#1. Let There Be Light

Today I came across an example of the English language that not only creates syntactic confusion but also sheds light on the Lord Almighty.

First, we need to think of the meaning of a few sentences.

i) Let us go

So, who we are talking to?  Obviously someone is holding someone else, maybe one person, maybe many people and the phrase "let us go" is used as a device to ask for permission to be set free. This may be a teenager asking a parent if they can attend a house party, it may be a kidnapping and the hostage is pleading for freedom. However, we understand that there is a recipient to this phrase, someone has the power to let someone else go.

ii) Let the fun begin

This could be a request for music to be played, or spoken at the start of a gameshow but we still have a recipient. Someone somewhere has the power to let the fun begin.  The flick of a switch or a presenter running on stage has the power to begin the fun.

Now to the point.

iii) 'And God said "Let there be light," and there was light.' Genesis 1:3

Who is God talking to?
We have understood examples i) and ii) as being requests for permission or requests for the entity that has the power to do the thing being requested. Surely, God is not asking himself for permission to create light. Or is he?

We can presume that God was alone, it goes without saying, so then why did he ask himself permission?

To express this idea I shall reword the above sentences.

i) I request permission to be free
ii) I request that you begin the fun by (insert action here)
iii) I request that there be light

So, who is God requesting the light from? We would presume himself but then again why would he use such a phrase? There are no occassion where we use this syntactic construction to request actions from ourselves.

I have come to the conclusion that either, the phrase "Let there be light" is no longer to be interpreted as a request or a wish from one entity to another and here it means something along the lines of "I wish for light", or, quite simply, God has a wife.