And Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Genesis/Bereshith 1:5
Day. How can one three letter word carry so many meanings? If you searched the definition of the term, here is a sampling of what the results will return:
- the interval of light between two successive nights
- the time between sunrise and sunset
- the portion of day allotted to work
- the light of day; daylight
- Each of the 24 hour periods, reckoned from one midnight to the next, into which a week, month, or year is divided, [and corresponding to a rotation of the earth on its axis.1]
- The part of a day when it is light; the time between sunrise and sunset.
The consensus among modern definitions of the word ‘day’ seems to be either –
- A time existing between the rising and setting of the sun or
- A period of 24 hours corresponding to a single revolution of the sun around [the fixed, stationary earth].2
But most Jews believe the start of the day begins at night. Meir M. Ydit3 explains:
In the Jewish tradition it is customary to count the day from the onset of night ( i.e., the visibility of three stars in the sky) until after the sunset of the following day. Thus the halakhic ruling: Halailah nimshakh aharei hayom, the night follows (i.e., is part of) the day which comes after it. This method of counting was based upon the language of the Bible in the creation story (Gen. 1) where it says several times “and it was evening, and it was morning, the first (second, third, etc.) day.” Because of the language of the Bible, in which the evening is antecedent to the morning, it was reasoned that in the counting of the unit “day,” the evening is reckoned to belong to the day which comes after it. However, a more precise scrutiny of this test shows that the opposite is true.
So why do Talmudic observing Jews persist in this opinion? Ydit offers this conclusion:
This paper intends, therefore, in no way whatsoever, to disparage our present custom to start our Sabbaths and Festivals at sunset! But we should know that this time-honored custom which we regard and accept as obligatory evolved gradually and is the result of historical changes.
Wow. So he is saying that the Jewish rendering of a day beginning in the evening is not based on Scripture, but on customs and historical changes!
So, What Does Scripture Say?
How does Scripture define the term ‘day’ from a Hebraic perspective? Let’s take another look at the first time the word day (yom) and night (layil) are used in Genesis/Bereshith 1:5. Re-read the passage and then ask yourself if the verse is really saying that a day begins at night.
Morning = H1242
boker: dawn (as the break of day); generally morning: — day, day, early, morning, morrow
Day = H3117
yom: from an unused root meaning to be hot; a dry (as the warm hours),
Evening = H6153
erev: dusk — day, even, evening, evening tide, even tide, night.
from H6150
arab a primitive root; to grow dusky at sundown: — be darkened, evening, toward evening
H6151 to commingle: — mingle, mingle self, mix
Night = H3915
layil: a twist (away of the light); i.e. night; figuratively adversity: — night, midnight, night season.
Below are a few scripture verses that distinguish day from night.
And they brought Ash’el and buried him in his father’s burial-site, which was in Beyth Lehem. and Yo’ab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak.
And it came to be, on the next day; that Mosheh sat to rightly rule the people. And the people stood before Mosheh from morning until evening.
…the Azzathites saying, “Shimshon has come here!” So they went round and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and kept silent all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, then we shall kill him”
And the man arose to go, he and his concubine and his servant. But his father-in-law, the young woman’s father said to him, “See, the day is now drawing toward evening. Please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end. Stay here, and let your heart be glad. And you shall rise early tomorrow for your journey, and you shall go to your tent.”
Let’s take another look at Genesis 1:5:
And Elohim called the light ‘day’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, one day. (The Scriptures)
The last part of the verse which states ‘and there came to be evening and there came to be morning, one day’ can throw you off. But torahstudent.blogspot.com may have something here:
Many people think that verse 5 is saying that Day 1 began in the evening. However, that makes no sense, as an evening, by definition, is the end of a day. An evening always follows a period of light. That means a day had to come before the evening on Day 1. Day came first, with the creation of light. The day turned to evening, followed by night. The darkness was called night only after the first day. A day cannot begin in the evening. That is when a day ends. In verse 5, light is called day, and the darkness is called night. How can a day begin in the evening? If that were the case, then scripture would be contradicting itself immediately, for the darkness would be called a day instead of a night. Also notice that light is divided from darkness, which means day is divided from night. Light is called a day, not darkness.
Jeff Benner’s translation reads like this…
5 and~he~will~CALL.OUT(Verb) (וַיִּקְרָא / wai’yiq’ra) Elohiym (אֱלֹהִים / e’lo’him) to~LIGHT (לָאוֹר / la’or) DAY (יוֹם / yom) and~to~DARKNESS (וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ / wê’la’hho’shekh) he~did~CALL.OUT(Verb) (קָרָא / qa’ra) NIGHT (לָיְלָה / lai’lah) and~he~will~EXIST(Verb) (וַיְהִי / wai’hi) EVENING (עֶרֶב / e’rev) and~he~will~EXIST(Verb) (וַיְהִי / wai’hi) MORNING (בֹקֶר / vo’qer) DAY (יוֹם / yom) UNIT (אֶחָד / e’hhad)
which, reads like this:
“and Elohiym called out to the light, day…and to the darkness he called out, night…and evening existed and morning existed: a day unit.”
Other examples:
Christian Standard Bible
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.
International Standard Version
calling the light “day,” and the darkness “night.” The twilight and the dawn were day one.
New American Standard 1977
And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
It seems to me that Genesis 1:5 is saying the 24 hour period we generically refer to as a day is consists of 4 parts: morning, day, evening and night. They are one unit. The verse is not telling me that a day begins at night.
When speaking of the Day of Yahuah, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy tell believers in Thessalonika…
You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night nor of darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5
If we are children of the light, why would our Father start each day in darkness?
As usual, Prophecy Vine encourages you to search the Scriptures yourself to test whether what is presented here is true or not.
1 Based on the heliocentric globe model of the Earth.
2 Based on geocentric Biblical cosmology.
3 The Counting of ‘Day’ and ‘Night’, Meir M. Ydit, Conservative Judaism Journal, Vol. 35, No. 1, Fall, 1981, © 1981 The Rabbinical Assembly
