I would like to start and in depth discussion on when the day begins. I would like to do this from a purely Scriptural stand point. Will consider other Scripturally based books; but I think we should keep the main focus on the "canonized" Scripture.
First of all I'd like to take the Genesis account and it alone and examine it. Can we determine from the Genesis account when the day begins? We know there are a few thoughts on this; such as morning, evening, high noon. So lets focus on the Genesis account.
All Scriptures taken from ISR version.
Gen. all chapter 1-2:4:
In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth came to be a formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters. 3 And Elohim said, "Let light come to be, and light came to be. 4 And Elohim saw the light, that it was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness. 5 And Elohim called the light "day" and the darkness He called "night.' And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the first day. 6 And Elohim said, "Let an expanse come to be in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. 7 And Elohim made the expanse, and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it came to be so. 8 And Elohim called the expanse "heavens.' And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the second day. 9 And Elohim said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it came to be so. 10 And Elohim called the dry land 'earth,' and the collection of the waters He called 'seas.' And Elohim saw that it was good. 11 And Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the plant that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth. And it came to be so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the plant that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 13 And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the third day. 14 And Elohim said, "Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years, 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. And it came to be so. 16 And Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. 17 And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good. 19 And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fourth day. 20 And Elohim said, "Let the waters teem with shoals of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens. 21 And Elohim created great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters teemed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 22 And Elohim blessed them, saying, "Bear fruit and increase, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth. 23 And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fifth day. 24 And Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: livestock and creeping creatures and beasts of the earth, according to its kind. And it came to be so. 25 And Elohim made the beast of the earth according to its kind, livestock according to its kind, and all that creep on the earth according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 26 And Elohim said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth and over all the creeping creatures that creep on the earth. 27 And Elohim created the man in His image, in the image of Elohim He created him " male and female He created them. 28 And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, "Bear fruit and increase, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all creatures moving on the earth. 29 And Elohim said, "See, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it is for food. 30 "And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every creeping creature on the earth, in which there is life, every green plant is for food. And it came to be so. 31 And Elohim saw all that He had made, and see, it was very good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the sixth day. 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array. 2 And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. 3 And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made. 4 These are the births of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahuah Elohim made earth and heavens.
I think there are two basic understandings of when the day begins from these verses. If we believe the day begins at sunrise we would have to say "and then came evening and then came morning" in other words Yahuah did His work that day then came evening - which came after the work period - and then came morning - which came after the night or sleep period. The other being the day begins in the evening at the going down of the sun we would say these Scriptures mean the day consists of an evening and a morning. In other words Yahuah spoke of what He did in that day and then told us what a day consists of, an evening and a morning. Yet in day one through six we find this phrase: "And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the ________ day". Yet on the seventh day we do not find this phrase. Any thoughts?
~Greg