The Literal Genesis Account of Creation

The Hebrew word yohm was used various ways in the Bible. In the creation account, we have *day which was used to refer to three different periods of time. Day is used to refer to the daylight hours, since we read 'And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night.' - It is used here to define day and night. We then read 'and there was evening and morning one day.' Here *day is also used to refer to a time period in creation of the heavens and earth. This is a history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created, in the day that God created the earth and heavens.In the Greek Scriptures the term *day has also been used to depict other periods of time. For example, Jesus once said 'Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad(rejoiced).' Likewise we read of such expressions as Christ’s day, Gods day, and the great day of God the Almighty. Surely none of these are meant to be limited to just twenty-four hours. This helps clarify that a *day as illustrated in the scriptures is not necessarily twenty-four hours.An Encyclopedia once stated that 'The days of creation were creative days, stages in the process, but not days of twenty-four hours and that days of God are intended as periods of time but as a day when that is past. The days of creation are, according to the meaning of Holy Scripture itself, not as days of twenty four hours but as definable stages or time periods from God's perspective.When considering the length of creation it may be wise to clear up a common misunderstanding that the earth itself was created during the six *days of creation. The scriptures indicates that the universe, the heavens, as well as the earth, were created before the first of the creative days began.Genesis reads of the creation of the stars and heavens as well as the earth saying 'In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.” When this actually took place is not defined. It is not until later that we read of what God created on the first *day. The six creative days, therefore, involve the stages in preparing the existing earth for habitation, and not the creation of the earth itself. Nowheres in the Genesis account, do we find contradictions to the the scientific conclusions that the universe, including the earth, may be many thousands of millions of years old.

Thanks, its an interesting topic. Seems as tough things have veered off course.

Validating such a statement could only be done through careful study of the older Hebrew and Greek texts. Otherwise we are at the mercy of *play with the words through translation.The older documents present the creation account in a much more serious and meaningful method whereas modern biblical translations dumb down the presentation as a result of adaptive translation.

This is is a good example of what I meant by the older texts and the translations.The Hebrew word rendered *make in 1:16 is not the same as the word for *create used in 1:1,21 and 27. The heavens, that included the luminaries were created long before the *first day even began. But their light did not reach the surface of the earth. On the first day, *there came to be light because diffused light penetrated the cloud layers and became visible on the earth. The rotating earth thus began to have alternating day and night. The sources of that light still remained invisible from the earth. During the fourth creative period, however, a notable change took place. The sun, the moon, and the stars were now made *to shine upon the earth. 'God proceeded to make' them in that they could now be seen from the earth.

... proceeded to make. - Hebrew, wai·ya””as (from ”a·sah”). Different from “create” (ba·ra’”) found in 1:1, 21 and 27

On the third creative *day God caused 'the earth to bring forth vegetation bearing seed according to its kind' thus it was able to reproduce. This describes conditions on that *day just after God made dry land appear but before the production of grass, seed-bearing vegetation, and fruit-bearing trees. To supply needed moisture for coming plant life, God provided that mist should regularly rise from the earth to water the ground. It kept vegetation flourishing earth wide, even though there was then no rain. Although the luminaries in the heavens did not become clearly discernible in the expanse until the fourth creative day, an ample amount of diffused light was evidently available by the third day to foster the growth of vegetation.In the preparation of the earth for man, modern knowledge has verified the order given in the Bible, beginning with the appearance of light, then land, then vegetation, and then sea creatures, fowl and land animals and finally man.I will not criticize your determined accusations(bound by consequence). the modern English translations are interpretations of highly defined documents. I am prepared to provide you with any information and examples that may be helpful in demonstrating literary differences between the documents. However, if we refuse to acknowledge that this condition exists under the term will only hinder your ability to uncover any potential information on matters.In a safety shift, we could say that the bible which your quoting is contradictive and false. However, this is not indicative of the scriptures(as a whole). If you truly want to critic the creation account as it was written, then my recommendation would be to take the initiative and get what it takes to read it in its purest form.

