Christian brethren, what is a "day?"?

Question

Genesis chapter 1 states; "God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night, so the evening and the morning were the first day." (verse 5)

"Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavvens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth;' and it was so." (verse 14)..."so the evening and the morning were the fourth day." (verse 19)

Thus, our 365 day years with 24 hour days were created on the fourth day.

In 2 Peter 3:8, the word "as" is NOT in italics. This literally shows that the statement is simile, meaning "like a thousand years."

Since our days and seasons were not made until God's fourth Day, I ask especially of you who claim creation was made in six 24 hour days, what is a day?

God through Christ Jesus grant you a great day today!!!

banjuja 58:
Those of us who read translations of the Old and New Testaments in English have understanding that when The Bible is translated from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, that there are words added in italics to clarify meaning, and "as" is often seen in italics. I point out that the "as" in the scripture mentioned is NOT in italics to emphasize that the original Greek used the word "as," our English adverb which indicates metaphorical intent.

Answer 1

God never gave us a definition of the length of one of his days. Therefore, God's days could be million of years or two of our hours.

Answer 2

Day- O Day ay ay o
Daylight come and me want to go home.

Christian apologists in the mid 19th century were uncomfortable with science proving the earth is billions of years old, first postulated that the "days" mentioned in Genesis could each have been millions of years. Unfortunately every other reference to days and nights in the OT is very specific that it means the 24 hours that we refer to today.

The creation stories, for there are 2 of them that contradict each other, also get cause and effect mixed up, because in one version, god creates day and night before he creates the sun and moon. This is more reflective of ancient mans erroneous knowledge then of a divine god.

Order of creation
Here is the order in the first (Genesis 1), the Priestly tradition:

Day 1: Sky, Earth, light
Day 2: Water, both in ocean basins and above the sky(!)
Day 3: Plants
Day 4: Sun, Moon, stars (as calendrical and navigational aids)
Day 5: Sea monsters (whales), fish, birds, land animals, creepy-crawlies (reptiles, insects, etc.)
Day 6: Humans (apparently both sexes at the same time)
Day 7: Nothing (the Gods took the first day off anyone ever did)

Note that there are "days", "evenings", and "mornings" before the Sun was created. Here, the Deity is referred to as "Elohim", which is a plural, thus the literal translation, "the Gods". In this tale, the Gods seem satisfied with what they have done, saying after each step that "it was good".

The second one (Genesis 2), the Yahwist tradition, goes:

Earth and heavens (misty)
Adam, the first man (on a desolate Earth)
Plants
Animals
Eve, the first woman (from Adam's rib)

How orderly were things created?
#1: Step-by-step. The only discrepancy is that there is no Sun or Moon or stars on the first three "days".
#2: God fixes things up as he goes. The first man is lonely, and is not satisfied with animals. God finally creates a woman for him. (funny thing that an omniscient god would forget things)

How satisfied with creation was he?
#1: God says "it was good" after each of his labors, and rests on the seventh day, evidently very satisfied.
#2: God has to fix up his creation as he goes, and he would certainly not be very satisfied with the disobedience of that primordial couple. (funny thing that an omniscient god would forget things)

Answer 3

A day is only 24 hours if you are on earth. If you are on Mercury, a day is a different span of time. If you are on Pluto, it is another span still. "24 hours" is not the rule of a day for anywhere else unless there is a planet the exact same size as earth orbiting a sun the exact same size as ours, and that earthlike planet is the exact same distance from that other sun. And given that their gravitational force isn't different to some other factor, which it could be.

The language used in Genesis had to be something. God lives outside of time and space, so he has no days as we understand them, obviously, since days exist in time and space. The language had to say SOMETHING about creation, and this is the way that God chose to express it--in terms we could understand.

Answer 4

Dear Corun: In Eternity where the Creator lays - no measured time exists. Time is of man's making. Not God's. Man wrote the book Genesis. Remember that. He is Ancient man. Putting
his world into an orderly thought system he is comfortable with. The Bible has some inspired thoughts through God - along with allegory and myth, as well.

In Eternity, every moment is "now." Man did indeed measure time by sunrise and sundown. God, Himself, only knows Now.

This would indicate the possibility of a Separation that took place in Eternity - not in a Garden of Eden ; in Eternity, where all is spirit-mind - and the full Power of those spirit -minds, collectively, and their thoughts, collectively, are a Power surge.

I hope some of these lines are of profit to you in contemplation.

Answer 5

Have you never said, "Back in my day", or In the day of ? It could mean a generation, or it could mean in the span of a person's life.
When God told Adam that if he ate from the tree of good and evil, that he would die in that day, and Adam did die in his day. At age, 930. Before that, they were to live forever. That's why of the 2 trees in the middle of the garden. One was the tree of life. But God didn't say he couldn't eat that one, why?, because Adam and Eve were already going to live forever. But because they sinned, God blocked the way to the tree of life, as part of the punishment.
The calender has been changed too. Time has been changed also by man this is evident in the fact that man used to live past 900 yrs, and now it's about 70. So now, our 24 hour day, is quite different then it was then.

Answer 6

A day in Genesis is 24hours. In other places in prophetic talk it plainly says a day represents a year. God said in Genesis: the evening and the morning were the first day. It means exactly what it says. To God the day starts at Sundown and ends with sundown. He said : from evening until evening you shall celebrate your sabbath.

Answer 7

The problem here is we have a bunch of children in adult bodies forcing a literal interpretation on the Bible, and trying to force everyone else to accept their naivete as the only possible truth.

Answer 8

Indeed it makes no sense at all, does it? These "days" referred to in Genesis are undoubtedly some lengthy celestial time period, and could not possibly be 24 hour earth days.

Answer 9

Please bear in mind that The Bible was not written in English.
You are using what is, at best, a translation of a translation. So be careful of such detailed analysis. And there were no italics when the Bible was written so it is useless to consider them in your analysis.

Answer 10

I think you have it.
God's day and ours is not the same.
It could have been millions of years.
No one knows what a God day is.
I think it is just a way to state there was a time period.
How long it was, is unknown.
Of course the religious have to make it fit into their theology.