Does yom ever have to mean 24 hours as opposed to the period from one
sunset to the next (which when averaged over a year averages to 24 hours
in the tropics and temperate zones)? (My understanding of Joshua 10:13 is
different from the popular one.)
Exodus 20:8-11 makes the week of the Jewish calendar a commemoration of
God's creating work and rest in Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, but the days of the
Jewish calendar are sunset to sunset, which is an impossible
interpretation of some of the days in Genesis. Also Hebrews 4 bases
its argument on the assumption that the seventh day never ended. Earthly
memorials are not exact copies of the heavenly realities that they
commemorate. (Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1)
Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395
On Tue, 1 Aug 2006, Don Nield wrote:
> Merv:
> Yes, it is the same Hebrew word "yom". And this is where the argument
> begins. It my contention (and that of scholars such as James Barr) that
> in Biblical interpetation one is not at liberty to employ the full
> semantic range of a Hebrew word. Rather, the word has to be understood
> in context. And in the context of Genesis 1 the word "yom" signifies a
> 24 hour day. But the meaning of yom in Genesis becomes unimportnat if
> one is prepared to recognize that Genesis 1 is a polemic against foreign
> gods rather than science or history in the modern sense.
> Don
>
> Mervin Bitikofer wrote:
>
> > I forgot to reply to this before -- but these examples both seem
> > excellent. And just for extra clarity and "point-driving punch"
> > can any of you who may be Hebrew scholars confirm whether or not the
> > word for "day" used in "in the day of thine eating of it" is the same
> > Hebrew word used previously in the Genesis 1 account?
>
>
>
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Received on Tue Aug 1 16:24:26 2006
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