Stars
The Genesis 1 creation account uses a lot of pairs: light and darkness [vv4-5], waters under the dome and over the dome [v7], dry ground and seas [vv9-10] and as we continue to read the pairing becoming explicit…
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vaulted dome of the sky to make a separation between the day and between the night, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, 15 and they shall be as lights in the vaulted dome of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars. 17 And God placed them in the vaulted dome of the sky to give light on the earth 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, make a separation between the light and between the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Genesis 1:14-19
The sun and the moon AND the stars? What are the stars in the ANE worldview?
Now see how Job speak of stars…
4 “Where were you at my laying the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you possess understanding.
5 Who determined its measurement? Yes, you do know.
Or who stretched the measuring line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars [kô·ḵāḇ1] were singing together.
and all the sons of God[s] [bēnuʾělō·hîm] shouted for joy?
Job 38:4–7
What is a kô·ḵāḇ? What is the scope of meaning of “star” in English?
This is Hebrew poetry. The “stars” and the “sons of God” are synonyms. Let’s look at the bēnuʾělō·hîm elsewhere in the OT…Genesis 6:2-4; Deuteronomy 32:8; Job 1:6, 2:1; Psalm 29:1, 89:6.
What are the bēnuʾělō·hîm? Are they the “sons of the gods” or the “sons of God”? Both translations are possible grammatically.
Now the υἱοὶ θεοῦ of the NT…Matthew 5:9; Luke 20:36; Romans 8:14, 19 [cf 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18].
What do Christians become when we die? What happens at the final coming of Jesus? Will we be more like Jesus [embodied] or the angels [spirits]?
But back to Genesis 1 and pairs…
Sea monsters
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome of the sky.” 21 And God created the great sea creatures [tǎn·nîn] and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird with wings according to their kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
Genesis 1:20-23
What is the pair?
Why does God create the tǎn·nîn as something additional to the pair and separate to “every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm”? How can the creatures in Exodus 7:9-10 also be tǎn·nîn?
Who is spoken of, in the sensus plenium, in Psalm 91:11–13? Who is the tǎn·nîn here?
Bonus questions
Were the [bēnu]ʾělō·hîm or the tǎn·nîn created evil?
Are the wicked unseen creatures in conflict with God or his creation? Perhaps you can compare to other ANE creation myths?
More
“כּוֹכָב (kô·ḵāḇ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 3556; TWOT 942a—1. LN 1.26–1.33 star, i.e., a luminary object in the night sky (Ge 1:16); 2. LN 14.36–14.52 light of the star (Job 9:7); 3. LN 37.48–37.95 king, formally, star, i.e., a ruler as figurative extension of a lofty heavenly body (Nu 24:17; Am 5:26); 4. LN 12.1–12.42 heavenly powers, formally, stars, i.e., a class of being in heaven that serves God (Jdg 5:20; Job 38:7; Isa 14:13; Da 8:10); 5. LN 1.46–1.50 very high place, formally, star, i.e., a high defensible place as the figurative extension of the loftiness of a star (Ob 4); 6. LN 32.40 unit: חָזָה כּוֹכָב (ḥā·zā(h) kô·ḵāḇ) stargazer, i.e., a class of persons that interpret the movements of the stars to tell the future (Isa 47:13).” James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).