A Genesis Day and the Age of the Earth: what does the Bible say?

How long is a "day" in the first chapter of Genesis? Does the Bible say how old the earth Is?
Point of ViewWhen examining the Genesis account, it is helpful to keep in mind that it approaches matters from the standpoint of people on earth. So it describes events as they would have been seen by human observers had they been present. This can be noted from its treatment of events on the fourth Genesis "day." There the sun and moon are described as great luminaries in comparison to the stars. Yet many stars are far greater than our sun, and the moon is insignificant in comparison to them. But not to an earthly observer. So, as seen from the earth, the sun appears to be a ”greater light that rules the day’ and the moon a ”lesser light that dominates the night.’”Genesis 1:14-18.What Does the Hebrew word for "Day" mean?The Hebrew word yohm, translated "day," can mean different lengths of time. Among the meanings possible, William Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies includes the following: "A day; it is frequently put for time in general, or for a long time; a whole period under consideration . . . Day is also put for a particular season or time when any extraordinary event happens."1 This last sentence appears to fit the creative "days," for certainly they were periods when extraordinary events were described as happening. It also allows for periods much longer than 24 hours.That the Hebrew word for "day" is, as in English also, a flexible expression of unites of time is evident by the context of this expression in the Genesis account of creation. Therein is set forth a week of six creative days followed by a seventh day of rest. The week assigned for observance by the Jews under the Law covenant given them by God was a miniature copy of that creative week (Ex. 20:8-ll). That, in this instance, Moses did always mean that "day" equates twenty-four hours is the evident by: Genesis 1:5, where the daylight portion is called "day". Genesis 2:4, where all the creative epochs together are called "the day", Genesis 5:1,2, where it mentions "the day of God's creating Adam" and "the day of their being created" (though we learned by Genesis chapter 2 that the man and woman were not created in the same twenty-four hour day). Genesis 35:3, where Jacob refers to "the day of my distress"; Genesis 42:17,18, where Joseph puts his brothers into custody for three days (the days here are shorter than twenty-four hours); and in Psalms 90:2,4, also written by Moses, which says "For a thousand years are in your eyes but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch during the night." Also when considering the topic of the length of the creative days we should consider: 1) What did each day begin with? 2) What did each day end with? and 3) What does the rest of the Bible have to say on this subject?What each Day began and ended withEach day began with a pronouncement or statement by God of his purpose for that particular day. Thus day 1 began at Genesis 1:3; day 1 at Genesis 1:6; day 3 at Genesis 1:9; day 4 at Genesis 1:14; day 5 at Genesis 1:20; day six at Genesis 1:24; and say seven at Genesis 2:3. What can we discern so far? The creative days were an account of the stages of God's actions toward the earth, which he had already created as he had also the remainder of the universe referred to in Genesis 1:1 as "the heavens", for this period of six "days" concerned the preparation of the planet existing in the state described in Genesis 1:2 as being "formless and waste" and there being darkness over the water covered surface, so it would be suitable for and filled with life. Thus even if we knew the length of the creative days the Bible does not indicate either the age of the earth or of the universe because to mention this again for emphasis, the "heavens and the earth" were created before the first day.What does each creative day end with, and what else does the Bible say on this subject? In the historical account of Genesis at the end of each day we find the expression "and there came to the evening and there came to the morning," and then the day number following this statement. So then day 1 ended at Genesis 1:5, day 2 at Genesis 1:8, day 3 at Genesis 1:13, day 4 at Genesis 1:19, day 5 at Genesis 1:23, day 6 at Genesis 1:31, and day 7 did not have an end. Since it is a reasonable conclusion that he days of the creation account are of equal length, we can gain understanding of the issue of the length of the creative days by considering the length of the seventh day. At Hebrews 4:1-10, Paul quotes from Psalm 95:11 to demonstrate that the Israelites of Moses' day had the opportunity to enter into God's day of rest, but these failed to do so because of their lack of faith, and disobedience, and he then indicates that Christians of his time still had the opportunity to do so because that seventh day was still continuing. So the conclusion this leads to is that the seventh day is thousands of years long and thus the other days would be as long also.A Reasonable ViewIn English usage we might say "In my father's day" or something similar such as "In George Washington's day." Other people will understand what we mean by such idioms containing the word "day" according to the context, whether we are speaking in a literal or figurative way, but prejudice cause individuals to insist on a literal interpretation of certain Bible texts, before they ascertain all the facts, or regardless of them. Some individuals consider it an evidence of their "faith" if they readily accept what others may find to be unreasonable without studying everything the Bible has to say on the subject. On the other hand individuals who are looking for something to criticize in the Bible also insist on a literal interpretation even though they would not do so if hearing something similar in everyday conversation.A Look at the TextGenesis1 In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth.2 Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.3 And God proceeded to say: "Let light come to be." Then there came to be light. 4 After that God saw that the light was good, and God brought about a division between the light and the darkness. 5 And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.(The first day began with verse three for the reasons stated above.)So no, the Bible doesn't say old the earth is, or how old the universe is either. All of "the Heavens and the Earth" were created before the first creative day, each of the creative days were thousands of years, or so, in duration, and the events during each of those days happened gradually, and not suddenly, as if, some would claim, "the waving of a magic wand".

