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YOM / DAY......WHAT IS THE SCRIPTURAL USAGE OF THE WORD?

What is the meaning of the Hebrew word “yohm or yom” and what is it’s significance in the biblical account of creation?

There are things that are meant to be literal and those that are representative. The creative days are just such an example. Looking at Genesis 1:1 It says:” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Well, what does that mean? The heavens include every stare galaxy, planet, it means the entire universe. Then the earth is mentioned specifically, but that is part of the heavens too– is it not? By the specific mention of the one planet would indicate that God had something different that he purposed for this planet ha’erets (earth).

In verse two the scripture says: ”Now the earth was formless and desolate, and there was darkness upon the surface of the watery deep, and God’s active force was moving about over the surface of the waters.” Notice that the creative days had not begun as yet. Genesis 1:1-2 relates to a yohm [day] which is un-numbered, a time before the six creative periods began, a time period when the shamayim [heavens – and all things mentioned prior including the sun.]

Jehovah proclaims at the start of the first creative period of time, "Let light come to be", the reader is reminded of the conditions existing on earth prior and previously described. The six creative periods reflect a perspective from the surface of the earth - The Scripture indicates that each of the first six “days” ends with the saying, ‘and there came to be evening and morning, a first, second, third day,’ and so on. Where does the text indicate the same for the seventh “day?”

What can we come to understand in regard to the seventh day? According to scripture, 4,000 years later, Paul states that day seven, God’s rest, was still continuing. (Hebrews 4:4-6) According to the apostle Paul, “day” seven was a period spanning thousands of years. Would it not be logical to conclude that the six previous days would be of equal length?

Young earth advocates will insist that [yohm] has but one meaning, a 24 hour period of time. But when faced with the question of how a period from evening to morning can constitute a 24 hour period presents quite a problem. The large problem also exists of the dating of rocks and meteorites etc.

Genesis 1:1,2 is a period of time not included in the counting of yohm[days]. The creative period of time designated as days began in the third verse so between verses 1&2 [the creation of the entire universe] and verse 3 [counting of the days] were eons of time. This is in agreement with sicence.

Genesis Chapter One reflects creation over six yom.

Genesis Chapter Two expresses these same six periods in a single expression “yom”.

This is a significant problem for those who comprehend a stated yohm as a single 24 hour period of time [e.g., which was it, six 24 hour periods, or one 24 hour period].

Now, either the writer of the immediate text was completely ignorant of the apparent and obvious immediate contextual contradiction, and has allowed the apparent contradiction to remain over thousands of years, or the immediate contextual text read just fine if one understands the application of yohm intended by the writer.

This concept of a 24 hour time period is relatively new [i.e., Philo spoke specifically of the creative yohm as unknown, non-specific, periods of time].

The cosmic background radiation, the fossil record, the spectroscopy of the sun, among many others all disprove a young earth interpretation of Genesis and an unsupported tradition regarding the Hebrew word yohm.

It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word used is “Yuma ," which means "eon," an immeasurable period or age, “Day”
What did Moses, a Hebrew preserving a record for Hebrews, understand the usage to be? Moses was not writing for himself, but for the historical record and understanding of a people. Here are just a few examples:
1. Genesis 4:3 "And in process of time [ yohm ] it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." In this instance, Yohm refers to a growing season, probably several months.
2. Genesis 43:9 "...then let me bear the blame forever." [ yohm ] Here, Moses uses Yohm to represent eternity
3. Genesis 44:32 "...then I shall bear the blame to my father forever." [ yohm ] Again, Moses uses Yohm to represent eternity
4. Deuteronomy 4:40 "...that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth the, forever." [ yom ] Here Yohm represents a physical lifetime
5. Deuteronomy 10:10, "Now I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, [ yom ]..." Here, Yohm is a "time" equal to forty days.
6. Deuteronomy 18:5 "...to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever." [ yohm ] Again, Yohm is translated as eternity
7. Deuteronomy 19:9 "...to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever [ yohm ] in His ways..." Here, Yohm represents a lifetime. As long as we live we are to walk in his ways

It can be seen by these examples that Moses used the word Yohm to represent 12-hours, 24 hours, the creative week, forty days, several months, a lifetime, and eternity.

