Overlapping days in Genesis 1?

XXX wrote:

> ... let me ask in accordance with the last question about the fifth day - The
> verb is in the perfect when it says that the waters 'brought forth', meaning a
> completed act correct? Does that not replace the missing 'and it was so' from
> that day?

For the specific meanings and uses of Hebrew verb forms, you'd better ask a
Hebrew specialist - which I am not. Below, I am giving you what I gleaned from
the text itself, using some help from software and books.

There is no "the waters brought forth". Gen.1:11f has: "And God said, 'Let the
earth sprout vegetation...' And it was so. The earth brought forth
vegetation...", and v.24-25: "And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living
creatures...' And it was so. And God made the beasts..."

But in v.20-21 it is: "And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living
creatures...' So God created the great sea creatures..." In v.21 (and 27), the
verb "created" is in the "qal future" (The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee
Concordance of the Old Testament) - I don't know what the future implies for the
meaning. But in the case of v.21, i.e. the fifth day, this is irrelevant anyway,
because the creating refers to God's unique, one-time initiating the sentient,
or "soulish" dimension, no matter how many different "soulish" animal species
evolved out of these later.

The "bring forth" of v.12 and 24 is "yatza'" in the "hiphil future". While the
"qal" gives the simple meaning "to go out", the "hiphil" gives the causative
meaning "to cause to go out", or "to bring out". I don't know what the future
implies. From the context, the earth "bringing forth" plants in the third
creation day can hardly mean that this activity ceased after the close of this
day. So I don't think we have to worry about a "completed act" in this case,
either. As I said before, with the sixth day, the concern is irrelevant, as this
was the last creation day.

In conclusion, I don't see any difficulties for the model of consecutive long
creation periods, each in a sense overlapping with all the following ones.

Peter

-- 
Dr. Peter Ruest, CH-3148 Lanzenhaeusern, Switzerland
<pruest@dplanet.ch> - Biochemistry - Creation and evolution
"..the work which God created to evolve it" (Genesis 2:3)