TEV says "the universe"
YOUNG says "In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth--"
NKJV,NASB,CEV,RSV,ROTHERHAM, ASV,DARBY. MJKV,LITV, all say "Heavens"
The Bible here was written in Hebrew, not English, and the Authorized King James Version was authorized by a man, King James, and not by God. However even in the AKJV the first day began with verse 3. Verse 1 says "In the beginning", not "on the first day:", so you are mistaken.

John,
Even earlier, than the King James Version many English translations of the Bible had come into being. There were the works of Wycliffe, Tyndale and Coverdale. There was the Matthew’s Bible of 1537, the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva Bible of 1560 and the Bishops’ Bible of 1568. First among the so-called "authorized versions"”those translations authorized by religious monarchs or religious groups for use in their religious congregations”was the Great Bible. The King James Version was not a translation from the original languages of the Bible, but instead a revision of the versions then in use. The instructions given by King James to the translators were: "The Bishops’ Bible to be followed, and altered as little as the Original will permit. And these translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the Bishops’ Bible”namely, Tyndale’s, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s, Whitchurch’s, Geneva."There are quite a few mistakes in the King James Version . One of these mistakes are the spurious words "Father, Son, and Holy Sprit" found at 1 John 5:7.It was not until the sixteenth century that these spurious words crept into a Greek manuscript. In 1516 Erasmus produced a Greek "New Testament" text. He brought out several editions, and the first two did not contain the spurious words at 1John 5:7. However, the omission of this forged text was noted by Catholic authorities, particularly by J. L. Stunica, one of the editors of the Complutensian Polyglott, and through subsequent contriving Stunica prevailed upon Erasmus to insert it in a later edition, against the better judgment of Erasmus. This became what is called the "textus receptus", but not because it was received from God. The textus receptus was based on no manuscript older than the tenth century. William Tyndale used this Erasmus later edition to revise his English translation, and it is this Tyndale version that is the basis of the popular King James Version of 1611. The original King James Version had a "Preface of the Translators" which is not there today, and that would tell you a lot about why it was made. The King James Version you read today is not the same one as came out in 1611. For instance even by 1613 three hundred changes had been made, and more since then. The major changes were made in the eighteenth century. I doubt if you have one older than that.
A lot of much older manuscripts of both the original languages and very early manuscripts have been found since the time of the King James Version which allows us to have much more accurate translations today. One of these is the Vatican manuscript 1209 which dates from the fourth century. I do have a King James Version, but I have others as well, and I like to compare them. I can tell you that the mistakes in the King James Version are really obvious if you compare it with Hebrew and Greek Interlinear. Also you can use lexicons to look up the meaning of original language words, and then concordances are useful to see how those words are used by the Bile itself. The King James Version is very inconsistent in how it renders the same original language word in different places. One example of this is the "Tetragrammaton" (look up this word in a dictionary). It means "four letters" and it is God's personal name in the form of the four Hebrew consonants. That personal name was inspired by God in his word to be recorded 6,971 times in the original Hebrew but it is rendered as a name only four times in the King James Version; one of these is at Psalms 83:18. The same word also appears at Psalms 110:1 but there it appears as "LORD" in all capital letters. Look it up yourself and see the difference between the two occurrences of lord in that verse. That is one place where the King James Version is not consistent. The American Standard Version , which came out about 1913 renders the divine name throughout.
You are welcome to use whatever you want, but don't preach to me about it out of your ignorance. Use the tools and prove what is true for yourself instead of blindly following others.

