Light

The lights or luminaries direct and shew the way; and by consequence govern men who otherwise would not know what to do, or whither to go. Hence Sapor king of Persia, writing to Constantius^f1 called himself the brother of the sun and moon; i.e. one who ruled the world as well as those luminaries do.

On account of the luminaries in the heaven governing the day and night, all luminaries in the symbolical lan­guage signify ruling powers: and the light itself is well employed to signify the edicts, laws, rules, or directions that proceed from them for the good of their subjects. Thus of the great king of all, saith the Psalmist, Psa 119:105 : "Thy word is a light unto my path;" and Hos 6:5 : "Thy judgments are as the light."

In Joh 8:12, Christ is called the Light of the world. And Tully calls Rome, as governing the world, the light of the nations.^f2 And with Philo, instruction is the light of the soul.^f3

As for lightnings, they, upon the account of the fire attending their light, are the symbols of edicts enforced with destruction to those who oppose them, or hinder others from giving obedience to them.

Agreeably to the notion of lights being the symbol of good government, light also signifies protection, deliver­ance, and joy.^f4

SUN, MOON, and STARS.-Wherever the scene of go­vernment is laid, whether in the civil or ecclesiastical state, or in that of a single family, the sun, moon, and stars, when mentioned together, denote the different degrees of power, or governors in the same state.

This is evident in relation to a single family from Joseph’s dream, Gen 37:10, where the sun, moon, and stars are interpreted, of Jacob the head of his family, of his wife, the next head or guide, and of his sons, the lesser ones.

The sun,^f5 says Sir Isaac Newton, is put for the whole species and race of kings, in the kingdom or kingdoms of the world politic, shining with regal power and glory.

As to a kingdom, the Oriental Oneirocritics, chap. 167, jointly say, that the sun is the symbol of the king, and the moon of the next to him in power. And therefore the stars, when mentioned together with the sun and moon, must denote governors or rulers of an inferior kind, but next in power to him who is the second person in the govern­ment.

Therefore the stars, in the symbolical character, which is taken from the appearance of things, and their proportion, being to the eye less luminaries, signify, according to the Oriental Oneirocritics, inferior princes or governors.^f6 And thus Hippolytus, prince of Athens, is called a star by Euripides .^f7

When a king is not compared with his own nobles or princes, but with other kings, a star may be his symbol. Thus, in Isa 14:12, the king of Babylon is represented by a star, and particularly by the morning star. For as the morning star is brighter than the rest of the stars, and is the forerunner of the sun, and so shews a power preceding in time the rest of the light, so the king of Babylon was greater in power and dignity than other kings, and the monarchy established in Babylon was the first that was established in the world.

A shooting star,^f8 was, in antiquity, the appropriate image of a powerful and successful invader from a distant country. In the Orphic Argonautics, Acetes is warned of the elopement of his daughter with a foreign prince coming at the head of a military force, by a dream sent him by Juno for that express purpose. In this dream he sees a star shoot through the atmosphere into Medea’s lap. She catches it in the folds of her garment, and runs away with it to the banks of the Phasis, where the star, catching up the princess, bears her far away over the waters of the Euxine.

Sun and moon, signify also the power and glory of this world; as in Jer 15:19, "Her sun is gone down while it was yet day:" which the Targum renders, "Their glory passed from them in their life-time." Amo 8:9; "I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day." Vatabl. "Cùm eritis in supremo felicitatis gradu, tuncinde vos dejiciam, et infelicissimos red-dam." Isa 60. " Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw herself; i. e. thou shalt have uninterrupted glory and prosperity, as it follows presently after, "For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." In such places as these, sun and moon have not a sense determined to any particular dignity in a kingdom, but signify only at large the glory and prosperity thereof."

DARKNESS.-As light is the symbol of joy and safety; so, on the contrary, darkness is the symbol of misery and adver­sity. It is thus used in Jer 13:16; Eze 30:18; Eze 34:12; Isa 8:22; Isa 9:1. And Artemidorus, examining the va­rious significations of the air, as to its qualities, says, "A gloomy, dark, over-clouded air, signifies ill success, or want of power, and sorrow arising thereupon."

DARKNESS of the SUN, MOON, and STARS, is an induc­tion to denote a general darkness or deficiency in the go­vernment; as in Isa 13:10; Eze 32:7; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:31. And the Oneirocritics, in chap. clxi ii., explain the eclipses of the sun and moon, of obscurity, affliction, op­pression, and the like, according to the subject.

Darkness, smiting, or setting of the sun, moon, and stars, signifies the ceasing of a kingdom, or the desolation thereof, proportional to the darkness.-Sir Isaac Newton.

A SETTING SUN, is the symbol of a declining and perish­ing power; and a RISING SUN of a rising power or govern­ment. Whatever comes from the rising of the sun beto­kens some fortunate accident.^f9 It is a good and pros­perous omen, and betokens assistance. Thus in 2Sa 23:4, the favour and protection of God to his people is compared to the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds.

As in Hos 6:5, Light is the symbol of God’s govern­ment, so the dawning of it in the rising of the sun, is the beginning of his favour and deliverance, which is to go forwards unto greater perfection.

Hence Solomon, Pro 4:18, saith, "The path of the just, is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." And again, chap 20:27, " The lamp or light of the Lord is the breath of man." That is, the favour of God keeps men alive, makes them active, vigorous, and prosperous: it is comfortable and beneficial to them. So that the words of David (in the above passage, 2Sa 23:4) signify, that the glory of his kingdom newly risen shall daily increase, like grass which hath the benefit of the sun after seasonable showers.

Again, in Isa 58:8, it is said, "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily.’’

The health implies forgiveness of sins, and the light of the morning a deliverer. That is, God will send a deliverer, and forgive the sins of his people, or remit the punishment. The like expression we have in Isa 60:1-2 : "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. The light or deliverer here is the Messias, who to the church of Israel is the ᾿Ανατολὴ, the day-spring, or east, or sun-rising, as well as the light of the world, Zec 3:8; Mal 4:2; Joh 1:4, &c.; and is therefore called also the Sun of Righteousness. All which is applicable to the exposition which Zacharias, father of the Baptist, gives of the ᾿Ανατολὴ in his Hymn, in these words, Luk 1:78-79 : " Whereby the day-spring, ᾿Ανατολὴ, from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace." For the words, " to sit in darkness, and in the sha­dow of death," signify, to be in slavery and subjection; in allusion to an eastern custom still in practice, of putting the slaves in prisons, or pits under ground, where they are locked up every night. And sometimes, to complete their misery,^F10 those that were to work continually therein were blinded; as appears from Jdg 16:21, and from the custom of the Scythians related by Herodotus, L. iv. § 2. Those that were designed for work elsewhere were every morning taken out of the dungeon, and sent to their labour.

Now as the day-spring delivers them from that place, at least for a time, so it is a proper symbol of release from slavery, according to the subject spoken of.

Thus in Isa 42:6-7 : "I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the pri­soners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." See to the same purpose Isa 49:9. And thus also it is said, Psa 49:14 : "The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, that is, when God comes to judge the cause of the upright, that have been in oppression, and sets them at liberty, then shall the upright in their turn subdue the wicked."

There is this further conformity of the expression to the nature of the thing, that justice was executed, and causes tried in courts in the morning, as appears from Jer 21:12; so that the morning is the proper time of gaol-delivery; and courts of justice met then-the places in which slaves were either delivered to their masters by sentence for payment, or else set at liberty; such causes being there managed, as is evident from Exo 21:6.

So Tyndarus, in Plautus, being taken out of the quarry pits, saith, "Lucis das tuendw copiam," (you release me from my slavery.)^F11

DAY (as the time of light), is the symbol of a time of prosperity. And, on the contrary, NIGHT, (as being a time of darkness, the image and shadow of death, wherein all the beasts of prey get out upon their designs to devour, Psa 104:20), symbolically signifies a time of adversity, oppression, war, and tumult, in which men prey upon each other, and the stronger tyrannize over the weaker.

Thus in Zec 14:6-7, the words-"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night; but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light"-signify, that there shall not be a vicissitude of day and night, but a constant light; neither heat nor cold, but a constant temperate season. And this signifies, symbolically, that there shall be no vicissitude of peace and war, persecution and peace, but a constant state of quiet and happiness.

The following passage out of Herbelot will shew the notion of the Arabians:^f12 " In the Humajoun-nameh it is said, He that has done justice in this night, has built him­self a house for the next day’-meaning, says Herbelot, by this night the present life of this world, which is nothing but darkness, and by the next day, the future life, which is to be a clear day for good men."

And thus St. Paul, Rom. xiii. 12, calls the present life by the name of night.^f13

LAMP, on account of its light, is the symbol of go­vernment, or a governor. Thus, concerning the Law of God, says the Psalmist, Psa 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths;" the law being that whereby the king was to be guided.

In 1Ki 11:36, a lamp signifies the seat and domains, or else the perpetual succession, of a kingdom. The words are, "That my servant David may have a light"-lamp or candle-"alway before me in Jerusalem." So the Hebrew; but the LXX rather explaining the sense, have, "That my servant David may have a seat or position." The same thing in the Hebrew of 1Ki 15:4, is by the LXX turned by κατάλειμμα; and it follows ἵνα στήσῃ (a remnant to settle a foundation.) But in 2Ki 8:19, they have λύχνον, a lamp; all which expressions are parallel to this in 2Sa 7:13, "I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever;" this being more proper, and the rest symbolical expressions of the same promise of God.

Agreeably to what has been said is the exposition of the Oneirocritics. For, in chap. 160., they apply the misfor­tunes that happen to the lamp, to the loss of a kingdom, or power to rule, as the dreamer is a prince or common person.

