How Could Plants Exist Before the Sun? A Torah and Science Perspective on Creation

Osnat asks: "How could plants have been created before the sun, if plants need sunlight for photosynthesis in order to live?"

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Hello Osnat, and thank you for your thoughtful question.

Photosynthesis (in Hebrew: hatma’at or — “assimilation of light”) is one of the most wondrous and complex processes in creation. It is through this process that plants absorb light, water, and carbon dioxide from the air and produce sugars for their cells, while releasing oxygen, which enables all living creatures to breathe.

Consider a great tree, towering high with its strong trunk and countless branches — and realize that all of this immense structure began from a tiny seed. That seed is a miniature, perfectly designed factory that built all its substance using simple, natural energy drawn from earth, air, and light. Truly, contemplating the miracles of nature strengthens our awareness of the Creator’s wisdom and design.

On the third day of Creation, the Torah tells us: “And God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kind, whose seed is within them, upon the earth. And it was so… and God saw that it was good.”
(Bereishit 1:11–12)

The sun, moon, and stars were not set in the heavens until the fourth day: “And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night… and it was so. And God made the two great lights… to give light upon the earth.” (Bereishit 1:14–15)

At first glance, it seems impossible for plants to survive even a day without sunlight for photosynthesis. In truth however, plants can live for a short time without sunlight, whereas animals cannot live even for an hour without oxygen — the very oxygen supplied by plants.

Thus, the order of creation — vegetation before animals, reflects profound scientific insight: life required oxygen, and for this reason, plants needed to be created first.

Now let’s look more closely at your main question: If the sun was not “made” until the fourth day, how did the plants grow before it?

What Happened on the Fourth Day?

According to the Sages, the heavenly bodies — the sun, moon, and stars, were actually created on the first day, but were not positioned or revealed until the fourth.

The Talmud teaches: “They were created on the first day, but were not hung in the firmament until the fourth.” (Chagigah 12a)

Rashi explains: “‘Let there be lights’ — they were created on the first day, but on the fourth day He commanded them to be hung in the sky.” (Rashi on Bereishit 1:14) The stars existed from the beginning, but their light was not yet fully visible on Earth.

The great commentator Ramban (Nachmanides) explains that on the fourth day, God refined the atmosphere — the “heavens” around Earth, so that the light could now penetrate through and reach the surface.

He writes: “‘And let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth’ — He added that their light should now reach the earth.”

Rabbeinu Bachya elaborates: “Before the fourth day, the light shone only in the heavens but did not yet illuminate the earth.”

The Meaning of “God Made the Lights”

The Torah says, “And God made the two great lights.” The Hebrew word “asah” (“made”) does not mean to create something from nothing (yesh me’ayin). Rather, it means to form or perfect something that already exists, as a craftsman “makes” a table from existing wood.

Thus, when the Torah says “God made the firmament” or “God made the two great lights,” it refers to the completion and arrangement of what was already created on the first day — not a new act of creation.

Was There No Light Before the Sun?

The Ohr HaChaim (Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar) explains that before the fourth day, the light reached only part of the heavens and did not yet fully illuminate the earth: “The meaning is that the luminaries should shine throughout the entire expanse of the heavens and that their light should reach down to the earth.”

Until then, the sun and moon were not visible from Earth. The atmosphere may have been too thick after the separation of the waters on the second day, and therefore light reached the ground only partially and irregularly.

Rashi, quoting the Midrash, adds that day and night alternated chaotically before the fourth day — there was no consistent cycle of illumination and darkness: “To separate day from night — from the time that the first light was hidden, during the seven days of Creation the original light and darkness served together without order.”

The World Was Never Without Light

The plants of the third day did not exist in total darkness. There was light — but it was diffused, unorganized, and unstable until the fourth day, when the luminaries were set in place to shine consistently upon the earth.

The Torah’s order of creation, therefore, is perfectly logical, both spiritually and scientifically. There was already a form of light sustaining the plants, long before the sun became visible.

Beyond the literal explanation lies the profound mystery of the primordial light of Creation — a spiritual light that, according to our sages, was later hidden away for the righteous in the World to Come.