyal love endures. 23 To the one who remembered us when we were down, for his loyal love endures, 24 and snatched us away from our enemies, for his loyal love endures. 25 To the one who gives food to all living things, for his loyal love endures. 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his loyal love endures!

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 1:16 and Psalm 136:7

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Psalm 136 shares language with Genesis by calling the sun and moon great lights that rule day and night. It reflects ancient cosmology where the moon shines with its own light, and how they “rule” reflects how they were once thought to be divine beings.

Passages

Genesis 1:16

Hebrew Bible

14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, 15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. 17 God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Psalm 136:7

Hebrew Bible

5 To the one who used wisdom to make the heavens, for his loyal love endures. 6 To the one who spread out the earth over the water, for his loyal love endures. 7 To the one who made the great lights, for his loyal love endures, 8 the sun to rule by day, for his loyal love endures, 9 the moon and stars to rule by night, for his loyal love endures. 10 To the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his loyal love endures,

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... The narrator, however, consciously places the creation of the heavenly bodies between that of plants and animals. He claims that the heavenly bodies, which in the ancient Near East were gods of supreme importance, are creatures like plants and animals. Like them, they function within the created order, as the account stresses. They are called lamps or lights. That is not to be degrading or derisive, but they are shown to be subject to the limitations of createdness. That the heavenly bodies are signs to determine holiday seasons, as well as days and years, is understood worldwide. In this way the regularity of the calendar (days and years) can be distinguished from particular dates. In the statement that their purpose was to "rule" (verses 16-18), the fact that the heavenly bodies were once seen as gods shines through. Here the word has only a weak sense of "ruling," as in Psalm 136:7-9 ... the sun to rule over the day ..."

Claus Westermann and David Green, Genesis (London: T&T Clark International, 2004), 8–9.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Genesis 1:16 and Psalm 136:7

Summary

Passages

Genesis 1:16

Psalm 136:7

References

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