Article, “Internal Proofs of Bible Authenticity”

[shunyadragon]

Did you know that your response,
“Every culture developed a particular style of pottery, and at the time all cultures bought, sold and owned slaves including the Hebrews”…..
…is completely out of context?!!

It seems you are the clueless one, lol.

No it is not. You said, "Really? Now these people, according to the Bible, had been slaves! They hadn’t had the freedom to develop a ‘particular style of pottery.’

I responded: "Every culture developed a particular style of pottery, and at the time all cultures bought, sold and owned slaves including the Hebrews."

Hebrews owned, bought and sold slaves like all ancient cultures of the time. Both slaves and free made pottery, and freedom is not necessary to develop pottery styles.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

No it is not. You said, "Really? Now these people, according to the Bible, had been slaves! They hadn’t had the freedom to develop a ‘particular style of pottery.’

I responded: "Every culture developed a particular style of pottery, and at the time all cultures bought, sold and owned slaves including the Hebrews."

Hebrews owned, bought and sold slaves like all ancient cultures of the time. Both slaves and free made pottery, and freedom is not necessary to develop pottery styles.

I think it's funny that @Hockeycowboy has ended up arguing against his own position.

I mean, let's say that the ancient Israelites never had the chance to develop their own cultural trappings because they had to follow exact directions from their enslavers for everything.

Well, if that and the Exodus account were true, we still wouldn't see a continuous archaeological record of Canaanite slowly morphing into later Israelite. Instead, we'd see Canaanite archaeology suddenly stop and be replaced with Egyptian cultural trappings, which would then slowly morph into later Israelite trappings.

But this still isn't what we see.

 

[Truthseeker]

Did you know that your response,
“Every culture developed a particular style of pottery, and at the time all cultures bought, sold and owned slaves including the Hebrews”…..
…is completely out of context?!!

It seems you are the clueless one, lol.

I don't know if you are objecting to Hebrews having slaves. Moses laid down rules for slavery that were more humane than the ones that Christians had in America up to the civil war. So Moses was ahead of His time.

Exodus 21:19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.

20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
(NIV)

Exodus 21:26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
(NIV)

Exodus 21:31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels[a] of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.

Exodus 23:12 “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.
(NIV)

Leviticus 19:20 “‘If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment.[a] Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 21 The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting for a guilt offering to the Lord.
(NIV)

Leviticus 25:39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40 They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.

54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
(NIV)

Deuteronomy 24:7 If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 23:15 If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. 16 Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.

 

[jimb]

I don't know if you are objecting to Hebrews having slaves. Moses laid down rules for slavery that were more humane than the ones that Christians had in America up to the civil war. So Moses was ahead of His time.

Exodus 21:19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.

20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
(NIV)

Exodus 21:26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
(NIV)

Exodus 21:31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels[a] of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.

Exodus 23:12 “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.
(NIV)

Leviticus 19:20 “‘If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment.[a] Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 21 The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting for a guilt offering to the Lord.
(NIV)

Leviticus 25:39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40 They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.

54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
(NIV)

Deuteronomy 24:7 If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 23:15 If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. 16 Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.

During New Testament times, slaves were not the mistreated people that Americans associate with "slavery". Slaves varied in their importance; some were very trusted people who held high positions and led comfortable lives. Their "salary" was the lifestyle that they enjoyed.

Example of an honored slave: "From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God." Romans 1:1

Beyond that... "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

During New Testament times, slaves were not the mistreated people that Americans associate with "slavery". Slaves varied in their importance; some were very trusted people who held high positions and led comfortable lives. Their "salary" was the lifestyle that they enjoyed.

Example of an honored slave: "From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God." Romans 1:1

Beyond that... "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

Exodus 21:20-21:

20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished. 21 However, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss.

Just so we're clear: this - i.e. it being okay to beat your slave/servant so badly that they die from their wounds, provided they take more than 2 days to die - is part of the arrangement you're defending, right?

 

[Trailblazer]

Stories have a way of growing over time

and being added to.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

But ─ please correct me if I'm wrong ─ the ONLY mentions of original sin in the bible are Paul's two references to the Fall of Man.

I’ve gone over this with you before to some degree, haven’t I?
What do you think the Israelite sacrifices were all about? The building of (first) the Sanctuary tent, and (later) the Temple? Grief! That formed the basis of the entire Israelite society!
And further, we have Daniel’s statements about the then-coming Messiah, “in order to terminate the transgression, and to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error, and to bring in righteousness for times indefinite”(Daniel 9:24); and what David wrote, about being ‘born in sin’, “in sin my mother conceived me.” - Psalm 55:1

There's absolutely nothing about sin, a fall, death entering the world, spiritual death or anything of that sort in the Genesis Garden story.