I agree with you on that point AlphaOmegakid, but it doesn't really have anything to do with the original message.

Yes John I do, but that does not mean it is the same length of day as mentioned in Genesis.

AlphaOmegakid,
If you read through these first chapters of Genesis you will see that "day" is used in different ways. On the first day only the light portion is called "day" and yet at the end of the same day the entire evening to morning is called "day" and this is despite the fact that evening to morning is not 24 hours.Another example is Genesis 2:4 where it does not say "days" but refers to all 6 days as "day" singular.

The key word here which is often overlooked is "as". It says "as a thousand years" rather than "is a thousand years".

Otto,I have nothing against Catholics. My mother was raised as a Catholic. I don't agree with the view of Augustine here though, and I'll tell you why. First look at the text of Genesis 2:4 to which Augustine if referring to. Here is the way it is rendered by three different Bibles:
(Genesis 2:4) 4This is a history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.
(Darby) Genesis 2:4 These are the histories of the heavens and the earth, when they were created, in the day that Jehovah Elohim made earth and heavens,
(MKJV (Green)) Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens.Now look at some alternatives at the point where the first one says "history":"These are the historical origins." Heb., ’el’leh thoh·ledhohth’, "These are the begettings of"; Gr., hau’te he bi’blos ge·ne’se·os, "This is the book of origin (source)"; Lat., i’stae ge·ne·ra·ti·o’nes, "These are the generations."The last of these above would have been what Jerome used in the Latin Vulgate. Jerome was a much better scholar than Augustine and when he was translating this portion of the Bible he insisted on doing so from the Original Hebrew so he had a good grasp of the thought expresses here. "Generations" is something that would cover a period of time, rather than some something which would happen "all at once together" as Augustine described.Also in the Bile when something is figurative you get some kind of clue either in the immediate context or somewhere else in the Bible. An example of this is Revelation 21:1 where it says "the sea is no more", compare this with 17:15 where it says in part "...The waters that you saw, ...mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues." and Isaiah 57:20 "But the wicked are like the sea that is being tossed, when it is unable to calm down, the waters of which keep tossing up seaweed and mire." So if Genesis chapter one is in symbols, then can you show from the Bible what those symbols mean?Also compare this with another account of creation as found in job chapter 38 and verses 4 through 11. One thing you might note there is that the angels existed before the earth and were an audience to this, and also the sea is mentioned after the earth, so it suggests a logical and linear progression. The heavens which were created at Genesis 1:1 was the spiritual one, and then the heaven where the stars are. The heaven in regard to the earth was created on the second day. This latter one is the expanse where birds fly and the clouds are.Also, I am certainly not an authority on Hebrew, but from what I have read the original Hebrew describes something that happened over a period of time. When God said on Day One, "Let light come to be," diffused light evidently penetrated the cloud layers even though the sources of that light could not yet be discerned from the earth’s surface. That this was a gradual process is indicated by translator J.W. Watts in "A Distinctive Translation of Genesis" : Genesis 1:3 "And gradually light came into existence."Furthermore I do have confidence in the potassium-argon, and Rubidium dating methods. These work quite well on igneous rock, though neither are useful for fossils since they are almost always found in sedimentary rock. The Uranium-Lead clock is good too but has a few more problems than the first two. A rock was brought back from the moon by the astronauts of Apollo 15. Using a chip from this rock, scientists measured the potassium and argon and determined the age of the rock to be 3.3 billion years. The rubidium-strontium clock was used in dating the same moon rock described above. Five different minerals in the rock were tested, and they joined in indicating an age of 3.3 billion years, the same as the potassium-argon age, and using this last method scientists measured the age of a meteorite thought to be like that which came together to form our planets, and it was dated at 4.6 billion years. The age of the earth is estimated to be about 5 billion years and the universe is said to be 12 billion years old. That's a difference of 7 billion years. I would speculate that this allowed time for massive stars to form and burn out producing the heavier elements through nuclear fusion of which our planet is made, then it could have taken billions of more years for the earth to cool off from radioactive and thermal energy and stabilize so that at the right time God could begin to prepare it further and create life on it. I think that it is a cooling process described in Genesis 1:2 . It you have a cup of tea or soup that is too hot you might blow upon it to cool it off. Some scientists believe that at some point in time a mars sized object struck the earth and sunk into it to form the core it has today while at the same time throwing a mass into orbit which became our moon, and this would have left a massive cloud of dust around the earth. This could been the source of the cloud which covered the earth which along with the water vapor caused the darkness described at Genesis 1:2, which began to settle enough for light to penetrate on day one, and had settled enough by day four so that the sources of light; the sun, moon, and, stars could be seen from the earth.

