What does "in the day" in Gen. 2:4 mean?

[fromeasttowest]

lol Just pray about it and get a Hebrew/ Greek Lexicon at a bookstore, get a Strongs concordance and a good study Bible not written in archaic language.  And go study the scriptures for your self.  I for one believe they aren't real 24 hour days because of Gen 2:4 but you know that's just me.  Go check out what day means in Hebrew.     

[Fez]

lol Just pray about it and get a Hebrew/ Greek Lexicon at a bookstore, get a Strongs concordance and a good study Bible not written in archaic language.  And go study the scriptures for your self.  I for one believe they aren't real 24 hour days because of Gen 2:4 but you know that's just me.  Go check out what day means in Hebrew.     

We have those who speak Hebrew on Worthy, and the site is administered from Israel.

 

Care to have a go at what day means in Hebrew for us?

[SDAinFLA]

lol Just pray about it and get a Hebrew/ Greek Lexicon at a bookstore, get a Strongs concordance and a good study Bible not written in archaic language.  And go study the scriptures for your self.  I for one believe they aren't real 24 hour days because of Gen 2:4 but you know that's just me.  Go check out what day means in Hebrew.

No problem. ..but a good rule of thumb when coming up with a belief system or doctrine is to never make a doctrine out of one verse. Maybe try to find other biblical references where a day means an undefefined period of time and then go from there. #herealittletherealittle

[Guest ninhao]

If the Bible's definition of a day is an indefinite period of time in Genesis, then it is an indefinite period of time other places. This would make it difficult to determine bible prophecy when it relies on a timeline.

 

 

 Day is used to indicate differing time periods and even the "lighted part" of a day.

 

Gen 1:5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

 

It can have 5 meanings including lighted part of the day,  24 hours;  a period of time;  a point of time; or even a year.

 

The argument that day means 24 hours in Genesis 1 is good but it's also is used to make the narrative a specific ( data book )  timeline which isn't the purpose of the Creation account imo.

[SDAinFLA]

 

If the Bible's definition of a day is an indefinite period of time in Genesis, then it is an indefinite period of time other places. This would make it difficult to determine bible prophecy when it relies on a timeline.

 

 

 Day is used to indicate differing time periods and even the "lighted part" of a day.

 

Gen 1:5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

 

It can have 5 meanings including lighted part of the day,  24 hours;  a period of time;  a point of time; or even a year.

 

The argument that day means 24 hours in Genesis 1 is good but it's also is used to make the narrative a specific ( data book )  timeline which isn't the purpose of the Creation account imo.

 

That's fine...but how do you determine which "day" is being used? In other words...I agree that "day" is used in different ways...what method do you determine that Genesis 1 is a 24 hour period, a period of time, a point of time, or even a year?

[Guest ninhao]

That's fine...but how do you determine which "day" is being used? In other words...I agree that "day" is used in different ways...what method do you determine that Genesis 1 is a 24 hour period, a period of time, a point of time, or even a year?

 

 

I don't use any method. I read the Genesis Creation account as a message that God Created. If the narrative uses 24 hour days to portray this that's ok.

[Willa]

I suspect that it would refer to the four 24 hour days 1-5 as being the "in the day before the plants" since the heavens and earth were created in those particular days. Day 6, the day of the creation of mammels and herbs and plants is now explained in greater detail. The days of creation are 24 hour days because of the emphasis of the evening and the morning were the first day. But in this case it seems to refer to an era or "in the time before the plants", which it can also mean when no specific framework of evening and morning is mentioned.

[Openly Curious]

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens

 

We've had a discussion about this in the other thread ("the earth gave forth...").

 

Since it was in day one when God created heaven and earth, my suggestion for an interpretation of "in the day" is: day 1.

 

Following this interpretation of "the day", Adam and Eve would have been made at day one, already, and other humans on day 6.

 

This would solve the problem who the "whoever" in Gen 4:14 is, btw.

Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

When there are two groups of man involved in Genesis, this question would be easy to answer: Cain being the child of the day one humans and the "whoever" humans stemming from day six.

 

What do you think?

 

Thomas

I would agree that "in the day" is referring to the beginning of creation itself which started or began on day one of creation.  The beginning would also be "Alpha".

 

"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created,"......

 

I believe this is referring more with a "record" of the beginning of creation itself from day one to day seven when God rested from his work (creation).  We have been given a record of it within the scripture and it's truth of how the world was created within each specific day and what happened.   I think each specific day was a generation (time period) in and of themselves.  In the sense of what was brought into being during each day.  Everything created on day one was created in that generation of things they had their beginning start or birth so to speak.  Everything created on day two was another generation or time period when certain things came into being or existence for the first time and only in that particular time or day and so on until day seven.  Each day was a new generation a time period when different things were being brought into existence for the first time in their particular day or generation.  

 

I think and personally believe when it say "these are the generations of the heavens and the earth it is in reference to each of the seven days of creation.  The seven days are the generation(s) being referenced.  It is not speaking of the generation(s) of people.  But instead it is speaking concernig the generations of the seven days of creation as we have been given a record in the bible of creation, so that we would have the knowledge of our beginning in God.        

[thomas t]

I think and personally believe when it say "these are the generations of the heavens and the earth it is in reference to each of the seven days of creation. 

Good day Openly

 

what you're trying to convey here is that 1 day as mentioned in Gen 2:4 equal 7 days. To put it simple, it means 1=7 according to what you wrote. Did I get you wrong?

I find this disturbing.

 

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 1.Cor 14:33

 

Thomas

[Guest shiloh357]

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens

 

We've had a discussion about this in the other thread ("the earth gave forth...").

 

Since it was in day one when God created heaven and earth, my suggestion for an interpretation of "in the day" is: day 1.

 

Following this interpretation of "the day", Adam and Eve would have been made at day one, already, and other humans on day 6.

 

This would solve the problem who the "whoever" in Gen 4:14 is, btw.

Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

When there are two groups of man involved in Genesis, this question would be easy to answer: Cain being the child of the day one humans and the "whoever" humans stemming from day six.

 

What do you think?

 

Thomas

"In the day" was a manner of speaking, an expression, if you will.   It uses "the day" to refer to a particular season or time period.   You could say "at the time" when the Lord made heaven and earth.

 

As for Gen 4:14, one thing to understand is that while the events of Scripture are often mentioned back to back as if they occurred in close succession, the truth is that time is often telescoped and there is an untold amount of time that has passed between events as they are listed.  What I mean is that we don't know how much time lapsed beteen the creation of Adam and Eve and when they ate the forbidden fruit.  We don't know how many year passed between Cain and Abel's birth and when Cain slew Abel.  

 

So since people were living much, much longer it is important to understand that the environment in which they lived is far different than our own and given the length of time people lived, it is not far fetched at all to understand that many, many years had passed and people populated the earth.  Given that variables may have existed that do not exist in our day, Cain might have easily found a wife in another city or region with no problem at all.