In the Greek church, in the consecration of a bishop, among other symbolical ceremonies, there was a lamp delivered to him, and to the patriarch of Constantinople a double lamp.^f14

LAMP, LIGHT, or CANDLE, denotes a state of pros­perity, as in Job 18:5-6; Job 19:2-3; Psa 18:23.

Artemidorus, Lib. ii. c. 9, says, "A candle seen burning bright in the house portends good, the increase of riches and plenty."

Achmetes saith, "That the lighting up of lights signifies joy and cheerfulness; but the extinction of them against a man’s will, affliction and distress from a man’s enemies, proportionable to the darkness."

A CANDLESTICK, Or LAMP-SCONSE, according to Arte­midorus, Lib. i. c. 76, signifies a wife; for which, in chap. 80, he gives this reason, viz. "That as the lamp, or the light thereof, signifies the master of the house, because he overlooks it; so the lamp-sconse signifies his wife, whom he rules and presides over.

Weddings were celebrated in the eastern countries with lamps or torches;^f15 the bridegroom and bride, the bridemen and bridemaids, having each one in their hands. And the same custom was among the Greeks^f16 and Romans.^f17

A candlestick is a church considered as the instrument which gives the light of Revelation to the world, Rev 1:20. In the representation of the two witnesses, Rev 11:4, there is an allusion to Joshua and Zerubbabel; and it is implied, that they are to perform the same office in the Christian church, as Joshua and Zerubbabel did in the Jewish. In Zec 3:8, Joshua and his fellows are called, " men wondered at;" Heb. typical men.

F1 Vid Ammian. Marcellin. L. xvii.

F2 M. T. Cic. in Orat. pro Sylla.

F3 Phil. de Mon. L. i. p. 556.

F4 Psa 36:9. Est 8:1; Est 8:6. Isa 9:2-3. Mic 7:8. Job 3:20 Job 29:3. Pro 20:27. Horn. Il. L. vi. ver. 6; L. xi. ver. 796; L. xvi. ver. 39; xvii. ver. 615.

F5 It must be remembered, that however extensive the scene in which a prophecy may be laid, though it may comprehend many king­doms and states, the decorum of the symbols, or the fitness of things, requires that there should be but one sun, and one moon, it being so in nature. See Isa 24:1; Isa 24:21-23; Mat 24:29; Luk 21:25. Here, though the earth is utterly broken down, and the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth are punished, and na­tions are distressed; yet there is but one sun, and one moon. Sce also Rev 8:12; Rev 16:8.

F6 Ch. clxvii. clxviii. clxix. clxx.

F7 Eurip. Hippol. ver. 1120.

F8 "The more I read this wonderful book (the Apocalypse) the more I am convinced that the precision of the phraseology is little short of mathematical accuracy. The language seems highly adorned, but the ornaments are not redundancies; they are not of that sort, that the proposition would remain the same if the epithets were expunged. And in passages which may seem similar, there never is the smallest variation of style, but it points to something of diversity, either in the subject or the predicate. With this notion of the style of the Apo­calypse, I think it of importance to remark, that the falling stars of the third and fifth trumpets fall " from heaven," or " out of the sky," but are not said to be of " the stars of heaven," which are seen to fall in the sixth chapter. But further, that which falls "from heaven," or " out of the sky," upon the sounding of the third trum­pet, is a great star, burning as it were a lamp.

"Λαμπας, in the Greek language, is the name of a meteor of a par­ticular sort, which we find described by Pliny in the twenty-sixth chapter of his second book. And, from his description, it is evident that λαμπας was one sort of those meteors which are commonly called "shooting stars." It was of that sort, in which a large ball, appear­ing first in time, and foremost in the direction of the motion, draws a long train of bright sparks after it. Such exactly was the meteor in the vision of the third trumpet. That in the vision of the fifth trumpet, was also a shooting star; but not said to be so large, nor of the species of the λαμπας It was probably a single ball of light with­out any train of sparks.

" The most remarkable circumstances in these shooting stars, are these:

(1) They have no appropriate place in the starry heavens among the nobler works of the Creator’s power, but are engendered in the lower re­gions of the earth’s atmosphere.

(2) They shine by a native light, but

(3) are visible only while they fall.

(4) The motion is rapid.

(5) The duration brief.

(6) The brightness, while it lasts, intense.

(7) The extinction instantaneous;

(8) and when the light is extin­guished nothing remains: the body which emitted the light is no where to be found."

-Bishop Horsley.

F9 Artem. L. iii. c. 36. Sueton. Vespas. c. v. ad fin.

F10 Vid. Schindler. v. çåø.

F11 Plaut. Capt. Act. v. Sc. iv. ver. 11.

F12 Herbelot, tit. Akhrat.

F13 See Dr. Stanhope’s Par, on the Ep. and Gosp. Vol. I. pp. 24, 25.

F14 See Pacbymeres, Lib. viii. c. 28.

F15 See Tavernier’s Per. Trav. Lib. v. c. 18. Mat 25:1.

F16 Hom. I1. σ. ver. 492. Eurip. Phcniss. ver. 346. Medæa, ver. 1027.

F17 Virgil. Eclog. viii. ver. 29.

This is another of the characters of the Lord Jesus Christ; for as Jesus is the life, so is he the light of men. Coming up from all eternity in the councils of peace, for the salvation of his people, he is the everlasting light and glory of his people. He it is that first caused the light to shine out of darkness in the original creation of nature. In like manner, he is the first to cause light to shine out of darkness in the new creation, when the day spring from on high first shines in upon the soul, to give the light of the knowledge of the gloryof God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4: 6.) Oh! rise, thou Son of righteousness, on the souls of thy redeemed with healing in thy wings that they may go forth and grow up as calves of the stall, (Mal. 4: 2. Luke 2: 32. Ps. 4: 6. John 8. 12, &c.)

φως, is used in a physical sense, Mat 17:2; Act 9:3; Act 12:7; 2Co 4:6; for a fire giving light, Mar 14:54; Luk 22:56; for a torch, candle, or lamp, Act 16:29; and for the material light of heaven, as the sun, moon, or stars, Psa 136:7; Jas 1:17. Figuratively taken, it signifies a manifest or open state of things, Mat 10:27; Luk 12:3; also prosperity, truth, and joy.

God is said to dwell in light inaccessible, 1Ti 6:16. This seems to contain a reference to the glory and splendour which shone in the holy of holies, where Jehovah appeared in the luminous cloud above the mercy seat, and which none but the high priest, and he only once a year, was permitted to approach unto, Lev 16:2; Eze 1:22; Eze 1:26; Eze 1:28; but this was typical of the glory of the celestial world. It signifies, also, instruction, both by doctrine and example, Mat 5:16; Joh 5:35; or persons considered as giving such light, Mat 5:14; Rom 2:19. It is applied figuratively to Christ, the true Light, the Sun of Righteousness, who is that in the spiritual, which the material light is in the natural, world; who is the great Author, not only of illumination and knowledge, but of spiritual life, health, and joy to the souls of men.

The images of light and darkness, says Bishop Lowth, are commonly made use of in all languages to imply or denote prosperity and adversity, agreeably to the common sense and perception which all men have of the objects themselves. But the Hebrews employ those metaphors more frequently and with less variation than other people: indeed, they seldom refrain from them whenever the subject requires or will even admit of their introduction. These expressions, therefore, may be accounted among those forms of speech, which in the parabolic style are established and defined; since they exhibit the most noted and familiar images, and the application of them on this occasion is justified by an acknowledged analogy, and approved by constant and unvarying custom. In the use of images, so conspicuous and so familiar among the Hebrews, a degree of boldness is excusable. The Latins introduce them more sparingly, and therefore are more cautious in the application of them. But the Hebrews, upon a subject more sublime indeed, in itself, and illustrating it by an idea which was more habitual to them, more daringly exalt their strains, and give a loose rein to the spirit of poetry. They display, for instance, not the image of the spring, of Aurora, of the dreary night, but the sun and stars as rising with increased splendour in a new creation, or again involved in chaos and primeval darkness. Does the sacred bard promise to his people a renewal of the divine favour, and a recommencement of universal prosperity? In what magnificent colours does he depict it! Such, indeed, as no translation can illustrate, but such as none can obscure:—

“The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold.”

Isa 30:26.

But even this is not sufficient:—

“No longer shalt thou have the sun for thy light by day; Nor by night shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee:

For Jehovah shall be to thee an everlasting light, And thy God shall be thy glory.

Thy sun shall no more decline; Neither shall thy moon wane;

For Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light; And the days of thy mourning shall cease.”

Isa 60:19-20.

In another place he has admirably diversified the same sentiment:—

“And the moon shall be confounded, And the sun shall be ashamed;

For Jehovah, God of Hosts, shall reign

On Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem:

And before his ancients shall he be glorified.”

Isaiah 24:25.

On the other hand, denouncing ruin against the proud king of Egypt:—

“And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heavens.

And the stars thereof will I make dark: I will involve the sun in a cloud,

Nor shall the moon give out her light.

All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, And I will set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.”

Eze 27:7-8.

These expressions are bold and daring; but the imagery is well known, the use of it is common, the signification definite: they are therefore perspicuous, clear, and truly magnificent.

Light is represented in the Scriptures as the immediate result and offspring of a divine command (Gen 1:3). The earth was void and dark, when God said, ’Let light be, and light was.’ This is represented as having preceded the placing of lights in the firmament of heaven, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also’ (Gen 1:14, sq.). Whatever opinion may be entertained as to the facility with which these two separate acts may be reconciled, it cannot be questioned that the origin of light, as of every other part of the universe, is thus referred to the exertion of the divine will: as little can it be denied that the narrative in the original is so simple, yet at the same time so majestic and impressive, both in thought and diction, as to fill the heart with a lofty and pleasurable sentiment of awe and wonder.