John,
That is one of the two possible explanations. The other one is that God's point of view Adam did die on that day when he sinned by pulling away from his life source, disconnecting from God, so to speak. Like if you unplug a fan from your point of view you turned it off, but it may still spin for a little while. This in particular is not something commented on by any other Bile writer so you explanation you offered is as good as any.

AlphaOmegakid,
I'm sorry I missed your other post. I'm not really keeping up very well with all the replies.
I can't say how long the creative days were, but one thing that indicates that these were a long period of time is that the seventh one began, but never had an end, and Paul referred to Psalm 95:11 and applied it to show that Christians in his day were still in that day of rest. You can find this at Hebrews 3:18 through 4:10. If your Bible has cross references here please use them and see what you find. I believe I mentioned this in the original message. If we go by the same model which you pointed out at Exodus then it is reasonable to believe that each day was of equal length. The week observed by the Israelites were of twenty four hours, from evening to evening, and were a miniature model of the creative times followed by God's day of rest, which as Paul pointed out they had the opportunity to enter, but failed. Also, as I just mentioned, the Israelite day was from evening to evening, while the creative time periods were described as evening to morning, so they were not the same. The description "there came to be morning, and there came to be evening is symbolic. In the Bible ignorance is described as darkness, while knowledge or understanding is spoken of as light. Each creative time period began with darkness as to what God would accomplish and ended in the full light of his wise accomplishments. Again, if these days were the same as those in Exodus they would have run from evening to evening.

John,
Job and Zechariah have nothing to do with the topic, and you are adding something to the Bible.
(Revelation 22:18) 18“I am bearing witness to everyone that hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone makes an addition to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this scroll;

Their rest was in the promised land, but the land inself was not that rest. When God said
"they shall not enter into my rest" the "my rest" there was reffering to a condition, not just a place. Sice God himself was in heaven. If they demonstrated faith and obeyed him then rhey could enter into a relationship with him in the promised land where they would become reconciled with God and enjoy his blessings. remember that the sacrifices they were told to make were all symboloic, or poictorial, of the one sacrifice of the Chtist, and now through him all Chtistains have the opportunity to become reconciled to God regardless of what land we live on. That is why true Christians who obey Christ and follow him have a ministry of reconcoliation.(2 Corinthians 5:18-20) 18But all things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of the reconciliation, 19namely, that God was by means of Christ reconciling a world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and he committed the word of the reconciliation to us. 20We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: “Become reconciled to God.”As for where that rest is read Matthew 5:5 where Jesus was quoting from Psalms 37. Thar is our promised land now.

You don't have to take my word for it. Just read chapter 4 in the Book of Hebrews to see how the Apostle Paul under inspiration quoted and apllied the verse in Psalms 95 as well as Genesis 2;3. If your Bible has crodd references you can look them up to see what scriptures he is quoting from or reffering to. You can argue with Paul if you want to. I am only pointing out what the Bible says. What it doesn't say is that the sventh day had an end. The other six days did. If you are just going to repeat yourself and ignore what the Bibles says there isn't much point in having me invest my time in replying to your message is there? If you won't listen even to an Apostle of Christ then surely I can't help you either.

