How long was the first day?

[Hieronymus]

I just take the text at face value.
The clock starts "in the beginning", and it starts in darkness, and then there was Light.
Darkness = evening, light = morning, this is one day.
It's God that decided what a day is, not the sun.
God put the sun there.

 

[Brighten04]

We all know how long a day is. It's 24 hours, right? The time it takes the earth to revolve on its axis or, if you were living before the concept of heliocentricity was considered, the time it takes the sun to go around the earth. In modern terms it's 00:00:00 until 23:59:59; before modern timekeeping it was sunrise to sunrise or sunset to sunset.

Let's take a quick look at Genesis (emphasis is mine):

Gen 1:1-19 NKJV In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (3) Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. (4) And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. (6) Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." (7) Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. (8) And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. (9) Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. (10) And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. (11) Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. (12) And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (13) So the evening and the morning were the third day. (14) Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; (15) and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. (16) Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. (17) God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, (18) and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. (19) So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

v3 talks of God creating light, then v5 talks of God creating "Day" and "Night", and "evening and morning were the first day". But what was the light that created day and night? The most obvious answer is the sun, but then we see in v14 that God created "lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night" - the sun and the moon and the stars. That didn't happen until the fourth day.

Thus, any concept that a day relates to sunrise-to-sunrise or sunset-to-sunset doesn't work for the first three days simply because there was no sun to rise or set. So how long were the first three days?

I got into it with one of my seminary professors about this, so it is funny you started this thread. The fact is there was no sun on the first day.But there was evening and morning. So,what was evening and what was morning? Is evening darkness and morning light? Well, yes according to our understanding of day and night. The Bible tells us that the light God called day and the darkness he called night. So what was the light source on the first day? I submit that the light source was the Son of God as the Word.
John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 9:5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

John 5:35
He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.,

We learn that on the first day, God divided the light from the darkness, and called light day and called darkness night. So....we see night and day created, buuut, we do not see time yet, untiiiil the designation of evening and morning. As I read the scriptures, I see time portrayed several ways.

John 11:9
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

So we end up with more questions than answers to the question.
Is it twelve hours? Is it twentyfour hours.? Is it a thousand years?

 

[tango]

I got into it with one of my seminary professors about this, so it is funny you started this thread. The fact is there was no sun on the first day.But there was evening and morning. So,what was evening and what was morning? Is evening darkness and morning light? Well, yes according to our understanding of day and night. The Bible tells us that the light God called day and the darkness he called night. So what was the light source on the first day? I submit that the light source was the Son of God as the Word.
John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 9:5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

John 5:35
He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.,

We learn that on the first day, God divided the light from the darkness, and called light day and called darkness night. So....we see night and day created, buuut, we do not see time yet, untiiiil the designation of evening and morning. As I read the scriptures, I see time portrayed several ways.

John 11:9
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

So we end up with more questions than answers to the question.
Is it twelve hours? Is it twentyfour hours.? Is it a thousand years?

If the light was Jesus Christ that creates a problem, given the light was itself created. That wouldn't work out against the beginning of John's gospel - "He was in the beginning with God, all things we made through him and without him nothing was made that was made" which means Jesus Christ was there before the light was created. Although God divided the light from the darkness to create day and night (Gen 1:4-5) he first created the light (Gen 1:3)

As to the length of the day in terms of a time period we would understand today, it could be just about any time period. Even the concept of a year isn't relevant to the first few verses of Genesis because if a year is the time it takes the earth to orbit the sun that itself is a meaningless concept in the time when there was no sun.

 

[psalms 91]

If I was guessing I would say that it was the glory of God that showed light

 

[tango]

If I was guessing I would say that it was the glory of God that showed light

My first guess would be something along those lines but given that God is recorded as saying "Let there be light" it suggests the light didn't exist until God spoke it into being, which in turn suggests it wasn't anything relating to God himself.

 

[psalms 91]

I see it as two seperate things, the light before, Gods glory, the light after created, sun

 

[Brighten04]

If the light was Jesus Christ that creates a problem, given the light was itself created. That wouldn't work out against the beginning of John's gospel - "He was in the beginning with God, all things we made through him and without him nothing was made that was made" which means Jesus Christ was there before the light was created. Although God divided the light from the darkness to create day and night (Gen 1:4-5) he first created the light (Gen 1:3)

As to the length of the day in terms of a time period we would understand today, it could be just about any time period. Even the concept of a year isn't relevant to the first few verses of Genesis because if a year is the time it takes the earth to orbit the sun that itself is a meaningless concept in the time when there was no sun.[/ QUOTE]

I agree, but it makes sense to me that God is light. And the fact is, the Word/Jesus is the very voice of God(in God)made manifest (not created) as light. I can't articulate it any better, sorry.

 

[tango]

If the light was Jesus Christ that creates a problem, given the light was itself created. That wouldn't work out against the beginning of John's gospel - "He was in the beginning with God, all things we made through him and without him nothing was made that was made" which means Jesus Christ was there before the light was created. Although God divided the light from the darkness to create day and night (Gen 1:4-5) he first created the light (Gen 1:3)

As to the length of the day in terms of a time period we would understand today, it could be just about any time period. Even the concept of a year isn't relevant to the first few verses of Genesis because if a year is the time it takes the earth to orbit the sun that itself is a meaningless concept in the time when there was no sun.

I agree, but it makes sense to me that God is light. And the fact is, the Word/Jesus is the very voice of God(in God)made manifest (not created) as light. I can't articulate it any better, sorry.

I'm not disputing what you're saying here but if God is eternal and if Jesus is eternal then neither were created and therefore both existed before God said "let there be light". So when God said "let there be light" he was creating light, although before some days (of whatever duration) before he created the sun. So we had day and night before the sun existed.

 

[Brighten04]

So we had day and night before the sun existed.

yes!

 

[tango]

yes!

Yes indeed, which leads back into the original question of how long a day was when there was no sunrise or sunset

 

[psalms 91]

I'm not disputing what you're saying here but if God is eternal and if Jesus is eternal then neither were created and therefore both existed before God said "let there be light". So when God said "let there be light" he was creating light, although before some days (of whatever duration) before he created the sun. So we had day and night before the sun existed.

Created light to take the place of Gods and no not day and night but rather Gods light before a created way of lighting the world

 

[MoreCoffee]

Since the first day had both evening and morning one presumes that the light source for day was localised and hence that a day is roughly twenty four hours as has been traditionally the understood meaning of the days of creation. But is the story of creation written in prose as a kind of history or is it something else?

 

[tango]

Created light to take the place of Gods and no not day and night but rather Gods light before a created way of lighting the world

How does that fit with "darkness was on the face of the deep"?

"Evening and morning" only came after God said "let there be light" but, since the light was from some source other than the sun, it doesn't give anything away regarding how long "evening and morning" might have lasted.