The divine origin of light made the subject one of special interest to the Biblical nations—the rather because light in the East has a clearness, a brilliancy, is accompanied by an intensity of heat, and is followed in its influence by a largeness of good, of which the inhabitants of less genial climes can have no conception. Light easily and naturally became, in consequence, with Orientals, a representative of the highest human good. All the more joyous emotions of the mind, all the pleasing sensations of the frame, all the happy hours of domestic intercourse, were described under imagery derived from light (1Ki 11:36; Isa 60:1-2; Est 8:16; Psa 97:11). The transition was natural from earthly to heavenly, from corporeal to spiritual things; and so light came to typify true religion and the felicity which it imparts. But as light not only came from God, but also makes man’s way clear before him, so it was employed to signify moral truth, and pre-eminently that divine system of truth which is set forth in the Bible, from its earliest gleaming onward to the perfect day of the Great Sun of Righteousness. The application of the term to religious topics had the greater propriety because the light in the world, being accompanied by heat, purifies, quickens, enriches; which efforts it is the peculiar province of true religion to produce in the human soul (Isa 8:20; Mat 4:16; Psa 119:105; 2Pe 1:19; Eph 5:8; 2Ti 1:10; 1Pe 2:9).

It is doubtless owing to the special providence under which the divine lessons of the Bible were delivered, that the views which the Hebrews took on this subject, while they were high and worthy, did not pass into superstition, and so cease to be truly religious. Other Eastern nations beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and their hearts were secretly enticed, and their mouth kissed their hand in token of adoration (Job 31:26-27). This ’iniquity’ the Hebrews not only avoided, but when they considered the heavens they recognized the work of God’s fingers, and learned a lesson of humility as well as of reverence (Psa 8:3, sq.).

Among the personifications on this point which Scripture presents we may specify,

God. The Apostle James (Jas 1:17) declares that ’every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning;’ obviously referring to the faithfulness of God, and the constancy of his goodness, which shine on undimmed and unshadowed. So Paul (1Ti 6:16); ’God who dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto.’ Here the idea intended by the imagery is the incomprehensibleness of the self-existent and eternal God.

Light is also applied to Christ: ’The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light’ (Mat 4:16; Luk 2:32; Joh 1:4, sq.). ’He was the true light;’ ’I am the light of the world’ (Joh 8:12; Joh 12:35-36).

It is further used of angels, as in 2Co 11:14: ’Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.’

Light is moreover employed of men: John the Baptist ’was a burning and a shining light’ (Joh 5:35); ’Ye are the light of the world’ (Mat 5:14; see also Act 13:47; Eph 5:8).

One of the most wonderful, cheering, and useful of all the works of God; called into being on the first of the six days of creation, by his voice: "Let there be light;" and there was light. No object better illustrates whatever is pure, glorious, spiritual, joyful, and beneficent. Hence the beauty and force of the expressions, "God is light," 1Jn 1:5, and "the Father of lights," Jas 1:17 ; Christ is the "Sun of righteousness," and "the light of the world," Joh 1:9 8:12. So also the word of God is "a light," Psa 119:105 ; truth and Christians are lights, Joh 3:19 12:36; prosperity is "light," Gen 8:16 ; and heaven is full of light, Jer 21:23-25 . The opposite of all these is "darkness."\par

phos (G5457) Light

phengos (G5338)

phoster (G5458)

lychnos (G3088) Lamp

lampas (G2985) Torch

All of these words are translated by "light" in the Authorized Version, some occasionally and some always. Thus we have phos in Mat_4:16; Rom_13:12; and often; phengos only in Mat_24:29; Mar_13:24; Luk_11:33; phoster only in Php_2:15 and Rev_21:11; lychnos in Mat_6:22; Joh_5:35; 2Pe_1:19; and elsewherethough this is often translated as "candle" (Mat_5:15; Rev_22:5); and lampas in Act_20:8, though elsewhere it is translated as "lamp" (Mat_25:1; Rev_8:10) and as "torch" (Joh_18:3).

Previous grammarians distinguished phos from phengos (different forms of the same word) by saying that phos refers to sunlight or daylight and that phengos refers to moonlight. This distinction was only present in the Attic writers, and even they did not always observe it. Thus on three or four occasions Sophocles ascribed phengos to the sun, though Plato used phos selenes (G4582, light of the moon). The grammarians were correct to assert that phengos usually refers to moonlight or to starlight and that phos refers to sunlight or to daylight. Plato contrasted these two words as "light [phos] of day" and "lights [phenge] of night." As with other finer distinctions of the Greek language, this is observed in the New Testament. Wherever moonlight is meant, phengos is used; phos is used to refer to sunlight (Rev_22:5). Thus phos, not phengos, is the true antithesis of darkness (skotos, G4655). Generally phos is the more absolute designation of light. Thus Hab_3:4 states: "His [God's] brightness [phengos) will be like the light [phos]."

Phoster also is translated "light" in our English versions, as in Php_2:15 : "Among whom you shine as lights in the world." It would be difficult to improve on this translation, though it fails to reveal Paul's entire intention. The phosteres in Php_2:15 are the heavenly bodies, mainly the sun and moon, the "lights" or "great lights" to which Moses referred in Gen_1:14; Gen_1:16. In Sir_43:7 the moon is referred to as phoster, and in Wisdom of Solomon 13:2 "the lights [phosteres] of heaven" is exactly equivalent to "the lights [phosteres] in the world." It would be difficult to improve on our translation of Rev_21:11 : "Her light [ho phoster autes] was like a stone most precious." In this passage our translators correctly reverted to Wycliffe's translation and replaced "her shining," which appeared in intermediate versions and which must have conveyed a wrong impression to the English reader, with "her light." But because of its ambiguity, even the present translation is not altogether satisfactory. Some readers may still understand "her light" as the light that the heavenly city will diffuse, when actually phoster refers to the light-giver. "Her lumen[source of light]" is the Vulgate's translation. In Rev_21:23 we discover the source of this light: "The Lamb is its light."

Our translators could have distinguished lychnos and lampas by translating lampas as "torch" (as they did only once Joh_18:3), which would have left "lamp" (now wrongly appropriated by lampas) free. They could have translated lychnos as "lamp" wherever it occurs without using "candle" at all. But on the occasions where "candle" is inappropriate they reverted to "light," which almost completely obliterates the distinction between phos and lychnos in our English versions.

There would be many advantages to such a redistribution of terms, especially in accuracy of translation. Lychnos does not refer to a "candle" but to an oil-fed hand-lamp. Lampas does not refer to a "lamp" but to a "torch," both in Attic and later Hellenistic Greek and in the New Testament. Our early translators used "brand" or "fire brand" (Joh_18:4) to translate lampas, which shows that they understood the force of the word. It may be argued that in the parable of the ten virgins the lampades are fed with oil and must necessarily be lamps, but this does not follow. In the East the torch, as well as the lamp, is fed in this manner: "The true Hindu way of lighting up is by torches held by men, who feed the flame with oil from a sort of bottle [the angeion (G30) of Mat_25:4], constructed for the purpose."

Such an understanding would clarify several passages, especially where it is important to distinguish phos and lychnos. In Joh_5:35 the Authorized Version (referring to John the Baptist) reads: "He was a burning and a shining light. " In this passage the New King James Version follows the original more closely and translates: "He was the burning and shining lamp." This translation does not obliterate the antithesis between Christ, the phos alethinon (genuine light, Joh_1:8), and the Baptist, a lamp kindled by the hands of another, whose brightness brings joy to men for a while but will one day be extinguished. The same contrast is intended here between lychnos and phos as that found between lychnos and phosphoros (G5459) in 2Pe_1:19, only here it is transferred to the highest sphere of the spiritual world. This was Shakespeare's thought when he wrote those glorious lines: "Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund Day / Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops."

Besides the references to physical light as existing distinct from the sun, and then emanating from the sun as the great light-bearer, the term is mainly used in scripture in a moral sense. Light from God is His word revealing Himself, and not only making manifest the dangers here, but acting as a lamp in showing the true path. Psa 119:105. The Psalmist asked Jehovah to lift upon him the light of His countenance ( Psa 4:6 ), and declared that Jehovah Himself was his light, Psa 27:1. As natural light brings vigour and health to the body, so the light of God gives cheerfulness and strength to the soul.

"God is light," and the Lord Jesus came to the earth as the true light which lighteth every man. He not only exposed all the evil in the world and all the false pretensions of the leaders of Israel; but "the life was the light of men." Joh 1:4; Joh 8:12. Christians are "light in the Lord," and are exhorted to walk as "children of light." Eph 5:8; 1Th 5:5. In the midst of darkness they are set to shine as lights in the world. Php 2:15. A grave responsibility rests upon them lest they should not have the heavenly lustre that would characterise them as having in their hearts the light of the glory of the Lord. If the light in the Christian become darkness by his not walking in the reality of it, how great is that darkness! Mat 6:23.

It has been very properly said that light is appropriately descriptive of God; for light, invisible in itself, manifests everything. Christians, as we have seen, are ’light in the Lord,’ and thus convict the unfruitful works of darkness; but here we may notice that it is not said of them, as of God, that they are ’love,’ for love is the sovereign spring of activity in God.

The Lamp Of The Wicked

Pro_13:9.

The Light Of The Body

Luk_11:33-36.

The Light Of The Eyes

Pro_15:30.

