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According to Genesis 1:3, "And G-d said, Let there be light; and there was light." What light is the Torah referring to if the sun which produces light by day was created only on the 4th day of creation?

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The Gemara (Chagigah 12a) records a debate about this. One opinion (R' Elazar and R' Yaakov) is that the light referred to here is an intense light with special powers; G-d afterwards concealed it, realizing that there would be unworthy people who wouldn't deserve to make use of such light, and set it aside as part of the future reward of the righteous.

The other opinion (the majority view) is that the light created on the first day is the same as that we get from the sun and other heavenly bodies. The verse tells us G-d created them on the first day, and then placed them in their proper positions on the fourth day. (See also this question.)

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The Kli Yakar mentions both of these solutions in Parshas Breishis. – Gershon Gold Dec 7 '10 at 18:12
I often wondered what the chazal meant by Hashem hid the light from the wicked. I formulated some questions over here: mi.yodeya.com/questions/4809/… – RCW Dec 22 '10 at 6:27
See also adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995astro.ph..8159B re the formation of hydrogen and the end of the Thomson scattering epoch – Collin Merenoff Sep 2 '11 at 12:46
Or Ganuz........ – Hacham Gabriel Jan 29 '12 at 15:54
up vote 3 down vote

You're assuming that the passage is only concerned with the creation of physical stuff, but verse 2 makes clear that everything was messed up chaos.

My opinion: Perhaps on day one, the laws of the universe were created: the existence of light, forces (e.g. gravity), matter, time etc. That's a faithful reading of the verse because it says 'Let there be light', not 'let there be a thing that produces light'.

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Andrew Downes, welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks for your post. While guesses and opinions are fine, you'll find that answers with Jewish sources (like the preexisting one to this question) are more highly appreciated on the site. In any event, I hope you stick around and enjoy the site. Please also consider registering your account, which will give you access to more of the site's features. – msh210♦ May 31 '12 at 16:15

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