Appendix:
Biblical Basis for Long Creation Days Genesis 1 says in six “days” God miraculously transformed a “formless and empty” Earth into a suitable habitat for mankind. The meaning of the word day here has become a matter of huge controversy. Does it or does it not literally refer to a 24-hour period?
Some say it must; others say it must not. This divisive situation exemplifies what logicians describe as a “false dilemma,” an “either-or fallacy” because of a misunderstanding or misapplication of a key concept. A “literal” interpretation must take into account context, grammar, and relevant passages from other parts of Scripture, as well as definitions. A careful analysis of these elements yields multiple reasons for considering the days of Genesis “literally” to be lengthy (but finite) time periods.55 A few are listed below:
a. Definitions: The Hebrew word yôm, translated day, may be used (and is used in Scripture) to indicate: “1) the period of light (as contrasted with the period of darkness), 2) the period of twenty-four hours, 3) a general vague ‘time,’ 4) a point of time, 5) a year (in the plural).”56 In Old Testament Word Studies, William Wilson states that yôm is “frequently put for time in general, or for a long time; a whole period under consideration. . . . Day [yôm] is also put for a particular season or time when any extraordinary event happens.”57 The Hebrew word ‘ereb, translated evening, refers to the ending of the day and also means “sunset,” or “night.” And the word bōqer, translated morning, also means “sunrise,” “beginning of day,” or “the coming of dawn and even daylight,” with possible metaphoric usage.58
b. Phraseology: The New International Version renders these creation-day markers in this way: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the Xth day.” This expression departs from the biblical and ancient Hebrew norm of referring to 24-hour days as “evening to evening.” The unusual wording does not restrict day to its 24-hour definition. More likely ‘ereb and bōqer serve as the literary “frame” to mark the beginning and ending of creation-day events.
Some say it must; others say it must not. This divisive situation exemplifies what logicians describe as a “false dilemma,” an “either-or fallacy” because of a misunderstanding or misapplication of a key concept. A “literal” interpretation must take into account context, grammar, and relevant passages from other parts of Scripture, as well as definitions. A careful analysis of these elements yields multiple reasons for considering the days of Genesis “literally” to be lengthy (but finite) time periods.55 A few are listed below:
a. Definitions: The Hebrew word yôm, translated day, may be used (and is used in Scripture) to indicate: “1) the period of light (as contrasted with the period of darkness), 2) the period of twenty-four hours, 3) a general vague ‘time,’ 4) a point of time, 5) a year (in the plural).”56 In Old Testament Word Studies, William Wilson states that yôm is “frequently put for time in general, or for a long time; a whole period under consideration. . . . Day [yôm] is also put for a particular season or time when any extraordinary event happens.”57 The Hebrew word ‘ereb, translated evening, refers to the ending of the day and also means “sunset,” or “night.” And the word bōqer, translated morning, also means “sunrise,” “beginning of day,” or “the coming of dawn and even daylight,” with possible metaphoric usage.58
b. Phraseology: The New International Version renders these creation-day markers in this way: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the Xth day.” This expression departs from the biblical and ancient Hebrew norm of referring to 24-hour days as “evening to evening.” The unusual wording does not restrict day to its 24-hour definition. More likely ‘ereb and bōqer serve as the literary “frame” to mark the beginning and ending of creation-day events.
24
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c. Context: For each of the six creation days in Genesis 1, the text repeats the “evening and morning” expression. However, the expression is not attached to the seventh day, the day of God’s “rest” or “cessation.” Its absence suggests that the seventh day has not yet ended. Given the strong parallel structure of the passage, if the seventh day represents a lengthy
time period, it seems reasonable that the other days could be lengthy periods as well.
d. Relevant passage elsewhere in Scripture: The author of Hebrews writes, “‘on the seventh day God rested.’ . . . It still remains that some will enter that rest. . . . There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.”59 The text indicates that day seven of the creation week extends all the way from Adam and Eve through the present and on into the future.
e. Practical corroboration: According to Genesis 1:26–31, God made Adam
and Eve on the same day, day six. Genesis 2 tells about all that transpired between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve. Adam settled into his new garden home (moved there from outside, where God made him 60); learned about its plants and tended them; named all the birds and mammals according to their characteristics; discovered that none of those creatures was a match for him; fell into a deep sleep while God took some tissue from him and formed Eve; recovered from that procedure; and awoke to meet her, greeting her with the word happa ‘am, which means “at last” or “now at length.”61
These events, as time-consuming as they must have been, represent only the latter part of day six. From all indications, that day must have been a long time period.
f. Theological corroboration: Truth/truthfulness belongs to God. His nature is Truth and His purpose is self-disclosure, according to Scripture. The implications concerning creation are obvious. To create things with a deceptive “appearance of age” would violate both His character and His purpose.
Therefore, any object of His creation subjected to accurate and appropriate analysis will reveal its true age. Adam and Eve, for example, were created with adult bodies, but they were new bodies. We can appropriately assume God did not put into them 20 to 30 years’ worth of “aging” effects, e.g., wrinkles, cholesterol, tooth or gum erosion, etc. Carefully and appropriately analyzed evidence from astronomy, physics, geology, and paleontology can be expected to reveal true age. And the preponderance of that evidence says the universe, the Earth, and life on the Earth are much older than a few thousand years. Psalm 19:1–4 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
55. Hugh Ross, A Matter of Days (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2004), 71– 84; David G. Hagopian, ed., The Genesis Debate (Mission Viejo, CA: Crux Press, 2001), 144–155.
56. Harris, Archer, and Waltke, Theological Wordbook, 1:370–371.
57. William Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1978), 109.
58. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (1906; reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997), 133–134.
59. Hebrews 4:4, 6, 9, 10, 11
60. Genesis 2:7, 8, 15.
61. Harris, Archer, and Waltke, Theological Wordbook, 2:730.
Copyright Hugh Ross, Genesis One A Scientific Perspective, All rights reserved.
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