The Light Of The Righteous

Pro_13:9.

The LORD Being Light

2Sa_22:29; Psa_27:1; Psa_104:1-2; Isa_42:1-7; Isa_60:19-20; Dan_2:20-22; Mic_7:8; Joh_1:1-9; Joh_3:17-19; Joh_8:12; Joh_9:3-5; Joh_12:35-36; Joh_12:44-46; 1Jn_1:5; Rev_21:21-23; Rev_22:16.

The LORD Being The Creator Of Light

Gen_1:1-5; Isa_45:7; 2Co_4:6.

The LORD Lighting Darkness

2Sa_22:29; Psa_18:28; Pro_29:13; 1Co_4:5.

The LORD Showing Light

Psa_118:27; Act_26:23.

Those That Put Darkness For Light, And Light For Darkness

Isa_5:20.

Those That Walk In The Light

Joh_11:9-10; Joh_12:35-36; 1Jn_1:7.

What Gives Light

Psa_119:126-130.

What Is Light

Pro_6:23; Pro_20:27; Eph_5:13.

Who Abides In The Light

1Jn_2:7-10.

Who Comes To The Light

Joh_3:21.

Who Does Not Come To The Light

Joh_3:20.

Who Hates The Light

Joh_3:20.

Who Is A Light

Mat_5:1-16; Joh_12:35-36; Eph_5:1-8; Php_2:14-15; 1Th_5:1-5.

Who Shall See The Light

Job_33:27-30; Psa_36:7-9.

Who Shall Walk In The Light

Joh_8:12; Joh_12:44-46.

Who The LORD Gives Light To

Eph_5:14; Rev_22:3-5.

LIGHT.—Apart from the ordinary use of this word to denote outward light (as in Luk 11:36, Mat 17:2; Mat 24:29 etc.), there are three applications of the metaphor of light in the Synoptic Gospels which demand attention.

1. The first occurs in the figurative and somewhat enigmatic saying preserved in Mat 6:22-23 = Luk 11:34-35, where the eye is called the lamp of the body, the symbolism pointing to sincerity of soul as the decisive feature of life. Each Evangelist gives the saying a different setting. In Mt.’s version of the Sermon on the Mount it occurs in a context laying stress upon the supreme need of the heavenly mind in religion; and as the main rival to God in man’s affections is the world, in the shape of material wealth, the pursuit of the single mind is naturally correlated with the avoidance of covetousness. This shade of meaning is reflected from Mat 6:19-21; Mat 6:24-25 (see Mammon) upon the intervening logion. The soul is to human life what the eye is to the body (so Philo, de Opif. Mundi, 17, ‘reason [νοῦς] is to the soul what the eye is to the body’); it is a lamp, by means of which the way and work of life are illuminated. As the functions of the physical life depend largely upon the soundness of the organs of vision, by means of which men move safely and freely in the outside world, so the mental and moral health of man is bound up with the condition of his inner life. The inward disposition (cf. Joh 11:10) is the key to all (cf. Ruskin’s Queen of the Air, § 93; Eagle’s Nest, §§ 106–110). The employment of ‘light’ in this connexion is thus one illustration of the inwardness of the teaching of Jesus. He brought men from the circumference to the centre, laid supreme stress on motive, and sought to emphasize—as in this saying—the vital importance of the inner spirit for conduct. The symbolism turns on the ethical meaning implied in ‘single’ (ἁπλοῦς) and ‘evil’ (πονηρός), the former suggesting ‘liberality,’ the latter ‘niggardliness’ in the moral sphere. Hence ‘light’ means that condition of life which is void of covetousness and the grasping spirit. Such a spirit confuses life by diverting it from the supreme inward and heavenly aim which is its true pursuit. The hoarding temper, which absorbs men in outward possessions, is pronounced by Jesus to be a flaw in the moral vision, a speck that blurs ‘the light that is in thee,’ i.e. the inner light of conscience, the heart, or the soul. When the latter is darkened by the intrusion of a divided affection, especially in the form of some appetite such as covetousness or worldliness, then ‘how great is the darkness’! For religion, as Christ taught it, is not admitting God into life. It is putting Him first in life. Faith is not thinking Him good, but hailing Him as best. And nothing can be more ominous than when the soul, which is man’s delicate faculty for seeing and choosing God, is diverted to double-mindedness or to an attempt to reconcile the competing interests of God and of the world. The outcome is compromise and its inevitable product, hypocrisy—that sin which a Frenchman once called the firstfruits of English society—ripening under the very breath of conventional religion.—The logion may be, as Brandt suggests, a Jewish aphorism based on Pro 20:27, which Jesus here quotes and applies.

The introduction of the saying in Luk 11:33-36 is due to the key-word λύχνος. Here, as often, Lk. groups sayings together less from their internal correspondence than from some verbal common element. He sharpens the point of the saying by introducing Luk 11:35. As eyes may become injured by the blinding glare and dust which make ophthalmia a prevalent complaint in the East, so, it is implied, the inner disposition lies exposed to risk and disease, against which it is a man’s duty to guard. For if the heart rules the life, the life, on the other hand, can stain and spoil the heart. Yet the stress of the saying falls on attention to the inward life as determining the course and value of the outer. ‘ “Take care of the little things of life, and the great things will take care of themselves,” is the maxim of the trader, which is sometimes, and with a certain degree of truth, applied to the service of God. But much more true is it in religion, that we should take care of the great things, and the trifles of life will take care of themselves. “If thine eye be single, thy whole body will be full of light.” Christianity is not acquired, as an art, by long practice; it does not carve and polish human nature with a graving tool; it makes the whole man; first pouring out his soul before God, and then casting him in a mould’ (Jowett’s Paul, ii. 117).—The point of Luk 11:36 is not easy to grasp. It seems a somewhat tautological expansion of Luk 11:34 b (so Blass). D [Note: Deuteronomist.] , Syr [Note: yr Syriac.] ^cur etc., omit it, while Syr [Note: yr Syriac.] ^sin has a different form of it; yet, as Wellhausen observes, it does not read like an interpolation, and probably we must be content to suspect, with Westcott and Hort, e.g., and J. Weiss (in Meyer^{8 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} , pp. 476–477), some primitive corruption of the text.

2. The connexion of Luk 11:33 with the saying is not immediate. Luk 11:33 is simply an equivalent of Mar 5:14-16, which is incorporated here under the rubric of ‘light,’ and Luke has already more appropriately used it in Luk 8:16 (= Mar 4:21) in the second phase of the light-symbolism in the Gospels, viz. that of influence. The disciples are cautioned against the tendency, whether due to modesty or to cowardice, to refrain from letting their faith tell upon the world. In Luk 11:33 it is impossible to trace any very obvious connexion between this and what precedes, any more than between it and what follows, unless the idea of the editor is that Solomon’s wisdom and Jonah’s preaching were frank and open to the world (hence Luk 11:33), while no sign (Luk 11:29) is needed if the inner heart be pure and true (Luk 11:34-38). The context in Matthew 5 is much more congenial. Jesus is warning His disciples that while their relation to the outside world is often full of annoyance and suffering, yet this bitter experience (Mat 5:10 f.) must not drive them into a parochial and secluded attitude of negative protest. ‘You are the light of the world,’ He urges. You owe it a duty. Your faith lays you under an obligation to let your life tell upon your environment (cf. EBi [Note: Bi Encyclopaedia Biblica.] , 4377, 4384–4385), instead of weakly relapsing into some esoteric or Essene-like seclusion. The allusion to good works is peculiar to Matthew. It emphasizes that frankness of spirit and necessity of good conduct which the saying upon light advocates as the sole reasonable position for Christian disciples to assume. The vocation of a Christian is to be visible. And visibility means influence. The reference is not to Apostles but to Christians in general, nor is preaching in view. What Jesus inculcates is an attitude of consistent goodness, void of monasticism and ostentation alike, as corresponding to the nature of His Kingdom, whose property and destiny it is to become manifest to the world (cf. Mozley’s Parochial and Occasional Sermons, p. 212 f.).

This latter idea, without the moral counsel, is reproduced by Mar 4:21 (= Luk 8:16) as a sequel to the interpretation of the parable of the Seeds, as if to suggest that such knowledge as had just been imparted to the disciples was not to be kept to themselves but to be diffused like light (cf. Menzies, Earliest Gospel, pp. 112–114), the placing of the lamp in its proper position perhaps corresponding (so Jülicher) to the fruitful and useful qualities of the good seed in the good soil (Mar 4:20). Others, like Wrede (das Messiasgeheimnis, p. 68 f.), prefer to read the saying in the light of the Apostolic age, as if it meant that after the Resurrection all reserve upon the Christian mysteries was to be thrown aside (Mar 4:11). This, however, cannot be the original sense of the saying, and there is no reason why one should give up the interpretation which makes the lamp here equivalent to the teaching of Jesus or the knowledge of the gospel (see Expos. Nov. 1900, on ‘The Peril and the Comfort of Exposure’). The point is less general than in Mat 5:14-16. But the essential bearing of the saying is the same, viz. that as the function of light is to radiate, so Christian privileges imply the duty of propaganda. Similarly, Mat 10:27 = Luk 12:3 (cf. Jülicher’s Gleichnisreden, ii. 86 f.). In the fourth of the New Oxyrhynchus Logia, we have the words: ‘for there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor buried which shall not be raised.’

