First and Fourth Day?

[The Sum of Awe]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right? So what's that different from the creation of the stars on the fourth day?




Extra bonus question: Did the Bible say it took 3 days to make Earth itself or just said on the third day? People have been saying it took 3 days.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right? So what's that different from the creation of the stars on the fourth day?

IMO, the assumed cosmology in Genesis is that the sky is a solid dome (translated as things like "the firmament" or "the vault"), and the stars are small holes in it that let light through from the other side.

I also don't think that the authors necessarily assumed that all the light we see in daytime comes from the sun. From their perspective, I think they may have assumed that quite a bit of the light came from the dome of the sky itself, since that's how it appears when you look up at the sky in the middle of the day.

Extra bonus question: Did the Bible say it took 3 days to make Earth itself or just said on the third day? People have been saying it took 3 days.

It says that the Earth was created on the first day ("In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."). However, it also says that on the third day, God "gathered the dry ground together", so whatever form it was supposed to be on the first day, it wasn't the form that we see it now until the third day.

 

[Scott1]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right? So what's that different from the creation of the stars on the fourth day?




Extra bonus question: Did the Bible say it took 3 days to make Earth itself or just said on the third day? People have been saying it took 3 days.

It's a story ... not a astrophysics text... remember that and you won't be confused.

 

[Quagmire]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right?

Well, the light could have been the Big Bang. Imagine that would have lit things up a bit.

Extra bonus question: Did the Bible say it took 3 days to make Earth itself or just said on the third day? People have been saying it took 3 days.

I'm guessing that means it took two days to get the building permit.

 

[Willamena]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right? So what's that different from the creation of the stars on the fourth day?

Imagine you're standing on the ground, on a flat plane. And it's pitch black, dark anywhere you look. The first thing you might notice is the sky beginning to brighten, as the first hint of dawn separates sky from earth to reveal a horizon; you've been handed a divider. The world is split in two, above distinct from below.

Then, as you stand on this imagined plane, the sun rises, and the moon follows it, and all the stars present themselves --and as you stand day after day, month after month, year after year, and time speeds by, the heavenly bodies whirl across the sky, circling the earth in endless processions of pattern.

They are not the same image, and they hold different meaning.

 

[JacobEzra.]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right? So what's that different from the creation of the stars on the fourth day?

Hehe, the Rebbe(i think) once said it was the light for the Tzaddikim thats hiddin until holam ba. Er something to that likes.

But who knows. It could just be the people didn't know the sun gave off light.

 

[ChristineES]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right? So what's that different from the creation of the stars on the fourth day?




Extra bonus question: Did the Bible say it took 3 days to make Earth itself or just said on the third day? People have been saying it took 3 days.

It is a symbolic story, so I wouldn't tire myself out if I were you trying to make scientific sense out of it. As we all keep saying "The Bible is not a science book and never has been".

 

[SageTree]

It's cute when folks who don't believe in a particular idea engage people in it and on the most literal of terms.

 

[Pegg]

I don't understand. The light would come from the suns in the universe, right? So what's that different from the creation of the stars on the fourth day?

on the first day, genesis says “Let light come to be” however the Hebrew word for “light” in this verse is ’ohr, meaning general light. But on the fourth day, the Hebrew word changes to ma·’ohr′, which means the source of the light.

you can imagine it if you think of an overcast day...there is still light in the sky, but you cannot see the sun. So on the first day, light penetrated the overcast skys and it wasnt until the fourth day that the source of light was visible.

Extra bonus question: Did the Bible say it took 3 days to make Earth itself or just said on the third day? People have been saying it took 3 days.

the hebrew word for 'day' is Yom. It can mean ages of time or eons of time. And the clue to this question is found in genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness on the surface of the waters"

The earth was created along with the universe 'in the beginning' ....then sometime after that, God decided to prepare the earth for habitation. So the planet already existed along with the universe before God began to work on it. It wasnt created in 3 days.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

on the first day, genesis says “Let light come to be” however the Hebrew word for “light” in this verse is ’ohr, meaning general light. But on the fourth day, the Hebrew word changes to ma·’ohr′, which means the source of the light.

you can imagine it if you think of an overcast day...there is still light in the sky, but you cannot see the sun. So on the first day, light penetrated the overcast skys and it wasnt until the fourth day that the source of light was visible.

But I thought overcast skies were caused by suns. You can see the light from the sun and not the sun. For example, when it's cloudy.

 

[mycorrhiza]

It probably wasn't meant to be taken literally. If it was meant to be taken literally, it's highly influenced by their understanding (or rather lack of understanding) of the Universe. Calling the moon the "lesser light" is very wrong, for example. He basically made plants before he made the sun, which is weird seeing as he probably knew about photosynthesis.
If we're going by "the Bible is divinely inspired and true" then it must be metaphorical, but if we're going with "the Bible was written by people, without divine inspiration" then it might very well be supposed to be taken literally as this might have been their actual "understanding" of the Universe.

According to the story, earth was created in one day (by separating the two waters) and perfected later on through collecting the lower water in the oceans so as to give way for land. Once again, either it isn't literal or it is the product of faulty understanding, as there is no such thing as the "two waters", but this is rather an explanation for rain or something along those lines.

As has been stated, they might not have known that the sun provided all of our daylight.

 

[Pegg]

But I thought overcast skies were caused by suns. You can see the light from the sun and not the sun. For example, when it's cloudy.

we know overcast skys as meaning covered in clouds....in the primitive earth atmosphere it is thought to have been covered by thick gaseous clouds

when God said 'let there be light', it could simply mean that the light from the existing sun finally penetrated that cloud cover to reach the earth. But the point is that the word moses used in day 1 does not mean a light source....it means only general light. The word in day 4 changes to a hebrew word that actually means a 'source' of light. We believe it means by day 4, the gaseous atmosphere had cleared so that the sun (source of light) could now be seen in the sky.....but previous to this, only the light from the sun could be seen through the cloud cover.