Concept
Theology ProperLight
God's first spoken word and his own self-description — light before the sun, and a Light no darkness can put out.
#creation#revelation
- 45passages
- 108original words
- 240cross-references
- 1thread through it
The words behind it
Hebrew and Greek standing in the 18 passages listed below — not a lexicon of "light" itself. The number on each word is how often it occurs in those passages; the connecting words the languages use everywhere are set aside so the words that carry meaning can be seen.
Hebrew81
71 more hebrew words ▾
Greek27
17 more greek words ▾
The passages
The first 18 of 45 passages this site attaches to the concept, in canon order. Each row says where it came from.
Old Testament15
- Genesis 1:3listed key text
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Commentary on Genesis 1:31 voice
The first word of God created the nature of light; it made darkness vanish, dispelled gloom, illuminated the world, and gave to all beings at the same time a sweet and gracious aspect. The heavens, until then enveloped in darkness, appeared with that beauty which they still present to our eyes. The air was lighted up, or rather made the light circulate mixed with its substance, and, distributing its splendour rapidly in every direction, so dispersed itself to its extreme limits. Up it sprang to the very æther and heaven.
Basil of Caesarea· The Hexaemeron, Homily 2: The Earth Was Invisible and Unfinished, 379Patristic
- Exodus 13:21thread stop
And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.
Commentary on Exodus 13:211 voice
It was also fitting that a pillar of fire preceded the Israelites as they progressed through the desert during the night and a pillar of a cloud during the day. There is dread in fire but a gentle soothing quality in the sight of a cloud. "Day" is understood to point toward the life of the righteous and "night" that of the sinner. Hence Paul said to sinners who had been converted, "You were once darkness but are now light in the Lord."
Gregory the Dialogist· Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 21, 604Patristic
- 1 Kings 11:36topical floor
I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.
Commentary on 1 Kings 11:361 voice
The words "so that David may always have a lamp" refer to that small part of the kingdom which was like the sun in the abundance of its light: "Your throne will be like the sun before me." Moreover, as we light many firebrands from …
Ishodad of Merv· BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 11:36, 850Patristic
- Psalms 27:1thread stop
The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?
Commentary on Psalms 27:11 voice
Christians have nothing to fear, even if demons should not be well-disposed to them; for they are protected by the supreme God, who is well pleased with their piety and who sets his divine angels to watch over those who are worthy of such guardianship, so that they can suffer nothing from demons.
Origen of Alexandria· AGAINST CELSUS 8:27, 253Patristic
- Psalm 119:105listed key text
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
- Psalms 119:130topical floor
The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.
- Proverbs 6:23topical floor
For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,
- Ecclesiastes 2:13topical floor
And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:131 voice
"And I perceived that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. "I am allowed, he says, to see through that very wisdom of mankind, which is mixed with uncertainty. Nor is it possible, he adds, for it to flow into our minds so clearly as it does into the king and our creator. I know however that the difference between wisdom and folly is great even as much as one can differentiate between day and night, between light and dark.
Jerome· Commentary on Ecclesiastes, 420Patristic
- Isaiah 8:20topical floor
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
Commentary on Isaiah 8:201 voice
293. Second, the response is taught: should not the faithful people seek of their true God, for the living and the dead, that is, for the salvation of the living and the dead: is it because there was no God in Israel, that you send …
Thomas Aquinas· Commentary on Isaiah, 1274Patristic
- Isaiah 9:2listed key text
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
Commentary on Isaiah 9:21 voice
Therefore, he had the pledge of immortality: but being placed in the shadow of life, he could not see and grasp the hidden life with Christ in God by some common touch and sight. And if not yet a sinner, certainly not of an incorruptible and inviolable nature; for he who has fallen into sin is not yet a sinner. Indeed, he was in the shadow of life; but those who are sinners are in the shadow of death.
Ambrose of Milan· On Paradise 5.29, 397Patristic
- Isaiah 45:7topical floor
I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
Commentary on Isaiah 45:71 voice
(Verse 7) Forming light and creating darkness: making peace and creating evil. I am the Lord who does all these things. Therefore, I, the only God, give you strength. I myself create opposing things, light and darkness, that is, day and night; peace and evil, that is, calm and war, through which I indicate that I was angry with my people when they endured the darkness of captivity and the evils of slavery. And again, I showed mercy when I released them to their homeland and they received peace and joy.