3. If Christians, however, are to arise and shine, it must be because their light has come. Consequently revelation is also embraced under the light-symbolism of the Gospels, in Mat 4:16, Luk 1:79 [Isa 9:2] Luk 2:32, where the reference, based on OT quotations, is to the redeeming life of Christ. This semi-mystical application, which associates light with the Divine effluence, runs far back into human history. ‘Heaven means both the world of light above us and the world of hope within us, and the earliest name of the Divine beings is simply “the bright ones.” Such names are more than metaphors. But if they were simply metaphors, they would show how closely the world without is adapted to express and render definite the yearnings and the fears of the world within’ (J. Wedgwood, The Moral Ideal, pp. 6, 7). It is needless to illustrate from ancient thought how light was almost invariably, if variously, allied to the conception of heaven and the Divine nature, the latter being conceived as radiant and glorious. The gradual evolution of the religious idea slowly purified the symbolism, especially in the deeper reaches of faith within the later Judaism (notably in the Book of Enoch). The semi-physical element, though not entirely excluded even from the NT idea of glory and spiritual phenomena, came to be subordinated to the moral and mystical. The purity, the noiseless energy, the streaming rays of light, all suggested religious qualities to the mind, until the light of God came to be an expression for the healing influence and vitalizing power exercised by Him over human life. The light of Christ, the Messiah, was thus His ministry (see Bruce’s Galilean Gospel, p. 13 f.). His person formed the creative power in the life of the human soul. Through work and word alike, His being operated with quickening effect upon the responsive hearts of His own people.

This application of the metaphor of light to the Divine revelation in Jesus is developed especially in the Fourth Gospel, where ‘light’ is reserved almost exclusively for this purpose. John the Baptist is indeed described once as ‘the burning and shining lamp,’ in whose light (cf. Joh 1:7-8) the Jews were ‘willing to rejoice for a season’ (Joh 5:35, cf. Sir 48:1), with all a shallow nature’s delight in transient impressions (see Martensen’s Individual Ethics, p. 385). And Christians are incidentally called ‘sons of light’ (Joh 12:36, cf. Luk 16:8). But, if John the Baptist is the lamp, Jesus is the Light; if Christians become sons of light, it is by believing on the Light. It is not Christians but Christ, the incarnate Logos, who is the Light of the world (Joh 1:4; Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5; Joh 12:46). Already in the ancient mind the supreme God had been frequently defined as the God of light, and the later Judaism had expressed its profounder consciousness of this truth in the collocation of life and light (e.g. Psa 36:9, En 58:3) and in the employment of ‘light’ as a summary expression not only for cosmic vitality, but for the bliss of mankind, chiefly, though not solely, in the future (cf. Volz, Jüdische Eschatologie, 328 f.). In the Fourth Gospel, however, this idea is developed with singular precision and breadth. The Logos-Christ is defined in the Prologue not only as Logos but as Life and Light, the former category being confined to Christ’s being as a Divine factor in the creation and in the essence of God (Joh 1:1-3), as well as to His incarnation (Joh 1:14-18), after which it is dropped. The intervening paragraph (Joh 1:4-13), dealing with the Logos-Christ as a historical phenomenon, is subsumed under the category of Light and Life, which afterwards dominates the entire Gospel, except (curiously enough) the closing speeches (Joh 1:14-17), where the symbolism of Light is entirely absent. ‘In him was life, and the life was the light of men.’ This profound sentence really gives the keynote to the Gospel, in which Christ as the Light represents the essential Truth of God as revealed to human knowledge. The Messiah (e.g. En 48:4) and the Logos (as in Philo) had already been hailed as Light. But here the metaphor of light denotes much more than the self-revelation of God in the person of Jesus (Weiss); it describes the transcendent life streaming out on men, the absolute nature of God as truth, as the supreme reality for man to believe in, and by his belief to share. In sharp antithesis to this Light is the Darkness, by which the writer symbolizes all that is contrary to God in human life, whether unbelief or disobedience, all that resists the true Life which it is the function of the Light to produce in humanity, all the ignorance and wilful rejection of Christ which issue in practical consequences of confusion and rebellion. Historically, this opposition emerged during Christ’s lifetime in the Jews’ rejection of His mission. But, as the present tense φαίνει seems to imply, the truth is general; the same enmity pervades every age—a conception to which there is a remarkable parallel in the Logos-teaching of Heraclitus (cf. Pfleiderer’s Urchrist. 2 ii. 339). This antithesis means more, however, than a metaphysical dualism running through the world. The hostility of men to the Light is described as their own choice and fault (Joh 3:19-20), and this conception naturally permeates the entire Gospel. The determinism is apparent rather than real. Whether positive or negative, the attitude of men to God in Christ is run back to their own wills, although the writer makes no attempt to correlate this strictly with Divine prescience. Nor, again, is the conception purely intellectual, though the terminology would seem occasionally to suggest this view. Light and darkness represent moral good and evil as these are presented in the spiritual order introduced by Christ. To love the light (Joh 3:19-21) is not a theoretical attitude, but a practical, equivalent to doing the truth. The light has to be followed (Joh 8:12, cf. Joh 12:35 f.); Christ’s revelation is an appeal to the reason and conscience of mankind as the controlling principle of conduct; ‘the light of life’ is the light which brings life, and life is more than mere intellectualism (Joh 17:3). To walk in or by the light is to have one’s character and conduct determined by the influence of Christ, the latter being as indispensable to vitality in the moral and religious sphere as light is to physical growth (cf. 2Sa 23:4, Psa 49:19; Psa 56:13 etc.). See, further, art. Truth.

These and other applications of this metaphor throughout the Fourth Gospel are all suggested in the somewhat abstract language of the Prologue. Three further points may be selected as typical of this mode of thought.

(a) The function of Christ as the Light is described as bearing not only upon the creation of the Universe, but on the spiritual and moral life of men (Joh 1:3-4). In this sphere it encounters an obstacle in the error and evil of man’s nature, but encounters it successfully. This is proleptically described in Joh 1:5 (cf. 1Jn 2:8), where οὐ κατέλαβεν probably means ‘failed to overpower, or extinguish’ (cf. Joh 12:35, Sir 15:7); despite the opposition of man’s ignorance and corruption, the true Light makes its way. The climax of this triumph in history is then described. It was heralded by the prophetic mission of John the Baptist, the allusion to whom is, like Joh 5:35, carefully phrased in order to bring out the transient and subordinate character of his ministry (cf. Lightfoot’s Colossians, p. 401); whereupon the historic functions of the real Light are resumed in Joh 5:9 f. ‘The true light, which lightens every man, was coming into the world’; i.e. had arrived, even when the Baptist was preaching (cf. Joh 5:26). Later on, this is frankly stated by Jesus Himself at the feast of Tabernacles, when brilliant illuminations were held every night—a symbolism which may have suggested the cry, ‘I am the light of the world’ (Joh 8:12; cf. Isa 60:1). The description in Joh 1:9 is probably an echo of Testament of Levi 13:4 (‘the light of the Lord was given to lighten every man’).

(b) While the Light is the Christian revelation, it is implied that already (Joh 3:21), not merely in Judaism but throughout humanity (cf. Joh 11:52, Joh 12:21 f.), there were individuals whose honesty and sincerity had prepared them to receive the truth of God (Joh 1:11-12) mentally and morally. When the light fell on those who sat in darkness, some were content to sit still. But others rose to welcome the fuller knowledge of God in the perfect revelation of Christ’s person, men like Nathanael and the Greeks. For it is characteristic of the Fourth Gospel that good people, rather than sinners (as in the Synoptic narratives), flock to Christ. The Logos, as Hausrath puts it, draws God’s children to the light as a magnet attracts metals, while mere stones are left unmoved by its presence. And God’s children are those who respond to Christ by the exercise of their moral instincts and religious affections. Unlike Philo, the author refuses to trace back this lack of susceptibility towards God to any source in the material constitution of mankind (cf. Joh 8:44); but the semi-Gnostic idea of a special class remains.

(c) Upon the other hand, Christ, the Light, came to His own people; and there are repeated allusions to the brief opportunity of the Jews (Joh 9:4, Joh 11:9-10, Joh 12:35-36), in sayings which warn the nation against trilling with its privilege,—a privilege soon to be taken from its unworthy keeping. Here the author is reflecting the period in which he writes, when the Jews’ day of grace had passed, with tragic consequences to themselves. ‘Light, accept the blessed light, if you will have it when Heaven vouchsafes. You refuse? Very well: the “light” is more and more withdrawn, … and furthermore, by due sequence, infallible as the foundations of the universe and Nature’s oldest law, the light returns on you, this time, with lightning’ (Carlyle’s Latter-Day Pamphlets, iii. ad fin.).

Literature.—In addition to the references already given, see Norris, the Cambridge Platonist, Reason and Religion, p. 222 f.; Berkeley, Siris, § 210; and, for the use of the idea in morals and religion, Fiske, Myths and Myth-Making, p. 104 f., and D. G. Brinton, Religion of Primitive Peoples, p. 73 f. The use of the symbol in the Gospels is analyzed by Titius, die Johan. Ansehauung d. Seligkeit (1900), p. 119 f.; Holtzmann, Neutest. Theologie, ii. 304 f., 399 f.; and especially Grill, Untersuchungen über die Entstehung des vierten Evang. (1902), pp. 1–31, 217–225, 259–271, 308 f. See also Dalman, Worte Jesu, 1. (English translation ) iv. § 3; and Drummond, Philo Judœus, i. 217 f. For the moral uses of the word see Phillips Brooks, Candle of the Lord, 305, Light of the World, 1; R. W. Church, Village Sermons, i. 296, iii. 46: B. F. Westcott, Revelation of the Father, 45; F. Temple, Rugby Sermons, 3rd series, 149; G. Macdonald, Unspoken Sermons, iii. 163; G. A. Smith, Forgiveness of Sins, 89; R. Rainy, Sojourning with God, 64.