Make" and "create" mean the same thing. See Message 1 (Thread Genesis 1 and 2: The Difference Between Created and Formed in Forum Bible Study).I have peeked through the referenced links but I didn't see any Hebrew references to the terms in the older documents, did I miss them?As for the "diffused light" nonsense, remember that we're talking about the literal Genesis account here - not your made-up fantasy.If we are indeed trying to scrutinize the 'Literal Genesis Account' then will only achieve accurate results by way of the older manuscripts. I believe the Latin Vulgate holds a reputation as translation with a decent level of accuracy. The bible contrary to many, was not written in English.For example, we are quoting that words and meanings are similar by scrutinizing English scriptures, yet the older more accurate Hebrew scriptures show different meanings(words).This link may help shed some light on why modern translations should not be used as scholastic material.http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=Sections&req=view...Trying to obtain critical scriptural conclusions from English biblical translations could be comparable to using 16th century science to reason genome research.See; Biblical Scholar Studies.Edited by pbee, : Text expansion following review

Having read your text, all I can say at this point is that if you truly want to scrutinize the scriptures(accurately), you should start by learning Hebrew. Even the earliest stages would provide you with some much needed insight and understanding of the scriptures. Otherwise you will remain where you stand now(circling).For the most part we are dealing with limited reasoning trumped by inscrutable scholastics, this is anything but a functional process.

Thanks for the tip Ringo. - I had a look under the peek button, I couldn't figure it out being plagued by vBulletin forums etc. I'll have another look.As for the KJV. Well let me be the first to say that it is a mess! However, the older bibles such as the Gutenberg Bible(Latin) holds a high accuracy rating. You can scrutinize the actual Pentateuch versions here: The British Library - Server errorIn reference to light diffusion, this term although absent in English was derived from the Hebrew term; 'sha”chaq" a term used to define the original light which was created on the first day being cast to earth.The fact that it is absent amongst many in the KJV is a good indicator of the level of detail which has been lost in modern day translations. The good news is however that the older documents help demonstrate that the Creation Account as told, remains an intricate and impressive document worthy of mention.Don't let those cheap knock-offs fool you Edited by pbee, : No reason given.

Without posting irrelevant Hebrew passage we could simply refer to the KJV, "Then God said, "Let there be light and there was light."As for the confusion of resting period:The Hebrew term; sha·vath”, which means perfect state shows the characteristic of an individual, namely, God, on the seventh day of his creative week. Making, that is, all definite things in heaven and earth, make it sacred.” Or, “and proceeded to sanctify it (treat it as holy).” Hebrew, wai·qad·desh” ’o·thoh”I am not certain I understand the issue with God's personality as mentioned. He has proven to be a God of many attributes by example and relationship however, I fail to see how that could discriminate his position as an absolute power or a Creator to all things.A mindful characteristic of such a topic is that it proves very difficult to divert vested emotions. Conclusions resulting from misdirection rarely if ever receive acknowledgment. If anything, emotions only add further deterioration to the topic.

I would be happy to present you with that information.However, I am well overdue on my sleep. Tomorrow, I will write up a complete breakdown of the Hebrew and KJV versions for you to scrutinize as well as some observations to help expand on this fascinating passage.Take care.Edited by pbee, : No reason given.Edited by pbee, : to tired to type properly