Come on, the rebellion was the sin.
Sin is simply anything contrary to God’s personality, standards, ways, and will; anything marring one’s relationship with God.

Rebellion qualifies, wouldn’t you think?

There, God states [his] reasons for expelling Adam and Eve at Genesis 3:22-23 ─ namely, to protect his own position.

Boy, do you paint God as insecure! (Like He’d really have to worry about mortals usurping His position. The claim, to me, is ludicrous. Certainly disrespectful.) Do you think the Jewish writer of Genesis meant this? Or God Himself, since He is claimed to be the Author?
The book of Genesis has existed for thousands of years…. Why has no one else come up with such an explanation?
Why didn’t Isaac Newton, who confessed that he
studied the Bible daily, see this?

The real answer is simple, but quite profound:
The two trees, although real, symbolized / represented two ideas…
The tree of the knowledge of good and bad represented a privilege that is God’s province alone—the right to determine what is good and what is bad. So it was a crime to steal from that tree! The tree of life, on the other hand, represented a gift that only God can bestow—everlasting life. - Romans 6:23

And according to an article I read, the idea that the Garden story was about the fall of man is first found among Alexandrian Jews practicing the midrash tradition ─ taking bible passages and interpreting them fancifully to mean something new and decidedly different ─ late in the second century CE.

Good for them! I wonder if they became followers of Jesus? (Doubtful.)

(I've never understood why Jesus had to go on his suicide mission anyway ─ and it is expressly a suicide mission ─ what it achieved…

But Jesus did understand. That’s why he willingly went through with it.

…what it achieved that an omnipotent God couldn't achieve with one snap of those mighty fingers.)

You see, that’s just it. God sets standards of what is right & just, and He follows them, too! A perfect life (Jesus’), for a perfect life (Adam’s). And God provided it: Jesus, as Jehovah God’s Son, belonged to Jehovah, his Father. So God could then apply Jesus’ sacrifice as the redemption to “buy back” what Adam lost for his offspring (us): everlasting life.

The alternative Garden story is at Ezekiel 28.11-19.

I have no idea. Another new concept to me.

But it's also relevant that the bible offers no alternatives compatible with our present understanding.

Although the Bible was not written as a science textbookut it does….

Nothing indicates an understanding of a spherical earth…

Isaiah 46:20….
“There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth.”
The Hebrew word chugh, here translated “circle,” may also be rendered “sphere.” The Catholic Douay translation reads, “the globe of the earth.”
From every hemisphere - east, north, south, west - only a spherical object appears as a circle… it doesn’t matter what angle. A flat disk in most views would
appear as an ellipse, not a circle.

…gravity…

Again, the Bible was not written as a science textbook…

But earlier, I gave you one… “…hanging the Earth on nothing” (Job 26:7)…. Which is exactly how it looks! Poetic, yes, but accurate.

…fixed hard dome (firmament) over the earth to which the stars are affixed,

In Hebrew, “Raqia” means expanse.
How the LXX, and later translations rendered it, has no bearing on the original language meaning.
“Expanse” accurately reflects our atmosphere.

Job 26
7 He stretches out the North over the void
and hangs the earth upon nothing.
…….
How does 7 indicate modern knowledge?

See above.

What is surprising about 8?

Recall, i didn’t say anything about vs.8

Job 26

...
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astounded at his rebuke.
How does 7 indicate modern knowledge?
….
What modern concept is denoted by "the pillars of heaven"?

Why are you misquoting me? Where did you get Job 26:11?

I quoted Job 38:16…
where God asks Job, “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?”

Who knew of those things back then? Nobody!
Who would have even been bold enough to suggest it?

Only in modern times, were such things discovered. And they verified the Bible.

But I've neither seen nor read anything to alter my understanding that life, including human life, is the product of biology, and that when you die, the sense of self and all memories and all traits and functions of the body are extinguished forever.

But that’s what the Bible says, too.

So who / what is behind such activity?

Have you never read my posts about “Lincoln’s Ghost” on Wikipedia? (Multiply these incidents by a million times with other supposed “ghosts”.)

And they’re always clothed! How do clothes turn into spirit?!!

Have a good day, cousin.

 

[blü 2]

Come on, the rebellion was the sin.

There is no rebellion in the Garden story. There, God has denied Adam and Eve the knowledge of good and evil, making it impossible for them to form an intention to do wrong, hence making it impossible for them to sin. And each was in this condition at the time they ate the fruit.