J. Moffatt.

(Hebr. "or"):

By: Kaufmann Kohler

The primal element of Creation in all ancient cosmogonies; the first creation of God.

—Biblical Data:

"God said, Let there be light": and out of the primeval chaos there came forth "light" (Gen. i. 2-3). In the Creation psalm, God, before "stretching out the heavens like a curtain," "wraps Himself in light as in a mantle" (Ps. civ. 2, Hebr.; whence "the Father of lights" of James i. 17). He is the Former of light and the Creator of darkness (Isa. xlv. 7). "No one knows the way to the light," which has its seat in heaven (Job xxxviii. 19, Hebr.); it emanates from the face of God (Ps. iv. 7 [A. V. 6], xliv. 4 [A. V. 3], lxxxix. 16 [A. V. 15]), whose whole being is luminous (Ex. xiii. 21, xxiv. 10; Ps. xxxvi. 10 [A. V. 9]; Job xxxvi. 30, xxxvii. 3). Gradually this light of God assumed a spiritual or symbolical meaning, in such passages as "God is light," to those who walk in darkness (Isa. ix. 2; x. 17; lx. 1-3, 19-20; Micah vii. 8; Ps. xxvii. 1, xxxvi. 10 [A. V. 9]).

The Heavenly Light.

The sun, moon, and stars, the luminaries placed in heaven to reflect their light upon the earth (Gen. i. 14-17), are supposed to have received, or to still receive, their light from the heavenly light created on the first day. Prophecy, therefore, speaks of the time when "the light of the moon will be like that of the sun, and that of the sun sevenfold like the light of the seven days of Creation" (Isa. xxx. 26, Hebr.; the commentators who failed to understand this meaning wished to eliminate from the text the words "ke-or shib'at ha-yamim"; but see Gen. R. iii. 6, xi. 2). Similarly, Isa. lx. 19-20: "Not sun nor moon, but the Lord, shall be for thy everlasting light" (Hebr.). The Avesta also speaks of the "endless lights" in heaven in which the good souls shall dwell ("Vendidad," ii. 131; "Yast," xx. 15; "Vistasp Yast," 61).

Light is often used as the symbol of life and joy (Job xviii. 5-6, xxxiii. 28; Ps. xlix. 20 [A. V. 19], xcvii. 11; Esth. viii. 16). It is likened to the word of instruction (Ps. cxix. 105; Prov. vi. 23).

—In Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature:

Here also light takes it prominent position as a cosmic power. Wisdom is represented as the radiance of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, more beautiful than the sun, and superior to the light which it resembles (Wisdom vii. 26, 29). God's majesty being surrounded with light to make Him invisible to all beings (Meg. 19b), the Rabbis speak of "the radiance of the Shekinah" ("ziw ha-Shekinah"; Ber. 64b; Shab. 30a; B. B. 10a; comp. Ḥag. 14b and Heb. i. 3—"the brightness of his glory"). This was believed to be reflected in the new moon (Sanh. 42a, "Keillo meḳabbel pene ha-Shekinah" = "he who sees the new moon is like one who greets the Divine Majesty"). The "radiance" ("ziw") of wisdom is reflected also in great men (Soṭah ix. 15). According to the cosmogony of Slavonian Enoch (xxv. 1-5) God made Adoel (Hadriel?), a fiery angel of great brightness, spring forth first as a visible being out of the invisible; and as Adoel burst asunder, there came forth a great light; and then God made a throne for Himself, and sat upon it, and placed the light above the throne to be the foundation of all things on high.

Primitive Light.

Similar is the "secret lore" of the Rabbis: The first act of Creation was when God robed Himself in light while the radiance of His glory ("ziw hadaro") illumined the world from one end to the other (Gen. R. iii.; Pirḳe R. El. iii.). "The light of the first day was such that by it the first man could see from one end of the world to the other; but, finding that wicked men would arise on earth, God removed this light to reserve it for the righteous in the world to come" (Ḥag. 12a; Gen. R. l.c.). The luminaries receive their light from the spark of that light of heaven, which is one hundred times as bright as the light visible on earth (Tan., Beha'aloteka, ed. Buber, p. 10). According to Targ. to Isa. xxx. 26 and Judges v. 31, the light of the future will be 343 (7 × 7 × 7) times as bright as the sun. The righteous alone desire it, not the wicked, who are as the bat in the fable, of whom the cock demands, "What is the light of day to thee, who preferrest the night?" (Sanh. 98b). Enoch (xlv. 4) speaks of "the eternal light" brought forth in the Messianic time: "The great light of heaven shone forth in splendor until Adam sinned; but on account of the Sabbath God would not withdraw the light before the day was over. Then when darkness set in Adam became afraid: 'Shall Satan henceforth overpower me?' Whereupon God set before him two bricks, from which Adam drew forth sparks of light by striking one against the other; and he blessed God for thelight which he thus obtained by his own hands" ('Ab Zarah 8c; Gen. R. xii.; Pesiḳ. R. xxiii.; comp. Pirḳe R. El., where the story is somewhat differently rendered; see Habdalah).

God is in no need of light; the light kindled in the Sanctuary was to testify that the light of the Shekinah is in the midst of Israel (Men. 86b); therefore in the Temple of Solomon the windows were narrowed from without to indicate that the light streams forth from within (Tan., Teẓawweh, ed. Buber, p. 4). The light kindled before God was to be like the lantern carried by the blind for the one who sees; Israel is to aid in the spreading of the light of God on earth (Tan., Beha'aloteka, ed. Buber, p. 5; Ex. R. xxxvi.). When Moses was born the house was filled with light; hence it is said of him, as of the light of Creation, "he was 'good'" ("ṭob."; A. V. "goodly"; Ex. ii. 1; Soṭah 12a). In the ark Noah used a precious stone which illuminated all the surroundings (Gen. R. xxxi.; Sanh. 108b; comp. Meg. 12a).

The righteous in the world to come shall shine like the light of sun and stars, each in different luster (Sifre, Deut. 10, 47; Midr. Teh. to Ps. xi. 6; comp. I Cor. xv. 41). God had in view the righteous of the type of Abraham when He said "Let there be light" (comp. Ps. xcvii. 11; Ta'an. 15a; Tan., Teẓawweh, ed. Buber, p. 4); whereas the wicked of the type of Esau are sons of darkness (comp. Job xviii. 5; Gen. R. ii. 111). "The righteous who have loved God's name shall be clad in shining light" (Enoch, cviii. 12; comp. Dan. xii. 3 and Targ. to Judges v. 31: "they that love Him shall be as the sun"; Shab. 88b). Accordingly, the righteous are called "the generation of light," in contrast to the wicked, who are born (clothed?) in darkness (Enoch, cviii. 11); hence also the New Testament term, "sons of light" (Luke xvi. 8; John xii. 36; Ephes. v. 8; I Thess. v. 5; Col. i. 12).

Light is the symbol of the Torah (Meg. 16b, after Prov. vi. 23), of God (Tan., Teẓawweh, ed. Buber, p. 5, after Ps. xviii. 29), of the soul (ib. ed. Buber, p. 4, after Prov. xx. 27). "God says: 'If you conscientiously keep My light burning in your soul, I shall keep your light; if you kindle My lights in the Sanctuary, I shall kindle the great light for you in the future'" (ib. ed. Buber, pp. 2, 4-5; Ex. R. xxxvi.; Lev. R. xxxi.). In regard to Sabbath lights see Lamp, Sabbath.

LIGHT.—To the ancient mind light was a holy thing, and the Scriptures associate it with God. He dwells in light (Exo 24:10, 1Ti 6:16); He is clothed with light (Psa 104:2); He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1Jn 1:5); His glory is the effulgence of His light (Rev 21:23). Cf. the ancient Greek Evening Hymn rendered by Keble: ‘Hail, gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured,’ etc. Hence Jesus, God Incarnate, is called ‘the Light of the world’ (Joh 1:4-5; Joh 1:9; Joh 18:12), ‘an effulgence of the glory of God’ (Heb 1:3); and salvation is defined as walking in His light and being enlightened by it (Joh 8:12; Joh 12:36; Joh 12:38, 1Jn 1:7, 2Co 4:6, Eph 5:8; Eph 5:14, 1Th 5:5, 1Pe 2:3). And Christians as His representatives and witnesses are the light of the world (Mat 5:14; Mat 5:16, Php 2:15). On the contrary, a godless life is darkness (Joh 3:10; Joh 8:12; Joh 12:46, 1Jn 2:11).

David Smith.

lı̄t (אור, ’ōr, מאור, mā’ōr; φῶς, phṓs; many other words):

1.    Origin of Light

2.    A Comprehensive Term

(1)    Natural Light

(2)    Artificial Light

(3)    Miraculous Light

(4)    Mental, Moral, Spiritual Light

3.    An Attribute of Holiness

(1)    God

(2)    Christ

(3)    Christians

(4)    The Church

4.    Symbolism

5.    Expressive Terms

1. Origin of Light:

The creation of light was the initial step in the creation of life. “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3) was the first word of God spoken after His creative Spirit “moved” upon the primary material out of which He created the heavens and the earth, and which lay, until the utterance of that word, in the chaos of darkness and desolation. Something akin, possibly, to the all-pervasive electro-magnetic activity of the aurora borealis penetrated the chaotic night of the world. The ultimate focusing of light (on the 4th day of creation, Gen 1:14) in suns, stars, and solar systems brought the initial creative process to completion, as the essential condition of all organic life. The origin of light thus finds its explanation in the purpose and very nature of God whom John defines as not only the Author of light but, in an all-inclusive sense, as light itself: “God is light” (1Jn 1:5).