The first chapters of the Bible deal with the Creation Account. It provides us with partial details of the steps which God took to prepare the earth for human existence. Although the account does not provide us with every component of the process it remains noteworthy that the Genesis account of origin was written in Hebrew. The resulting translations available to us today are subject to the comprehension of the translators of that era.For example... in writing, Moses did not report the function of microscopic algae or bacteria. Such things only became common knowledge in the 16th century. Nor did Moses specifically report on dinosaurs, whose existence was deduced from fossils in the 19th century. Instead, Moses was inspired to use words which would be understood of his day which were deemed accurate in all that was written regarding the earth’s creation.Luckily, today, we are better equipped to evaluate the Holy scriptures. We have at our disposition numerous translations on the internet and vast amounts of research which has been compiled to help decipher the accuracy of the Creation Account in the Modern Translations from the Hebrew Scriptures.If we read Genesis chapter 1 from verse 3 onward, we can see that it is divided into six creative days. While some would claim that these were literal twenty four hour periods, I can assure you they have never read a lick of the older Hebrew texts or are simply driven by there own desires. Yes... sadly, religious enterprises misuses the scriptures to fulfill there own teachings. However we can easily discover that the Bible does not teach that. The Genesis document was clearly written where the term *day refers to a period of time. It can be either a lengthy one or a literal day or twenty four hour period. Even in Genesis all six days are spoken of collectively as one lengthy period - ”the day in which God made earth and the heavens.’ The fact is, the Bible reveals that the creative days, or ages, encompass thousands of years.We can observe this further by taking note of the mention of the seventh day. The record of each of the first six days ends saying, ”and there came to be evening and morning, a first day,’ and so on and so forth. Yet, we will never find that comment after the record of the seventh *day. And in the first century C.E., 4,000 years later, the Bible referred to the seventh rest day as still continuing. So the seventh day was a period spanning thousands of years, and so we can conclude the same about the first six days.It would seem as though the earth had been established in orbit around the sun and was a globe covered with water "before" the six creative days, or periods. 'There was darkness upon the surface of the watery deep.' At that early point, something”perhaps a mixture of water vapor, other gases, and volcanic dust”must have prevented sunlight from reaching the surface of the earth. The Bible describes the first creative period this way - 'God proceeded to say, ”Let there be light’ and gradually light came into existence,' or reached the surface of the earth.The expression 'gradually came' accurately reflects the Hebrew verb involved, denoting a progressive action that takes time to complete. Anyone who reads Hebrew can find this form over 40 times in Genesis chapter 1, and it is a key to understanding the chapter. What God began in the figurative evening of a creative period, or age, became progressively clear, or apparent, after the morning of that day. Also, what was started in one period did not have to be fully completed when the next period began. To illustrate, light gradually began to appear on the first day, yet it was not until the fourth creative period that the sun, moon, and stars could have been discerned.Before the God made dry land appear on the third creative day, he lifted some of the waters. As a result, the earth was surrounded by a blanket of water vapor(atmosphere). The ancient record does not describe the mechanisms used. Instead, the Bible focuses on the expanse between the upper and surface waters. It describes this as 'the heavens.' Even today people use this term for the atmosphere where birds and airplanes fly. In due course, God filled this atmospheric heavens with a mix of gases vital for life.However, during the creative days, the surface water subsided, so that land appeared. Possibly using geologic forces that are still moving the plates of the earth today, God may have pushed ocean ridges up to form continents. This would produce dry land above the surface and deep ocean valleys below, which we have now mapped and studying. After dry ground had been formed, another marvelous development occurred. - 'God went on to say: ”Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.’ And it came to be so.'As previously discussed photosynthesis is essential for plants. A green plant cell has a number of smaller parts called chloroplasts, which obtain energy from sunlight and began the chloroplast process(microscopic factories which manufacture sugars and starches). later animal life would depend upon chloroplasts for survival. Additionally, without green vegetation the earth’s atmosphere would be overly rich in carbon dioxide, and we would die from heat and lack of oxygen.The appearance of new varieties of plant life may not have ended on the third creative day. It may even have been ongoing on into the sixth day, when the Creator planted a garden in Eden and made to grow out of the ground every tree desirable to one’s sight and good for food. And, as mentioned, the earth’s atmosphere must have cleared on day four, so that more light from the sun and other heavenly bodies reached planet Earth.During the fifth creative day, the Creator proceeded to fill the oceans and the atmospheric heavens with a new form of life living creatures distinct from vegetation. Interestingly, biology supports the subclassifications of the plant and the animal kingdom. The Hebrew word translated *soul(creature) in Genesis means 'a breather.' The Bible also says that 'living souls' have blood. Therefore, we may conclude that creatures having both a respiratory system and a circulatory system”the breathing denizens of the seas and heavens”began to appear in the fifth creative period.On the sixth day, God gave more attention to the land. He created domestic animals and wild animals, these being meaningful designations when Moses penned the account. So it was in this sixth creative period that land mammals were formed.The ancient record tells us that eventually God chose to produce a truly unique form of life on earth. He told his heavenly Son 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth. Man would therefore reflect the spiritual image of God and his son displaying those qualities. And man would be capable of reasoning and free development. Thus, humans could act with an intelligence surpassing that of any other creature. Also, humans were created with a capacity to act according to his own free will, not being controlled mainly by instinct.So why would God rest on the seventh day? The scriptures do not speak of the 7th day as a recovery period and since God enjoys an abundance of dynamic energy, He does not tire out or grow weary. Nor does he need rest as a change of pace. Jesus once said 'My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working.' Although God was very pleased with what was accomplished during the periods of creative days, God specifically blessed the seventh day and pronounced it sacred. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines *sacred as "exclusively dedicated or appropriated (to a god or to some religious purpose).” Thus, God blessed the seventh day and pronouncing it sacred indicates that it and his conclusion had a connection with his sacred will and purpose rather than with any needs on his part.During the six preceding creative days, God had made and set into motion all the cycles and laws governing the operations of the earth and everything around it. Toward the close of the sixth day, God created the first human pair and placed them in “a garden in Eden, toward the east. Finally, God pronounced his purpose regarding the human family and the earth in these prophetic words - 'Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it...'As the creation periods came to a close, the account tells us that God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good. God was satisfied with everything he had made. He thus rested, or desisted, from further creative work with respect to the earth. As perfect and beautiful as everything was however, it accounted for only a small area and there were just two human creatures on earth. It would take time for the earth and the human family to reach the state that God purposed. For this reason, he appointed a seventh day that would allow all that he had created in the preceding six days to develop in harmony with Gods will. As the seventh day comes to its close, the earth would have become a global paradise inhabited eternally by a family of perfect humans. The seventh day was set aside for or dedicated to the outworking and fulfilling of God’s will regarding the earth and humankind. In that sense it was sacred.