Nor does God accuse them of sin in that story. The word 'sin' is found nowhere in the story. Out loud and proud [he] chucks them out of the Garden to protect [his] own position AND for no other reason, Genesis 3:22-23.

AND

As Ezekiel 18 makes clear, sin CANNOT be inherited eg ─

20 The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.​

AND

it's only legend / folktale anyway.

Sin is simply anything contrary to God’s personality, standards, ways, and will; anything marring one’s relationship with God.

Rebellion qualifies, wouldn’t you think?

Why would God argue against rebellion rather than simply fix it [him]self? As for rebellion, God's personality, as portrayed in the Tanakh and in the NT, is extremely unattractive, favoring as [he] does invasive wars, massacres of surrendered populations, human sacrifice, slavery, the inferiority of women, murderous religious intolerance, and more. I share none of those values, rather I'm seriously opposed to them.

This carries over into the NT as well. There God sends his 'son' on a cruel suicide mission ─ and a breathtakingly inefficient one at that, since two thousand years later there are still parts of the world that have never heard of the Abrahamic god ─ to achieve what, exactly, that an omnipotent being couldn't achieve just with a snap of [his] fingers?

Boy, do you paint God as insecure! (Like He’d really have to worry about mortals usurping His position. The claim, to me, is ludicrous.

Then I suggest, as I've suggested before, that you read the Garden story in Genesis carefully, noting that it never , not even once, mentions sin, and that God states [his] reason ─ [his] ONLY reason ─ for expelling A&E at Genesis 3:22-23.

It seems fair to mention that the versions of God in the Tanakh are progressive. We have reason to think that the God of the bible begins as one more tribal deity in the Canaanite pantheon, and that like the other gods and goddesses [he] had a consort, Asherah. She's gone by the time the bible as we know it was written (though I recall an article somewhere arguing that her former presence is implied in Kings). In the first part of the bible, up to Isaiah, God is not the sole God but the henotheistic tribal God of the Hebrews. Thus there are numerous references to God and [his] relationship to other gods, eg the commandment is "no other gods before me", and not "ain't no other gods". Not till after the Babylonian captivity does [he] become the only God. By the time the gospel of John was written, there was already clear tension between the Jewish god and the God of the Christians, though not till the fourth century CE does the Christian God become officially triune.

Do you think the Jewish writer of Genesis meant this? Or God Himself, since He is claimed to be the Author?

Well, I'm simply reading what the Tanakh says. And clearly nowhere does it say that A&E sinned or that man is "fallen" as a result.

The book of Genesis has existed for thousands of years…. Why has no one else come up with such an explanation?

I don't think I'm saying anything that would surprise Jewish people.

Good for them! I wonder if they became followers of Jesus? (Doubtful.)

Aagh! My apologies! Mea culpa ─ that date for the "Fall" notion in Alexandria should have been c. 120 BCE (and not CE).

But Jesus did understand. That’s why he willingly went through with it.

Understood what, exactly? What was the logic behind the suicide mission?

 

[Truthseeker]

20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished. 21 However, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss.

That is a bad translation, which sometimes happens with the King James Version

Exodus 21:20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
(NIV)

 

[shunyadragon]

During New Testament times, slaves were not the mistreated people that Americans associate with "slavery". Slaves varied in their importance; some were very trusted people who held high positions and led comfortable lives. Their "salary" was the lifestyle that they enjoyed.

Example of an honored slave: "From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God." Romans 1:1

Beyond that... "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

You are misrepresenting the text of the Bible bigtime. The OT had specific laws for slavery of foreigners that are owned bought and sold and did not have the rights of indentured servants, versus indentured servitude for Hebrews.

Granting the opportunity to all Christians, slave or free, does not change the fact that slaves are slaves and owned, bought and sold.

There is no evidence that slaves owned, bought and sold were necessarily treated any better that slaves at any other time. As in the South, some slaves were well treated and some not and the owners believed themselves devout Christians following the Bibles instructions concerning slavery snad in some cases indentured servitude,

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

That is a bad translation, which sometimes happens with the King James Version

That was the NET. I've used it since having it recommended to me by someone with a PhD in New Testament Studies.

Exodus 21:20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
(NIV)

So you're not okay with beating servants to the point where they die over several days, but you are okay with beating servants to the point where they need up to 2 days to recover? Do I understand you correctly?

 

[blü 2]

That is a bad translation, which sometimes happens with the King James Version

Exodus 21:20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
(NIV)

As a matter of interest, the NRSVue gives ─

20 “When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment, for the slave is the owner's property.]/indent]

which leaves ambiguous the liability of the slaveowner in the period from 'immediately' to the already ambiguous 'a day or two'.