2. A Comprehensive Term:

The word “light” is Divinely rich in its comprehensiveness and meaning. Its material splendor is used throughout the Scriptures as the symbol and synonym of all that is luminous and radiant in the mental, moral and spiritual life of men and angels; while the eternal God, because of His holiness and moral perfection, is pictured as “dwelling in light unapproachable” (1Ti 6:16). Every phase of the word, from the original light in the natural world to the spiritual glory of the celestial, is found in Holy Writ.

(1) Natural Light.

The light of day (Gen 1:5); of sun, moon and stars; “lights in the firmament” (Gen 1:14-18; Psa 74:16; Psa 136:7; Psa 148:3; Ecc 12:2; Rev 22:5). Its characteristics are beauty, radiance, utility. It “rejoiceth the heart” (Pro 15:30); “Truly the light is sweet” (Ecc 11:7); without it men stumble and are helpless (Joh 11:9, Joh 11:10); it is something for which they wait with inexpressible longing (Job 30:26; compare Psa 130:6). Life, joy, activity and all blessings are dependent upon light.

Light and life are almost synonymous to the inhabitants of Palestine, and in the same way darkness and death. Theirs is the land of sunshine. When they go to other lands of clouded skies their only thought is to return to the brightness and sunshine of their native land. In Palestine there is hardly a day in the whole year when the sun does not shine for some part of it, while for five months of the year there is scarcely an interruption of the sunshine. Time is reckoned from sunset to sunset. The day’s labor closes with the coming of darkness. “Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening” (Psa 104:23).

The suddenness of the change from darkness to light with the rising sun and the disappearance of the sun in the evening is more striking than in more northern countries, and it is not strange that in the ancient days there should have arisen a worship of the sun as the giver of light and happiness, and that Job should mention the enticement of sun-worship when he “beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness” (Job 31:26). The severest plague in Egypt next to the slaying of the firstborn was the plague of darkness which fell upon the Egyptians (Exo 10:23). This love of light finds expression in both Old Testament and New Testament in a very extensive use of the word to express those things which are most to be desired and most helpful to man, and in this connection we find some of the most beautiful figures in the Bible.

(2) Artificial Light.

When natural light fails, man by discovery or invention provides himself with some temporary substitute, however dim and inadequate. The ancient Hebrews had “oil for the light” (Exo 25:6; Exo 35:8; Lev 24:2) and lamps (Exo 35:14; Mat 5:15). “There were many lights. (λαμπάς, lampás) in the upper chamber” at Troas, where Paul preached until midnight (Act 20:8); so Jer 25:10 the Revised Version (British and American), “light of the lamp;” the King James Version, “candle.”

(3) Miraculous Light.

When the appalling plague of “thick darkness,” for three days, enveloped the Egyptians, terrified and rendered them helpless, “all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exo 10:23). Whether the darkness was due to a Divinely-ordered natural cause or the light was the natural light of day, the process that preserved the interspersed Israelites from the encompassing darkness was supernatural. Miraculous, also, even though through natural agency, was the “pillar of fire” that gave light to the Israelites escaping from Pharaoh (Exo 13:21; Exo 14:20; Psa 78:14), “He led them ... all the night with a light of fire.” Supernatural was the effulgence at Christ’s transfiguration that made “his garments ... white as the light” (Mat 17:2). Under the same category Paul classifies ’the great light’ that ’suddenly shone round about him from heaven’ on the way to Damascus (Act 22:6; compare Act 9:3). In these rare instances the supernatural light was not only symbolic of an inner spiritual light, but instrumental, in part at least, in revealing or preparing the way for it.

(4) Mental, Moral, Spiritual Light.

The phenomena of natural light have their counterpart in the inner life of man. Few words lend themselves with such beauty and appropriateness to the experiences, conditions, and radiance of the spiritual life. For this reason the Scriptures use “light” largely in the figurative sense. Borrowed from the natural world, it is, nevertheless, inherently suited to portray spiritual realities. In secular life a distinct line of demarcation is drawn between intellectual and spiritual knowledge and illumination. Education that enlightens the mind may leave the moral man untouched. This distinction rarely obtains in the Bible, which deals with man as a spiritual being and looks upon his faculties as interdependent in their action.

(a) A few passages, however, refer to the light that comes chiefly to the intellect or mind through Divine instruction, e.g. Psa 119:130, “The opening of thy words giveth light”; so Pro 6:23, “The law is light.” Even here the instruction includes moral as well as mental enlightenment.

(b) Moral: Job 24:13, Job 24:16 has to do exclusively with man’s moral attitude to truth: “rebel against the light”; “know not the light.” Isa 5:20 describes a moral confusion and blindness, which cannot distinguish light from darkness.

(c) For the most part, however, light and life go together. It is the product of salvation: “Yahweh is my light and my salvation” (Psa 27:1). “Light,” figuratively used, has to do preeminently with spiritual life, including also the illumination that floods all the faculties of the soul: intellect, conscience, reason, will. In the moral realm the enlightenment of these faculties is dependent wholly on the renewal of the spirit. “In thy light ... we see light” (Psa 36:9); “The life was the light of men” (Joh 1:4).

3. An Attribute of Holiness:

Light is an attribute of holiness, and thus a personal quality. It is the outshining of Deity.

(1) God.

“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1Jn 1:5). Darkness is the universal symbol and condition of sin and death; light the symbol and expression of holiness. “The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame” (Isa 10:17). God, by His presence and grace, is to us a “marvellous light” (1Pe 2:9). The glory of His holiness and presence is the “everlasting light” of the redeemed in heaven (Isa 60:19, Isa 60:20; Rev 21:23, Rev 21:24; Rev 22:5).

(2) Christ.

Christ, the eternal Word (λόγος, lógos, Joh 1:1), who said “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3), is Himself the “effulgence of (God’s) glory” (Heb 1:3), “the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world” (Joh 1:9) (compare the statements concerning Wisdom in The Wisdom of Solomon 7:25 f and concerning Christ in Heb 1:3; and see CREEDS; LOGOS; JOHANNINE THEOLOGY; WISDOM). As the predicted Messiah, He was to be “for alight of the Gentiles” (Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6). His birth was the fulfillment of this prophecy (Luk 2:32). Jesus called Himself “the light of the world” (Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5; Joh 12:46); As light He was “God ... manifest in the flesh (1Ti 3:16 the King James Version). “The Word was God” (Joh 1:1). Jesus as λόγος is the eternal expression of God as a word is the expression of a thought. In the threefold essence of His being God is Life (ζωή, zōḗ) (Joh 5:26; Joh 6:57); God is Love (ἀγάπη, agápē) (1Jn 4:8); God is Light (φῶς, phṓs) (1Jn 1:5). Thus Christ, the lógos, manifesting the three aspects of the Divine Nature, is Life, Love and Light, and these three are inseparable and constitute the glory. which the disciples beheld in Him, “glory as of the only begotten from the Father” (Joh 1:14). In revealing and giving life, Christ becomes “the light of men” (Joh 1:4). God gives “the light of the knowledge of (his) glory in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Co 4:6), and this salvation is called “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2Co 4:4). Christ is thus the Teacher, Enlightener (“Christ shall give thee light,” Eph 5:14 the King James Version), Guide, Saviour of men.

(3) Christians.

All who catch and reflect the light of God and of Christ are called “light,” “lights.” (a) John the Baptist: “a burning and a shining light” (Joh 5:35 the King James Version). It is significant that this pre-Christian prophet was termed λύχνος, lúchnos, while the disciples of the new dispensation are called φῶς, phṓs (Mat 5:14): “Ye are the light of the world.” (b) Henceforth Christians and saints were called “children of light” (Luk 16:8; Joh 12:36; Eph 5:8), and were expected to be “seen as lights in the world” (Php 2:15). (c) The Jew who possessed the law mistakenly supposed he was “a light of them that are in darkness” (Rom 2:19).

(4) The Church.

Zion was to “shine” because her ’light had come’ (Isa 60:1). The Gentiles were to come to her light (Isa 60:3). Her mission as the enlightener of the world was symbolized in the ornamentations of her priesthood. The Urim of the high priest’s breastplate signified light, and the name itself is but the plural form of the Hebrew ’ōr. It stood for revelation, and Thummim for truth. The church of the Christian dispensation was to be even more radiant with the light of God and of Christ. The seven churches of Asia were revealed to John, by the Spirit, as seven golden candlesticks, and her ministers as seven stars, both luminous with the light of the Gospel revelation. In Ephesians, Christ, who is the Light of the world, is the Head of the church, the latter being His body through which His glory is to be manifested to the world, “to make all men see,” etc. (Eph 3:9, Eph 3:10). “Unto him be the glory in the church” (Eph 3:21), the church bringing glory to God, by revealing His glory to men through its reproduction of the life and light of Christ.

4. Symbolism:

Light symbolizes: (1) the eye, “The light of the body is the eye” (Mat 6:22, the King James Version; Luk 11:34); (2) watchfulhess, “Let your lights (the Revised Version (British and American) “lamps”) be burning,” the figure being taken from the parable of the Virgins; (3) protection, “armor (Rom 13:12), the garment of a holy and Christ-like life; (4) the sphere of the Christian’s daily walk, “inheritance of the saints in light” (Col 1:12); (5) heaven, for the inheritance just referred to includes the world above in which “the Lamb is the light thereof”; (6) prosperity, relief (Est 8:16; Job 30:26), in contrast with the calamities of the wicked whose “light ... shall be put out” (Job 18:5); (7) joy and gladness (Job 3:20; Psa 97:11; Psa 112:4); (8) God’s favor, the light of thy countenance” (Psa 4:6; Psa 44:3; Psa 89:15), and a king’s favor (Pro 16:15); (9) life (Psa 13:3; Psa 49:19; Joh 1:4).