I see what your saying. I have to admit, I was quite exhausted last night and missed a great deal of details while I was perusing the thread.I guess, my own inclination is to interpret the scriptures inversely as opposed to the modern day translations onwards. The OP approach would certainly pose limitations for anyone looking to unearth an accurate rendition of the Genesis Account. However, as I mentioned earlier, the good news is that there is plenty of detail if one decides to dig down to the original scriptures in search of reasoning the claims of Creation.The KJV holds a reputation as an interpretation of the original Holy Scriptures. One would not have to work very hard to conclude that the texts found in the KJV are inconclusive as accurate forms of biblical knowledge.I am aware of a group of researchers who are working on a much higher definition of the Hebraic Creation Account. While, I have not seen any actually texts from this project, I was told that it is turning out to be an very impressive project with a great deal of emphasis placed on translation and literary accuracy.I will get out of the way now and get back to work.
Have fun!

Let us take a closer look at how the key Hebrew words of concern can be translated since often each Hebrew word has many uses depending upon the context. We will look at selected extractions of the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, with selected portions placed in red boxes for emphasis.We start with the Strong's Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary extract for 3117 "yowm", Fig. 1 below. Note that there can be two uses of the word, as a literal day, or as a figurative day for a period of time to be defined by associated words.Also we will look at the "Lexical Aids for the Old Testament" edited by Spiros Zodhiates for yowm in Fig. 2 below. Note that this author expands on Strong's comments and repeatedly emphasizes that yowm can be a period of time. We look at some of the places early in the Old Testament at which yowm has been translated as time in Fig 3 below. (Over 40 times depending upon the translation.) As early as Genesis 2:4 we see yowm in the singular with an attached infinitive used to indicate an extended period of time. Strong's does not show this since the King James Versions retain the translation of day, but other translations recognize that in this case yowm refers to the time of the entire creation of the heavens and earth as recognized by the The Bible: An American Translation and others, "At the time when God made the earth and the heavens." See Fig 4 below (remember to read Hebrew from right to left). How about evening ('ereb #6153) and morning (boqer #1242), can they be associated with a long time period? They appear in this order only a limited number of times in the Scriptures. In Genesis 1 of course, and a couple of times in connection with Aaron in the tabernacle from evening to morning (Exodus 17:21 and Leviticus 24:3), and once in Psalms (55:17; Evening, and morning, and at noon, ...), and twice in the eighth chapter of Daniel as shown in Fig. 5 below. (Remember to read the Hebrew from right to left.) In this case evening and morning are associated with a "vision" that definitely covers many years. And the best literal translation would seem to be, "And the vision of the evening and the morning that was told, true it is.", even though some translations do us "evenings and mornings". The word evenings appears only once in the King James Version, and not from 'ereb, but from 'arabah (#6160) and the word mornings never occurs. And the above is the only other place that 'ereb and boqer occur in combination with yowm. Here is Young's Literal Translation;8:26 "And the appearance of the evening and of the morning, that is told, is true; and thou, hide thou the vision, for it is after many days."And also 'ereb and boqer appear in Daniel 8:14, but without yowm, and in this case the singular words are in connection with a very long time period per Young's Literal Translation;8:14 "And he saith unto me, Till evening -- morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right."And the Septuagint, an early translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek adds the word days."14 And he said to him, Evening and morning there shall be two thousand and four hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."And in his commentary on the Book of Daniel by the early Church Father Jerome (347-420AD) also adds the word days."Until the evening and the morning, until two thousand three hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."And