Understanding “Day” in Genesis 1: Does It Really Mean 24 Hours?

Genesis 1 is not just one of the most iconic chapters in the Bible — it’s also one of the most frequently misread chapters. At the center of this debate is a deceptively simple Hebrew word: “yom”, most commonly translated as “day.”

For many modern readers, yom automatically implies a literal 24-hour day — morning, evening, sunset, sunrise. But is that what the original author intended? And more importantly, does that view hold up when tested against the biblical text itself, the original language, and the cultural context in which Genesis was written?

The reality is this: the Hebrew word yom does not demand a 24-hour definition — and often doesn’t mean that elsewhere in Scripture. When we examine the text more closely — linguistically, contextually, and theologically — it becomes clear that interpreting the creation days as literal, consecutive 24-hour periods is not only unnecessary, it is likely a modern imposition on an ancient, poetic, and deeply theological text.

It’s not Genesis that’s inflexible, it’s often our assumptions about it.

Let’s explore six key reasons why the 24-hour-day interpretation is not required — and why clinging to it may actually distort the original message of the creation account.

🕰️ 1. The Hebrew Word “Yom” — More Than a Day

The Hebrew word for “day” used in Genesis 1 is yom (יוֹם). While yom can refer to a 24-hour day, it doesn’t always. In fact, it often refers to a long or indefinite period of time, depending on context.

Consider just a few examples:

• Genesis 2:4 refers to “the day (yom) that the Lord God made the heavens and the earth,” summing up all six days of creation into one yom, clearly not a literal day.
• Psalm 90:4 (NIV) says: “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
• Hosea 6:2 uses “days” to metaphorically describe prophetic timing and restoration — not literal days.

Clearly, the word yom is context-driven and cannot be assumed to always mean a 24-hour calendar day. In fact, insisting on that meaning here ignores the broader biblical usage.

🔄 2. What is a “Day” Without the Sun?

Here’s something interesting: The sun isn’t described as being set into motion until Day 4, and yet, we’re told there were “evenings and mornings” in the first three days.

So, how could there be literal 24-hour “days” before the existence of the sun?

A literal day, as we understand it, is defined by one full rotation of the Earth relative to the sun — sunrise to sunrise or sunset to sunset. Without the sun in place, this concept doesn’t apply. This strongly suggests that the “days” in Genesis 1 are literary markers, not solar days.

🧱 3. “Create” vs. “Make”: Bara and Asah

Genesis uses two different Hebrew verbs for acts of creation, and they’re not always interchangeable:

• Bara (בָּרָא) — “to create”
  This word is only used of God, and always signifies a unique, sovereign act of creation, often from nothing.
• Asah (עָשָׂה) — “to make,” “to form,” or “to assign/set in order”
  This word is broader and can refer to forming, organizing, or commissioning something for function.

Why this matters:

• In Genesis 1:16, the sun and moon are said to have been “made” (asah), not created (bara).
• This suggests that the heavenly bodies may have existed prior, but were appointed or ordered on Day 4, perhaps through functional assignment and being fixed in rotation.
• So Day 4 does not necessarily describe the creation of the sun and moon, but rather their assignment as timekeepers for Earth.

This distinction helps resolve apparent conflicts with scientific understanding of the age and formation of stars, and allows for a more nuanced, ancient Near Eastern reading of the text.

📜 4. A Thousand Years as a Day: Biblical Time Is Not Our Time

Both Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 remind us that God’s relationship to time is fundamentally different from ours, as God is outside of time which began at the Big Bang.

“A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
(Psalm 90:4, NIV)

“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
(2 Peter 3:8, NIV)

These verses don’t prescribe a literal timescale, they emphasize that God is not bound by human time. When Genesis uses the word “yom”, we must consider the literary and theological context, not just modern scientific categories.

🕎 5. Jewish Voices Have Long Recognized This

Contrary to popular belief, non-literal interpretations of Genesis 1 are not a modern response to science. In fact, early Jewish scholars were already reading the text symbolically and philosophically.

Notable examples:

• Philo of Alexandria (1st century BC) wrote: “Creation was not in time, but with time.”
  He viewed the days as logical orderings, not temporal units.
• Maimonides (12th century) warned: “The account given in Scripture is not, as is generally believed, intended to be literal in all its parts.”
• The Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b) and Midrash Rabbah include discussions about the nature of creation days, including symbolic readings.

Jewish tradition has long included the idea that the “days” of creation represent phases, categories, or literary frameworks, not clock-based measurements.

✝️ 6. Early and Historic Christian Views Weren’t Always Literal

Some claim that non-literal interpretations of Genesis 1 are a modern concession to science. But Christian history tells a different story.

Many of the most influential church fathers and theologians, centuries before modern cosmology, recognized that the “days” of creation may not refer to 24-hour periods at all.

• Augustine believed creation was instantaneous and the “days” were a literary device.
• Origen interpreted Genesis allegorically, emphasizing theological meaning over chronology.
• Aquinas, the Reformers, and modern evangelical scholars such as John Lennox and Gleason Archer have noted that the “days” in Genesis 1 can be understood as extended or undefined periods of time, based on the Hebrew usage of yom and the literary structure of the text — without diminishing its theological authority.

The idea that a “day” must be 24 hours is not the historic consensus, it’s a relatively recent assumption, shaped more by modern expectations than by the text itself.

📝 Summary: Genesis 1 Doesn’t Require 24-Hour Days

The Hebrew word yom is contextually flexible and often refers to extended or symbolic periods. Interpreting it as literal days, especially when the sun isn’t assigned until Day 4, imposes a modern framework onto an ancient, poetic text.

The verbs bara (“create”) and asah (“make” or “appoint”) reveal that Genesis emphasizes function and purpose, not just material origins. Throughout Scripture, God’s relationship to time is depicted as transcendent, reminding us that His creative work isn’t confined to human chronology.

Both Jewish and Christian traditions have long recognized that the “days” in Genesis 1 can be understood as extended or undefined spans of time, centuries before modern science entered the conversation.

Genesis 1 isn’t primarily about how fast God created — it’s about who created, why He did, and the intentional order He established. It invites us not to measure creation, but to marvel at the Creator.

📚 References

• Archer, G. L. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties. Zondervan, 1982.
• Augustine. Confessions XI.
• Lennox, J. Seven Days That Divide the World. Zondervan, 2011.
• Maimonides. Guide for the Perplexed. 12th c.
• Origen. On First Principles, Bk IV.
• Philo. On the Creation. 1st c. BC.
• Scofield, C. I. Scofield Reference Bible, 1909.
• Walton, J. H. The Lost World of Genesis One. IVP Academic, 2009.
• Westminster Confession of Faith, 1646.
• Scripture: Gen 1–2; Ps 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8; Hos 6:2 (ESV/NIV).