Jerome· Commentary on Isaiah, 420Patristic
- Isaiah 49:6topical floor
He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Commentary on Isaiah 49:61 voice
It is one thing to be named Son according to the divine substance; it is another thing to be so called according to the adoption of human flesh. For, according to the divine generation, the Son is equal to God and Father, and, according to the adoption of a body, he is a servant to God the Father. "For," it says, "he took upon him the form of a servant."
Ambrose of Milan· Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.8.106-7, 397Patristic
- Isaiah 58:8topical floor
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
- Isaiah 60:19topical floor
No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor.
Commentary on Isaiah 60:191 voice
(Verse 19, 20.) The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor will the splendor of the moon shine on you; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will not decrease; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be fulfilled.
Jerome· Commentary on Isaiah, 420Patristic
- Isaiah 60:20topical floor
Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will cease.
Commentary on Isaiah 60:202 voices
(Verse 19, 20.) The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor will the splendor of the moon shine on you; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will not decrease; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be fulfilled.
Jerome· Commentary on Isaiah, 420Patristic
He also sets out the eternity of its governor: your sun, which is God, shall go down no more: but you are always the selfsame, and your years shall not fail (Ps 101:28[102:27]). And the days of your mourning shall be ended. This as to …
Thomas Aquinas· Commentary on Isaiah, 1274Patristic
New Testament3
- Matthew 4:16topical floor
the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
Commentary on Matthew 4:161 voice
(Verse 15, 16.) The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. These were the first to hear the Lord preaching, that where the first captivity had occurred by the Assyrians, there the proclamation of the Redeemer would be born.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
- Matthew 5:14thread stop
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Commentary on Matthew 5:141 voice
(Verset 14 et suiv.) You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
- Matthew 5:16topical floor
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Commentary on Matthew 5:161 voice
(Verset 14 et suiv.) You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
Voices on these passages
Commentary matched to the verses above, each named with its source — the full pool sits on each verse page.
The first word of God created the nature of light; it made darkness vanish, dispelled gloom, illuminated the world, and gave to all beings at the same time a sweet and gracious aspect. The heavens, until then enveloped in darkness, appeared with that beauty which they still present to our eyes. The air was lighted up, or rather made the light circulate mixed with its substance, and, distributing its splendour rapidly in every direction, so dispersed itself to its extreme limits. Up it sprang to the very æther and heaven.
Basil of Caesarea· The Hexaemeron, Homily 2: The Earth Was Invisible and UnfinishedPatristic
Genesis 1:3
It was also fitting that a pillar of fire preceded the Israelites as they progressed through the desert during the night and a pillar of a cloud during the day. There is dread in fire but a gentle soothing quality in the sight of a cloud. "Day" is understood to point toward the life of the righteous and "night" that of the sinner. Hence Paul said to sinners who had been converted, "You were once darkness but are now light in the Lord."
Gregory the Dialogist· Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 21Patristic
Exodus 13:21
The words "so that David may always have a lamp" refer to that small part of the kingdom which was like the sun in the abundance of its light: "Your throne will be like the sun before me." Moreover, as we light many firebrands from …
Ishodad of Merv· BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 11:36Patristic
1 Kings 11:36
Study it deeper
6 moves a student can make from here. Every one opens a tool on this site.
Trace one word to every place it stands
A word page lists every verse that word occurs in, with its definition and its range of meaning. Start with the roots that occur most under the passages above.
Walk out from the passages
The passages above carry 240 cross-references between them — links from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, the great 1830s reference work, together with the reader-voted index at OpenBible.info. The most-linked destinations:
Read it in both testaments
Set the earliest passage beside the New Testament one and ask what changed and what did not — the shape of light before Christ and after him.
Read the whole chapter around it
A verse quoted alone can mean almost anything. Open Genesis 1 in the reader, where the Hebrew or Greek sits under every line.
See everywhere else it appears
The search page is a doorway: it returns verses, word studies, people, places and studies for one term at once.
Walk it stop by stop
A thread takes the passages in order and stops at each one with commentary, so the idea unfolds instead of arriving all at once.
Where this comes from
Light appears on day one and the sun on day four, so the Bible's light does not depend on a star. It is God's own nature — "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5) — and his instrument of revelation: "thy word is a lamp unto my feet."
Jesus takes the word as a title (John 8:12), and the city at the end of the story needs no sun, "for the Lamb is the light thereof" (Revelation 21:23).