C. John Collins – in his book “Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary and Theological Commentary”: How could anyone say that a “yom” of twenty-four hours is the only interpretation, when throughout the Bible itself that has been proven not to be true. Take the instance of Adam [ the day “yom” you eat from it, you will positively die]. Did Adam die within a twenty four hour period? No, Genesis the fifth chapter gives his life span as [930 yrs.] What does “yom” indicate in this instance? According to 2 Peter 3:8 – the time period noted as “day”, in Genesis 2:17, was actually one thousand years long. Thus, Adam died within the day/yom [period], God had stated.

In the text of Genesis 2:4, the six time periods [as a whole] are noted as a history of creation and spoken of as [in the day/yom]. Obviously, this is not a twenty-four hour time period.

In agreement with Collins, in this instance, Gleason L. Archer states it in this way: “ There were six major stages in this work of formation, and these stages are represented by successive days
of a week. In this connection it is important to observe that none of the six creative days bears a definite
article in the Hebrew text; the translations “the first day,” “ the second day,” etc., are in error. The Hebrew
says, “And the evening took place, and the morning took place, day one” (1:5). Hebrew expresses “the first
day” by hayyom harison, but this text says simply yom ehad (day one). Again, in v.8 we read not hayyom
hasseni (“the second day”) but yom seni (“a second day”). In Hebrew prose of this genre, the definite
article was generally used where the noun was intended to be definite; only in poetic style could it be
omitted. The same is true with the rest of the six days; they all lack the definite article. Thus they are well
adapted to a sequential pattern, rather than to strictly delimited units of time.”

Gleason Archer was Associate Editor of the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. In the quote above,
the first two italicized letters ha of words like harison indicate the Hebrew prefix h “heh” meaning “the.” Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pages 60-61, Baker 1982:

Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, page 271, Zondervan 1999:

“Numbered days need not be solar. Neither is there a rule of Hebrew language demanding that all numbered
days in a series refer to twenty-four-hour days. Even if there were no exceptions in the Old Testament, it
would not mean that “day” in Genesis 1 could not refer to more than one twenty-four-hour period. But there
is another example in the Old Testament. Hosea 6:1-2 . . . . . . Clearly the prophet is not speaking of solar
“days” but of longer periods in the future. Yet he numbers the days in series.”

Genesis 1: 1 & 2 – When yhwh created “bara” the heavens and the earth, that was a completed action. These planets etc., were put in their orbits at the time of their creation. In the case of planet earth, its orbit was and still is, around the sun. Therefore, the sun was included in Genesis 1:1 “ in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It was not, as stated by young earth proponents, created on day four. In verse 16 [day four] ” bara” was not used, but “asah” [made] was the word of choice. Why was it this way? It is because the luminaries had all been “created,” as stated in verse 1 of Chapter 1 “In the beginning God created “bara” the heavens and the earth” [“created” in Hebrew is a verb in the perfect state, showing that the action of creating the heavens and the earth was completed.]

What then would be indicated by the usage of “proceeded to make” in vs. 16 of chapter 1 ? In Hebrew this is a verb in the imperfect state, indicating an incomplete or continuous action, or action in progress. The imperfect state of the Hebrew verb could be rendered in English by using auxiliary words such as “proceeded,” ,” went on,” “continued,” etc.

Here is a sample of the James Washington Watts’ translation of Genesis 1:1-8 (1968)

Vs. 3 Afterwards God proceeded to say, “Let there be light”; and gradually light came into existence.

Vs. 4 also God proceeded to observe the light, (seeing) that it was good; so he proceeded to divide the light and the darkness. he called Night.

Vs. 5 Then God began to call the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. Thus there came to be an evening and a morning, even one day.

Vs. 6 Then God continued, saying, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, also let there be a separation between the waters.”

Vs. 7 Accordingly, God proceeded to divide the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and gradually it came to be so.

Vs. 8 Thereafter God began to call the expanse Heavens. Thus there came to be an evening and a morning, a second day.

