|
Is
It As Simple As Night and Day? During a recent regular Sabbath meeting a visitor named Moshe asked, “What is a Scriptural day and then, please tell me when does it begin and when does it end?” My answer was all too quick. ‘The day begins at evening and ends in the beginning of the next evening’. Moshe then countered, ‘Why then does it speak of evening and morning as the day?’ Moshe pointed out that in his opinion the text does not seem to support an evening to evening reckoning. Oops, had I too quickly responded? Is a bit more study required here on the true meanings of these words? So let’s take a careful look at these Hebrew words used in this proclamation found in Bereshit 1:5. Where our Standard English translates Bereshit (in Hebrew or Genesis in Greek) chapter One verse Five:
And Elohiym called the light day, and the darkness He called
night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Now in Hebrew we are confronted with eleven words and some prefixes that add conjunctions or prepositions to the modified word. The sentence begins with just such a prefix. Here we find ‘Wa’ that means ‘and’. It is added to 7121 qara'- to call, to call out, to recite, to read, to cry out, to proclaim a) (Qal) 1) to call, to cry, to utter a loud sound 2) to call unto, to cry (for help), to call (with the name of God) 3) to proclaim (*See text for complete list.) 4) to read aloud, to read (to oneself), to read 5) to summon, to invite, to call for, to call and commission, to appoint, to call and to endow 6) to call, to name, to give name to, to call by b) (Niphal) 1) to call oneself 2) to be called, to be proclaimed, to be read aloud, to be summoned, to be named c) (Pual) to be called, to be named, to be called out, to be chosen W’qara might then well be translated: ‘And
proclaimed…’. The next word is Elohiym 430 'elohiym- 1) (plural) a) rulers, judges b) divine ones c) angels d) gods (Again the text lists other implied meanings but the concept of ‘a mighty one’ is fully conveyed.) (Text contains) 2) (plural intensive -singular meaning) a) God, a god, a goddess b) god-like one c) works or special possessions of God d) the one true God e) God *So now we have: ‘And
proclaimed Elohiym…’ Next word 216 'owr- light a) the light of day b) the light of heavenly luminaries (the moon, the sun, the stars) c) daybreak, dawn, the morning light Refer to text for a full list. d) daylight e) lightning f) the light of a lamp g) the light of life h) the light of prosperity i) the light of instruction j) the light of one's face (figuratively) k)
Yahweh as *So far the words are, “And
proclaimed Elohiym light…” Now we encounter a word that may cause confusion. This word is 3117 yowm- day, time, year a) a day (as opposed to night) b) a day (24 hour period) Just as in english the word ‘day’ can refer to the lighted portion of the cycle as in ‘night and day’, yet also it can indicate the full extent of one revolution of the earth, as in, ‘ the men took a three day journey into the heavens’. (Refer to text for full list of meanings) 1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 2) as a division of time; a working day, a day's journey c) days, lifetime (plural) d) time, period (general) e) year f) temporal references 1) today 2) yesterday 3) tomorrow *So now we have: “And
proclaimed Elohiym light, day…” The next word is a contraction the prefix ‘w’ indicates ‘and’. W’choshek 2822 choshek- darkness, obscurity a) darkness b) a secret place *With this addition we have: “And
proclaimed Elohiym light, day and obscurity…” 7121 qara'- called or proclaimed Now with the word order corrected to our English usage and the addition of the understood subject we have: “And
proclaimed Elohiym light, day and (He) proclaimed obscurity…” 3915 layil or (Isa. 21:11) leyl also layelah- night a) night (as opposed to day) b) used of gloom, protective shadow (figurative) *Again, with the transition from Hebrew to English word order we understand the next words need transposition for clarity. 1961 hayah- to be, to become, to come to pass, to exist, to happen, to fall out (See text for full list.) 1) to befall a) to happen, to fall out, to occur, to take place, to come about, to come to pass b) to come about, to come to pass 2) to come into being, to become a) to arise, to appear, to come b) to become 1) to become 2) to become like 3) to be instituted, to be established 3) to be a) to exist, to be in existence b) to abide, to remain, to continue (with word of place or time) c) to stand, to lie, to be in, to be at, to be situated (with word of locality) d) to accompany, to be with b) (Niphal) 1) to occur, to come to pass, to be done, to be brought about 2) to be done, to be finished, to be gone So at this point we have built: “And
proclaimed Elohiym light, day and (He) proclaimed (the) obscurity (or
darkness) to be a protective shadow…” Here at this point of the study is where I fell off my cozy assumptions with a loud thump. Even knowing what little we know of astrophysical dynamics, we do know that if the earth’s spin ceased the biosphere would be altered so that life as we know it would not exist on this planet. If there was no shadow the exposed portion of the earth would be far too searingly hot, and the dark side would never support life for lack of warmth and light. So the next word 6153 `ereb- evening, night, sunset a) evening, sunset b) night to grow dark Now again reversing the word order ‘1961 hayah’ meaning ‘to be’ in English with ‘w’ or ‘and’ proceeds the object ‘night’ thence we have: “And
proclaimed Elohiym light, day and (He) proclaimed (the)obscurity (or
darkness) to be a protective shadow and we have night…” Next again we have W’hayah meaning, ‘and we have’ so far with 1242 boqer, the breaking forth the marrow. Brown Driver Briggs lists morning, the break of day a) morning 1) used of end of night 2) used of coming of daylight 3) used of coming of sunrise 4) used of beginning of day 5) used of bright joy after a night of distress (figurative) b) the morrow, the next day, the next morning “And
proclaimed Elohiym light, day and (He) proclaimed (the) obscurity
(darkness) to be a protective shadow and we have night and we have the
breaking forth (of light) (called)…” Next Hebrew word ‘yowm’ which here means a full twenty four hour cycle ‘day’ coupled with 259 'echad. BDB lists this word as: one (number) a) one (number) b) each, every (See text) c) a certain d) an (indefinite article) e) only, once, once for all f) one... another, the one... the other, one after another, one by one g) first h) eleven (in combination), eleventh (ordinal) *Only now the complete sentence may take on a new and beautiful light. “And
proclaimed Elohiym light, day and (He) proclaimed (the) obscurity
(darkness) ( so as) to be a protective shadow and we have night and we
have the breaking forth (of light) (to be called) day one.” So to answer Moshe’s question a circle is not bound by a natural beginning and ending point. Here we are dealing more with a helix or spiral, in that although we cycle we are in a constant state of changing of what seems an endless progression. The very beginning was Elohiym. He created shadow and light and the constant passage of time. We only see reality on our finite (earth bound) level. We read that: Bereshit (Gen) 1:2-3 2 The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, yet the breath of Elohiym moved softly over the waters. 3 And Elohiym proclaimed, "Let there be light," and there was light. So in darkness was the beginning and light was given to it, yet darkness came again as a shadow of protection and at this the day was one. Thank you, Moshe. Questions for Discussion: 1.
How is YHWH’s understanding of reality different than earth bound man? 3. Are the discovered laws of physics universally applicable, or, in other words would E=MCsq be relevant to all creation? |