The problems, I suspect, are present in the original Hebrew.​

 

[Hockeycowboy]

There's absolutely nothing about sin, a fall, death entering the world, spiritual death or anything of that sort in the Genesis Garden story.

Re: death entering the world…

There had always been death prior to A&E, for billions of years. The deaths of organisms, enrich the soil, helping to make it productive.

Didn’t you ever wonder, why God didn’t explain death to Adam? (Probably not, because you’ve never looked at the text literally. When you don’t, you miss a lot…)
Jehovah God simply told Adam, ‘Don’t eat from the tree, for in the *day* you eat from it, you will positively die.”
NO further explanation was given! And A&E didn’t ask “what is death?”, because they already knew what God meant from observing the animals dying!
(For example, if I told you, “If you do ——- [insert action], you will perfligget”, you’d ask “what is perfligget”, because you don’t know.)

So death on this planet had been occurring since life began.

But death did ‘enter the world” of mankind; when they rebelled. A&E were created as children of Jehovah; as such, they would still be alive today had they remained obedient. God’s purpose for them, as His children, was to live forever. This is still God’s purpose for mankind. Endless life.
— Psalm 37:29; Isaiah 33:24; Revelation 21:3,4; John 11:26; Romans 6:23.

 

[blü 2]

Jehovah God simply told Adam, ‘Don’t eat from the tree, for in the *day* you eat from it, you will positively die.”

And as the Snake pointed out, this wasn't true. And that threat is easily read in conjunction with God's defense of [his] own position in Genesis 3:22-23.

And we appear to be agreeing that in the Eden story, death already existed in Adam's world, NOT that Adam's "sin" caused death to enter the world.

But death did ‘enter the world” of mankind; when they rebelled.

The Garden text says nothing of the kind, never mentions sin, rebellion, &c. The ONLY reason God gives for chucking them out of the Garden is once again Genesis 3;22-23.

A&E were created as children of Jehovah; as such,

I must remember to do some homework on Adam as "son of God". The KJV translates Luke 3:38 ─ the TR reads
τοῦ Ἐνὼς τοῦ Σὴθ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τοῦ θεοῦ ─
as "Adam, which was the son of God" but I can't find any other reference. And that 'genealogy', like the one in Matthew which is irreconcilable with it, is plainly invention. Are there any other biblical claims that Adam was God's 'son'?

they would still be alive today had they remained obedient.

We again disagree. Why would God wish to keep A&E from the Tree of Life if they were never going to die anyway? Indeed, good ol' Genesis 3:22-23 is explicit that they were chucked out to prevent them from eating from the Tree of Life and thus living forever.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

And as the Snake pointed out, this wasn't true.

But it was true!
In fact, since Adam died at 930 yrs. of age, this is more proof that “Yom” (day) in this text did not mean a literal 24 hrs.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

I don't recall any mention of Adam or Eve being God's "child" anywhere in the bible. If you know some, I'd be interested to read them.

Luke 3:38…

“son of Eʹnosh, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.”

And by extension, us….

Malachi 2:10


Good night

 

[blü 2]

But it was true!
In fact, since Adam died at 930 yrs. of age, this is more proof that “Yom” (day) did not mean a literal 24 hrs.

In the stories, Adam didn't die the day he was booted out of the Garden, though that was God's exact threat.

And a thousand years is NOT a day whenever a day is mentioned in the bible. Otherwise it won't be the Sabbath for another 5,000 years.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

In the stories, Adam didn't die the day he was booted out of the Garden, though that was God's exact threat.

And a thousand years is NOT a day whenever a day is mentioned in the bible. Otherwise it won't be the Sabbath for another 5,000 years.

Yom doesn’t mean 1,000 yrs.

But one of it’s definitions can mean an indeterminate period of time; and this is what the text reveals.

 

[Jedster]

Yom doesn’t mean 1,000 yrs.

But one of it’s definitions can mean an indeterminate period of time; and this is what the text reveals.

Greetings @Hockeycowboy , long time and hope you are well.

While reading this thread, it occurred to me that If yom can mean an indeterminate period of time, I am wondering if year could also have an extended meaning.

What do you think?

 

[Audie]

Greetings @Hockeycowboy , long time and hope you are well.

While reading this thread, it occurred to me that If yom can mean an indeterminate period of time, I am wondering if year could also have an extended meaning.

What do you think?

It's evident that the whole text of the Bible can and does
mean anything the reader wants it to mean.

40,000 recognized sects. Millions (?) of individuals
with inspired readings.

Each with internal proof they are as right as all other readings.