A typical verse is Genesis 30:36: "And he (Laban) set three days journey betwixt himself and Jacob." God frequently issued commands that the people were to do or not to do certain things on a given day. If the combinations had been intended to mean long periods of time, both the texts and contexts then become meaningless. The combination is used in four different ways, but each time it is used, it must mean 24-hour periods of time. This combination occurs 357 times outside of Genesis 1. The use of a number with the word "day" is very illuminating. It will be shown how the context defines the word in Genesis 1. ![]() 4 Word meaning must be determined from within its context. Words must be defined by their relationship to one another. Moses wrote in a language that was meant to communicate to his readers. The English language also can have up to 14 definitions for the word "day." 3 The reader should be reminded that the purpose of language is to communicate. 2 The context determines which of these is intended by the writer. It can have any of five meanings: 1) a period of light 2) a period of 24 hours 3) a general, vague time 4) a point of time 5) a year. It is recognized, of course, that the word "day" can be used with a number of variations. These verses are really irrelevant to the discussion of the meaning of "day," in Genesis 1. Both of these verses, however, are simply using figures of speech (similes) to show that God is not constrained by the same time parameters as are humans. Those who argue that the word "day" means "long age," point out that the Hebrew word, yom, can have a number of meanings, only one of which is "day of 24 hours." 1 They further seek to strengthen their position with the use of Psalm 90:4 and II Peter 3:8, comparing a day to a thousand years. What is the meaning he was trying to communicate to his original audience and to us, as well? Why did Moses use the word "day" and not the more generic term, "time"? Is there any significance to the repeated use of numbers in the account ("first day," "second day," etc.)? Why are these "days" bounded by the terms, "evening and morning"? As we examine the text of Genesis 1, answers to these questions become clear. ![]() We must ask ourselves why Moses was using the words he did, and not other words. The communication of language is through words and their use. Therefore, let us attempt, honestly, to examine the evidence from Scripture. Many have sought to redefine the term in light of the naturalistic presuppositions of modern scientism. The former he characterises as ‘a divine pedagogical instrument for progressive revelation of a system of spiritual truths about heavenly and earthly realities’ and the latter as ‘a useful theological method by which men appropriate for themselves and proclaim to others their experiences of the self-revelation of God in history’.The length of the "days" of creation in Genesis has involved a major controversy in Biblical interpretation among evangelicals for over 150 years. 133– 162 Google Scholar) contrasts the use of ‘typology’ in Patrick Fairbairn's The Typology of Scripture: Viewed in Connection with the Whole Series of Divine Dispensations (Edinburgh, 15) and in volume two of Gerhard von Rad's Old Testament Theology. ![]() (‘ Biblical Typology Yesterday and Today’, CTJ 5( 1970), pp. T., Jesus and the Old Testament ( London, 1971), p. B., Interpreting the Bible ( Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1963), p. W., ‘The Understanding of History in the Old Testament Prophets’, ET in EOTI ( German: EvTh 20( 1960)), p. 39– 40 Google Scholar von Rad, Old Testament Theology, II, pp. H., ‘ Typological Exegesis’, Theology 56( 1953), p.
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