Benjamin Willis Newton’s translation contains all of the Hebrew verbs in the imperfect state. He even marks them with brackets, as a continuing action – something that is incomplete, an action in progress.

Genesis 1: 3 And God proceeded to say [future], Let light become to be, and Light proceeded to become to be [future].

Vs. 4 and God proceeded to view [future] the Light, that it [was] good; and God proceeded to divide [future] between the Light and the darkness;

Vs. 5 and God proceeded to call ]future the light Day, and the darkness He called [not “proceeded to call”; the past tense is used] Night; and evening proceeded to be [future], and morning proceeded to be [future] day one.

Vs. 6 And god proceeded to say [future] Let there become a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it become divisive between waters and waters.

Vs. 7 And God proceeded to make [future] the firmament and proceeded to divide [future] between the waters which [are] below in relation to the firmament and the waters which [are] above in relation to the firmament;

Vs. 8 and God proceeded to call [future] the firmament Heavens; and evening proceeded to become [future] and morning proceeded to become [future] Day second.

All of the things listed below are what occurred on day/yom six – between an evening and a morning [not even twenty four hours]. The words used for progressive, continuous action do not allow for such an understanding of a 24 hour time frame

God makes the land-dwelling nephesh chayyah from the ground such as livestock and wild beasts (Gen. 1:24-25; 2:19)

God makes man [nephesh chayyah] in His own image and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7)

God warns Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17)

God brings all of the land-dwelling nephesh chayyah to Adam so he can name them (Gen. 2:18-20)

God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep and from his side, He creates a woman, Eve (Gen. 1:27b; 2:21-25)

God blesses Adam and Eve and tells them to multiply and to take dominion over the creatures of the earth (Gen. 1:28-30)
God declares His Creation “very good” thus pronouncing its completion (Gen. 1:31)

The text in Genesis 2: 2 includes another Hebrew verb in the imperfect state. This is in relation to God’s rest. It states: “And by the seventh day God came to the completion of his work that he had made, and he” proceeded to rest” on the seventh day from all his work that he had made.” Again, continuous action, which when considering the apostle Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, this is consistent with the rest day being thousands of years old. Hebrews 4:4-11.

If God’s rest is thousands of years duration, the creative days would, in order to be consistent with day seven, be thousands of years duration. Again, the creative days, beginning in vs. 3 do not include vss. 1&2. These vss. are indeterminate periods amounting to perhaps billions of years.

TIME….. that turns out to be the issue for humans. When I was 9 years old I wanted to do the things that 16 year olds were doing. When I turned 16 I wanted to do what 20 somethings were doing. As time passed I had a family (5 children) and that took all of my time, effort and attention for years. Do I love them? Yes, and for the most part they were happy years and quite entertaining. Am I sorry? NO, but as the years rolled by I cannot say that I wasn’t glad when they began to leave to establish their own lives. As they left one by one I began to feel freedom that had eluded me for decades and with one child left we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Quite soon after feeling that freedom ( fishing and traveling vacations) for the first time in decades, my husband suffered a heart attack and died at age fifty. There it was…the realization that in this system of things our days have limits. Jesus brother James came to mind “ Come, now, YOU who say: “Today or tomorrow we will journey to this city and will spend a year there, and we will engage in business and make profits,” 14 whereas YOU do not know what YOUR life will be tomorrow. For YOU are a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing.” James 4:13, 14

Solomon said it all and his words are significant for everyone…10 All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheʹol, the place to which you are going. 11 I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all. 12 For man also does not know his time. Just like fishes that are being taken in an evil net, and like birds that are being taken in a trap, so the sons of men themselves are being ensnared at a calamitous time, when it falls upon them suddenly. Ecclesiastes 9:10-12

Man’s attitude, because of life’s limitations, is immediacy, now or else it is not real or true. It is much like a pregnancy… many milestones must be met before a successful birth. Menstruation ceases, cells specific for different areas of the body begin to divide, many changes are in motion at the same time. Lungs develop, brain develops, fetus settles in drinking amniotic fluid to sustain and nourish until the time limit expires and the fetus is ready to live outside the womb. Onlookers, family members see the manifestations of the pregnancy and know the birth is imminent - it is a waiting game. Fulfillment of prophecy is much the same. Jehovah God has set a time limit for this system to develop into whatever mankind wants to make of it. And after living in this system and under man made rules and ideologies for seventy nine years, I can tell you it has given birth to nothing that is good.

