Genesis 1:17
וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם לְהָאִיר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיִּתֵּ֥ן אֹתָ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם לְהָאִ֖יר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
καὶ ἔθετο αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Et posuit eas in firmamento cæli, ut lucerent super terram,
Y púsolas Dios en la expansión de los cielos, para alumbrar sobre la tierra,
God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth,
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 1:17 narrates the placement of the lights: God "set them" in the firmament of the heavens with a stated purpose, to give light upon the earth. The verse continues the account's chain of events through the Hebrew narrative verb form.
Key words
- i.yi.Ten ("he set", H5414) — qal verb in the narrative form: "and then he set".
- 'E.lo.Him ("God", H0430) — explicit subject of the action.
- r.Ki.a' ("[the] firmament of", H7549) — construct noun: "firmament of…".
- sha.Ma.yim ("heavens", H8064) — plural noun with the article.
- ha.'Ir ("give light", H0215) — hiphil (causative) infinitive.
What the text says
The clause opens with the narrative vav attached to i.yi.Ten ("he set", H5414), the form the provided morphology labels narrative ("and then…"): the device that chains each episode of the account. The object is not named: it appears only as the direct object marker with a pronominal suffix, "them" (H0853 + H9038), so the verse depends on what precedes it for the identity of what was set.
The location is "in the firmament of the heavens": r.Ki.a' ("[the] firmament of", H7549) stands in construct ("X of…") with sha.Ma.yim ("heavens", H8064), a plural noun with the article. The purpose is expressed with the preposition le- plus the infinitive ha.'Ir ("give light", H0215), which the morphology tags as hiphil, the causative stem: literally, "to make light" upon 'A.retz ("earth", H0776).
Differences between versions
The Vulgate as provided reads "Et posuit eas in firmamento cæli" without naming the subject, while the Hebrew writes 'E.lo.Him ("God", H0430), the LXX has ὁ θεός, and the RV1909 ("púsolas Dios") and the BSB ("God set") make it explicit. For H7549, the LXX uses στερεώματι and the Vulgate "firmamento"; the RV1909 translates "expansión" and the BSB "expanse", while the Spanish gloss provided for the Hebrew noun is "expansión". Where the Hebrew has the infinitive "to give light", the Vulgate builds a purpose clause with a finite plural verb ("ut lucerent", "so that they might shine"), and the LXX keeps an infinitive (ὥστε φαίνειν). The BSB adds "these lights" to spell out the referent of the Hebrew pronoun.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.