5. Expressive Terms:

Expressive terms are: (1) “fruit of the light” (Eph 5:9), i.e. goodness, righteousness, truth; (2) “light in the Lord” (Eph 5:8), indicating the source of light (compare Isa 2:5); (3) “inheritance of the saints in light” (Col 1:12), a present experience issuing in heaven; (4) “Father of lights” (Jas 1:17), signifying the Creator of the heavenly bodies; (5) “marvellous light” (1Pe 2:9), the light of God’s presence and fellowship; (6) “Walk in the light” (1Jn 1:7), in the light of God’s teaching and companionship; (7) “abideth in the light” (1Jn 2:10), in love, Divine and fraternal; (8) “Light of the glorious gospel of Christ “; “light of the knowledge of the glory of God” (2Co 4:4, 2Co 4:6 the King James Version).

This word is used in many ways in the Scripture. Sometimes it refers to man’s intellect as in Isa 50:11. Sometimes it refers to the Word of GOD, as in Psa 119:105. Sometimes it refers to false doctrines as in Mat 6:23. It is also a type of the Christian who walks with GOD, as in Eph 5:8. It refers also to the testimony of the Christian, as in Mat 5:16. It is a figure of the state of the believer after he leaves Satan’s kingdom of darkness, and is brought into GOD’s Kingdom. (Act 26:18). It refers to the walk of the believer in which he serves the Lord in a godly way, and directs his life according to the Word of GOD, as in 1Jn 1:7. It refers to the defense of the believer who lives above reproach and has a godly testimony before his neighbors, as in Rom 13:12. CHRIST JESUS Himself is the light of the world, as He affirms in Joh 8:12 (a) In some strange way the entrance of CHRIST into the life and heart enables the mind to become intelligent and intellectual. Only where CHRIST JESUS is loved and His Word is preached do we find minds active for the blessing of others, and alert in inventing that which will be a blessing to mankind. The blessings which we enjoy in civilization, such as electronics, transportation, communication, refrigeration, manufacturing, agriculture, chemistry, physics and institutions of learning are all products of protestant countries where CHRIST JESUS is permitted to rule and reign in the heart of people, and the Word of GOD is read, preached and taught publicly, and without hindrance. (See Joh 1:4).

By common usage, in Bible times as well as today, light is figuratively associated with things that are good. In like manner darkness is usually associated with things that are bad (Job 30:26; Psa 112:4; Joh 3:19-20; see DARKNESS).

In particular, light is associated with God. He is clothed in light, he dwells in light, he is light. Because God is separate from all creation, and especially from all things sinful, light is symbolic of God’s holiness (Psa 104:2; Dan 2:22; 1Ti 6:16; 1Jn 1:5). It is also symbolic of the holiness that should characterize God’s people. As light can have no partnership with darkness, so God’s people should have no partnership with sin (Pro 4:18-19; Isa 2:5; Rom 13:12-13; 2Co 6:14; Eph 5:8-11; 1Jn 1:6-7; 1Jn 2:9-10; see HOLINESS).

Just as the uniqueness of God is symbolized by light, so is the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, who is God in human form (Mat 17:2; Act 9:3-5; Rev 1:16). Jesus likened his coming into the world to the coming of light into darkness. He is the light of the world, who brings the life and salvation of God into a world that is dark and dead because of sin (Mat 4:16; Joh 1:4-5; Joh 3:19; Joh 8:12; Joh 12:35-36; Joh 12:46; 2Co 4:6; cf. Psa 27:1).

Those who turn to Christ for salvation are, by God’s grace, transferred from a kingdom of darkness into a kingdom of light (Col 1:12-13; 1Pe 2:9). They become lights in the world, as they take the good news of Jesus Christ to those who are still in darkness (Mat 5:14-16; Act 13:47; Php 2:15; Rev 11:4; see WITNESS). God’s Word is also a light, as it guides them along the path of life (Psa 119:105; Pro 6:23; see LAMP).

A symbol of goodness and truth,

which characterize God’s kingdom.

The illumination that makes sight possible.

Light in the Old Testament

Light is a concept with many meanings in the Old Testament. It often refers to ordinary, physical light, but it also symbolizes spiritual truth. The first thing God created was light (Genesis 1:3). He also created the sun, moon, and stars to give light (Genesis 1:16). Sometimes, the Bible personifies light. For example, Job describes it as if it lives in a place no one can reach (Job 38:19; compare with verse 24). The Israelites also used man-made light in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:37).

Light is a symbol of what is good, uplifting, or connected to important people—especially God. The preacher in Ecclesiastes says, “Light is sweet” (Ecclesiastes 11:7). During the plagues in Egypt, while the Egyptians were in total darkness, the Israelites had light (Exodus 10:23). When the Israelites left Egypt, God led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). The pillar of fire gave them light while their enemies were in darkness (Exodus 14:20). Even when they sinned, Israel remembered that God did not abandon them. The pillar of fire remained to guide them (Nehemiah 9:19; compare Nehemiah 9:12; Psalms 78:14; 105:39).

In the Old Testament, light often represents God’s blessing. Job said, “He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light” (Job 12:22). When Job was in trouble, he remembered the times when God lit the way for him, and he felt safe (Job 29:2–3). Job’s friend Eliphaz also said that if Job followed his advice, "light will shine on your ways" (Job 22:28). The psalmist also saw it as a blessing when God lit his lamp (Psalms 18:28; 118:27; compare 97:11; 112:4).

Light is closely connected to God. The Bible even says that God is light: “The Lord will be your everlasting light” (Isaiah 60:19–20). The psalmist rejoiced, saying, “The LORD is my light and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1). God is described as being clothed with light (Psalm 104:2), and light lives with Him (Daniel 2:22). For God, darkness and light are the same; neither can hide anything from Him (Psalm 139:12). The prophet Micah also described God as light and as someone who brings His servants into the light (Micah 7:8–9), showing that God brings blessing and victory to His people.

God’s blessing is often described as the “light of His presence.” In Psalm 4:6, the psalmist says, “Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD." This expression of light refers to God's favor. In Psalm 44:3, it is God's light, His right hand, and His love that bring victory to His people. Those who walk in God's light are blessed (Psalm 89:15), but this light also exposes hidden sins (Psalm 90:8). No one can hide from God's watchful eye, but His light mainly represents the blessing that comes from His presence. On one occasion, Job used the phrase to describe favor from others (Job 29:24). The light God gives His servants allows them to share His blessing with others (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6).

God’s justice is also linked to light. He says, “My justice will become a light to the nation” (Isaiah 51:4). In this context, God’s light is powerful, like a consuming fire. Light is also connected to good behavior, as seen in Proverbs: “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn” (Proverbs 4:18).

The absence of light is used as a symbol of disaster. Some people “grope in the darkness without light” (Job 12:25). Job’s friend Bildad believed that the light of the wicked would be put out as punishment (Job 18:5–17). After the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, the people mourned, saying, “He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light” (Lamentations 3:2).

Light in the New Testament

In the New Testament, references to light are often symbolic. For example, when Saul of Tarsus encountered “a light from heaven” on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3; compare 22:6–11; 26:13), it is unclear if this was ordinary light or something else. Similarly, when Peter was in prison, “a light shone in his cell” (Acts 12:7). The heavenly city does not need physical light because “the Lord God will shine on them” (Revelation 22:5; compare 21:11, 23–24).

The connection between God and light is a common theme in the New Testament. The apostle John wrote, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). James called God “the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17). God is also described as living in light that no person can approach (1 Timothy 6:16; see also 1 John 1:7). Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; see also 9:5), and “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness” (John 12:46). He was the light himself, according to the apostle John (John 1:1–10) John the Baptist came to testify about this light to lead people to faith (John 1:7–8). Those who receive the light receive the right to become children of God (John 1:9–12). Sometimes, light is used to represent the revelation of people finding the knowledge of God and his salvation (Matthew 4:16; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; 26:18).

John wrote that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5; compare 1 John 2:8). He also “The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). People who do wrong avoid the light, but those who do good come to the light (John 3:20–21). When John describes the raising of Lazarus, Jesus says that men stumble at night because they have no light (John 11:10). Jesus says that men do not have light "in" them, showing that the light is spiritual (John 8:12).

Believers are described as “children of light” (John 12:36, see also Luke 16:8). Their lives are shaped by their connection to the light. Paul also wrote that Christians are “children of light and children of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). In the first letter of John, Christians are urged to “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7), meaning they should live lives of goodness and truth.

Jesus told His followers, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). This statement means that Christians should reflect God’s light by living godly lives. When Jesus is called the light of the world, it means he can save the world and reveal the truth. When believers are called the light of the world, it is not because they can save the world but because they show the world the way to salvation. Jesus instructed them to let their light shine through their good deeds so that people would praise God (Matthew 5:16). Christians must make full use of the light they have. If they ignore it and live in darkness, they are worse off because they know the truth and have chosen to turn away from it (Matthew 6:23; Luke 11:35).

The metaphor of light is not easy to accept by modern people. The Bible teaches that Christ's light has lighted up all Christians. If they ignore the light and live like they are still in the darkness, then they will remain in deep darkness. They are worse than others because they know what light is and what it can mean to them and have turned away from it.

See also Darkness.

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The brightness that enables sight in the darkness. Scripture often uses light as a symbol of the saving presence of God in a fallen world, with darkness being used as a symbol of sin or the absence of God.

Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.