Jesus Christ, while on earth, gave his disciples a composite sign which included many facets within that sign. What was the sign supposed to alert those who witness it? “The sign of Christs presence AND the conclusion of a system of things,” the first fulfillment of the prophecy was Jerusalem’s destruction by the Romans in 70 C.E. However, the first part of the question to Jesus had to do with his presence - a sign that he would be present in kingdom power. Well then - the major fulfillment of that prophecy did not occur in 70 C.E. because that was only about thirty seven years after Christ’s death. The major fulfillment is happening now “the conclusion of the systems of things.” Yes, man has failed to realize that our time is not God’s time.

Right about now you are asking yourself what this has to do with my post ? It is this…humans measure their lives in increments of time and as time passes we can see our measured time of life coming closer to the end. But we haven’t done anything but raise and care for children – we’ve become old but really haven’t felt the full effect until something major happens. Time was never a measured issue with God because he is from everlasting to everlasting. Measured time was for humans. The measured time period between “In the beginning” and “evening and morning a first day” is unknowable, most likely eons of time passed. (that is the first measurement) The next measurements are the creative days (yom) which were about 7 thousand years long. The seventh day, God's rest, is on going.

The punishment phase of Adam’s life was known as a day (yom) as measured by God, but to humans the totality of his life was 930 yrs. The fact is…time is a relative measurement – it depends upon who is the keeper of it. Did man create time? No, God is the one who provided the basis for the measuring of time. Genesis 1:14, 15 states: “ Then God said: “Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to make a division between the day and the night, and they will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. 15 They will serve as luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. Because Jehovah has not acted to rid the globe of wicked, lawless people who are themselves incorrigible, they assume God does not exist.

When men speak of what God did or has not done, they speak in terms of our own time increments and limitations. We haven’t, as yet, seen it in our span of life. Restlessness and impatience are hallmarks of humankind. Just like our children asking “are we there yet.” Does the wind exist? We can’t see it but we can see and feel its effects. Because God has not acted within the time limitations of our generation’s lifetime, one formulates an opinion of nonexistence.

However, throughout history Jehovah God has acted on behalf of his servants many times. During the flood of Noah’s day Jehovah saved eight souls from the pervasive wickedness of that time period.

The Exodus saved Jehovah’s people from the tyranny, abuse and slavery of the Egyptian Pharaohs. The same is true when Sennacherib, king of Assyria came against Hezekiah, king of Israel. Jehovah sent an angel during the night who slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. You have the seventy year captivity of Israel in Babylon when Jehovah appointed Cyrus, king of the Persian Empire to overthrow Belshazzar and the Babylonian world power by diverting the Euphrates River giving access to the city.

Another instance validated through historical records is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E when Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, moved against Jerusalem to put an end to uprisings by the Jews and maintain Roman control. However, he was called back to Rome – the Christianized Jews were seeking a time when they could do as Jesus had said: “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), 16 then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains. Matthew 24:15,16

The disgusting thing was the Gentile army of Rome and the holy place was the city of Jerusalem with its temple. The Christians fled away to Pella as soon as the Roman army left. They were saved, but those who were not followers of Christ were annihilated when General Titus returned and destroyed the city and its temple. 1 million Jews were slaughtered and the rest taken as slaves to Rome.

There are innumerable examples in scripture where Jehovah came to the aid of his people and that to me inspires confidence that in the near future that will be the outcome again. The limit he set six thousand years ago has nearly expired and I look forward to seeing my husband and children resurrected to live on the cleansed earth and have the prospect of life everlasting. “9 For evil men will be done away with, But those hoping in Jehovah will possess the earth. 10 Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more; You will look at where they were, And they will not be there. 11 But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace 29 The righteous will possess the earth, And they will live forever on it. 30 Psalm 37:9-11,29