below is a composite comparison of the Hebrew of Genesis 1:5, Daniel 8:14 and Daniel 8:26 utilizing the primary English meanings per James H. Strong for #6153 "dusk" (evening), #1242 "dawn" (morning) and #1961 "exist" (there was). So as we see there are really no evidences else where in the Bible that 'ereb and boqer are "defining words" to yowm as many claim. Instead, it would appear most likely that they are descriptive terms concerning the creation process as described in the preceding verses. Now if one considers the probability that they are descriptive terms evening and morning can refer to the "beginning" with "darkness" and the "ending", with the "light" or a dramatic "dawning light" thus giving us the following."And the beginning and the ending were the ____ time."or"And the darkness and the light were the ____ time."or"And the darkness and the dawning light were the ____ time."Thus the transfer from darkness to light adds the picture of an improvement or a progression in the state of the creation process with each time phase. There is also a figurative translation of boqer as "of bright joy after night of distress" per The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. If we use the more basic meanings of the words per the figure above, where evening is called 'ereb because when the sun goes down, vision becomes blurry and disordered and with the break of day it clears. Thus we have;
And the mixing and the breaking forth were the ____ time.Which has caused some to propose."And from chaos/disorder to order, the ____ time."Therefore the reader can possibly chose from any of the above, which ever seems to connect with them the most. Referring back to Fig 1 from Strong's, you will note that "age" is also a valid translation for yowm, but the authors have used "time" or "phase" since these are our preference.Through out history there have always been a small minority of linguists who have maintained that Hebrew was the mother language from which all languages originated. Needless to say they have been ignored by the secular linguists and also most Christians. But there remains today a number of these linguists. One of them is Isaac E. Mozeson graduate from Yeshiva College. Fig 11 that follows is an extract from his book "The Word" published by Shapolsky Publishers in 1989. While it is often difficult for the amateur to recognize the origin of English words from the Hebrew mother tongue because the two languages seem to be so different. However, the connection between aeon or eon and yom (Strong's yowm) is not so difficult to understand since the sounds are very similar. Therefore, the translation of yowm in the Genesis 1 passages to aeon is also a good choice. We did not use this choice in the body of our discussion since eon or aeon do not appear in the King James Versions and Strong's.

There are no violations on my part. However, if the forum does not allow image linking and text pasting then... thats that.The Genesis account opens with the simple, powerful statement 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' Bible scholars(most) agree that this verse describes an action separate from the creative days recounted from verses three onward. The implication is profound. According to the Bible’s opening statement, the universe, including our planet Earth, was in existence for an indefinite time before the creative days began.Geologists estimate that the earth is approximately four billion years old, and astronomers calculate that the universe may be as much as 15 billion years old. Do these findings or their potential future refinements”contradict Genesis? No. The Bible does not specify the actual age of “the heavens and the earth.” Science does not disprove the Biblical text.I know nothing of expectations or otherwise, if I feel I might have something to contribute on a particular topic then I will participate. Otherwise its pretty straightforward. In a case where people are evaluating something as intricate as the scriptures, there are no clear cut cases. It really comes down to evaluations and choices. In some cases, the choices are clear, yet in others not so. Regardless of the evidence there will always be those who choose to take the path opposing reason in order to uphold there own assertions.The statement that the earth was formed or existent prior to the third period of the creation account is backed by scientific evidence. In my own opinion, I don't see why people would force a none conforming belief where a reasonable one is available. Unless of course we are opting to support ulterior motives.