A more modern and accurate translation shows that Genesis 2:2,3 are not in the past tense. Look at the Hebrew:
(Genesis 2:2) 2And 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...
"And he proceeded to rest." Heb., wai·yish·both’. The verb is in the imperfect state denoting incomplete or continuous action, or action in progress.
(Genesis 2:3) 3And God proceeded to bless the seventh day and make it sacred, because on it he has been resting from all his work that God has created for the purpose of making., "he does rest (desist)." Heb., sha·vath’, perfect state. It shows the characteristic of an individual, namely, God, on the seventh day of his creative week.
(BBE) Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God came to the end of all his work; and on the seventh day he took his rest from all the work which he had done.
(BBE) Genesis 2:3 And God gave his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy: because on that day he took his rest from all the work which he had made and done.
(GodsWord) Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God had finished work he had been doing. On the seventh day he stopped the work he had been doing.
(GodsWord) Genesis 2:3 "Then God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy, because on that day he stopped all his work of creation."
(Young) Genesis 2:2 and God completeth by the seventh day His work which He hath made, and ceaseth by the seventh day from all His work which He hath made.
(Young) Genesis 2:3 And God blesseth the seventh day, and sanctifieth it, for in it He hath ceased from all His work which God had prepared for making.
(TEV) Genesis 2:3 He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working.
Let me just quote the relavent portion of Hebrews, but first consider that the rest here to which Christians could enter into was not the promised land, because that is where they already lived.:
(Hebrews 3:18-4:10) 18But to whom did he swear that they should not enter into his rest except to those who acted disobediently? 19So we see that they could not enter in because of lack of faith. 4 Therefore, since a promise is left of entering into his rest, let us fear that sometime someone of YOU may seem to have fallen short of it. 2For we have had the good news declared to us also, even as they also had; but the word which was heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who did hear. 3For we who have exercised faith do enter into the rest, just as he has said: "So I swore in my anger, ”They shall not enter into my rest,’" although his works were finished from the founding of the world. 4For in one place he has said of the seventh day as follows: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works," 5and again in this place: "They shall not enter into my rest." 6Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter into it, and those to whom the good news was first declared did not enter in because of disobedience, 7he again marks off a certain day by saying after so long a time in David’s [psalm] "Today"; just as it has been said above: "Today if YOU people listen to his own voice, do not harden YOUR hearts." 8For if Joshua had led them into a place of rest, [God] would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9So there remains a sabbath resting for the people of God. 10For the man that has entered into [God’s] rest has also himself rested from his own works, just as God did from his own.
Some of the cross references:
Verse 18 (Numbers 14:30)
4:1 a
(Exodus 20:11) 11For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and he proceeded to rest on the seventh day. That is why Jehovah blessed the sabbath day and proceeded to make it sacred.
"And he proceeded to rest." Progressive action indicated by a Heb. verb in the imperfect state.
4:1b
Galations 5:4; Hebrews 3:12;12:15
4:2a
Matthew 4:23; Acts 15:7; Colossians 1:23 (the good news of God's Kingdom)
4:2b
(Exodus 19:5) 5And now if YOU will strictly obey my voice and will indeed keep my covenant, then YOU will certainly become my special property out of all [other] peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me.
(It wasn't the place, but their relationship with God, and service to him)
Verse 3 quotes Psalms 95:11
Verse 4 quotes Genesis 2:2
Verse 5 quotes Psalm 85:11 again
Verse 7 quotes Psalms 95:7 and verse 8
verse 8a
(Joshua 22:4) 4And now Jehovah YOUR God has given YOUR brothers rest, just as he promised them. So now turn and go YOUR way to YOUR tents in the land of YOUR possession, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave YOU on the other side of the Jordan.
8b
(Jeremiah 6:16) ...6This is what Jehovah has said: "Stand still in the ways, YOU people, and see, and ask for the roadways of long ago, where, now, the good way is; and walk in it, and find ease for YOUR souls." But they kept saying: "We are not going to walk."
The key to the goal that Paul was pointing is verse 2 where it refers to the "Good News" and Jesus said that this was concerning "God's Kingdom". This is the Kingdom he taught us to pray for in the model prayer ; the goverment which will accomplish God's original purpose for man and the earth This ties in with Matthew 5:5 and Psalms 37 from where Jesus quoted it. It is not the place, the earth, but what God will do for us there which is described in Revelation 20:12,13 and 22:1,2 We can enter into God's rest by obediance to him.However, again, the point is that Paul quoted from Genesis and said that while God "proceeded to rest" that day od reat was still continuing.