In the creation account in Genesis 1, it says “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:5). This pattern is repeated for each of the six days of creation, with the day starting with evening and ending with morning. This has led many to ask why the Bible measures a day from evening to morning, rather than our typical pattern of morning to evening.
There are a few potential reasons for this:
1. It fits with the pattern of light and darkness
On the first day, God created light and separated it from the darkness (Genesis 1:3-5). He called the light “day” and the darkness “night”. So in a sense, the cycle of night and day was established on that first day. Measuring the days as “evening and morning” follows this natural flow from darkness to light.
2. Evening represents completion, morning represents new beginnings
In ancient Hebrew thinking, the evening represented a completion or fulfillment of the day’s work, while the morning represented the start of a new day. So in Genesis, the evening is mentioned first since the completion of God’s creative work on that day is emphasized. The morning is mentioned second as it starts the next phase.
3. It connects each day’s work together
By overlapping each evening and morning, it connects the days and shows the continuity of God’s creative work over the six-day period. Each morning picks up where the last evening left off. This also models our human experience of completing work in the evening and starting fresh in the morning.
4. Evening starts the biblical day
In the Old Testament, the Jewish day officially began at sunset in the evening (Leviticus 23:32). So Genesis 1 is reflecting the biblical reckoning of a day, from evening to morning, which sets the pattern for time in the Scriptures.
5. Highlights day and night’s interdependence
The repetition of “evening and morning” reinforces that both day and night are God’s creation and emphasizes their interdependence. The dayneeds the night, and the night needs the day – both are essential in God’s plan.
While we may be accustomed to thinking of morning as the start of a day, the Genesis account uses evening to morning for these theological and stylistic purposes. Recognizing this can give us a greater appreciation for the nuances in the biblical text.
Ultimately, the reverse chronology used in Genesis 1 highlights God’s orderly arrangement of the cycles of light and darkness. Each phase relies on the other as part of God’s wise design at creation. He separated the realms of day and night and put them into their proper sequence for our benefit.
So in summary, some key reasons why the day is measured from evening to morning in Genesis 1 include:
- It matches the natural flow from darkness to light
- Evening symbolizes completion, morning represents beginnings
- It connects each day’s work together seamlessly
- Evening starts the Jewish biblical day
- Highlights the interdependence of day and night
This pattern continues to be significant, as the evening and the morning were the first complete day (Genesis 1:5), and each subsequent evening and morning made up the entirety of days two through six.
Though less familiar to our modern sensibilities, recognizing the significance of the Genesis account numbering days starting with the evening can give us a greater appreciation for God’s intricate design shown even in the ordering of creation.
Evening as the transition from light to dark
In Genesis 1:5, the first instance where “evening” is mentioned, the Hebrew word used is “erev.” This can refer to nightfall or the transition period from day to night. So in a sense, the evening is the bridge between the light and darkness, between day and night.
This transitional time was valuable, as it allowed a separation between the realms of light and darkness on Day 1, before the specific sources of light like the sun were created later in the week (Genesis 1:14-19).
The reference to evening first may show the importance God places on this time of shifting between daylight and nighttime. The evening period established on Day 1 provided the basis for the regular rhythms of days and seasons for the rest of creation.
Evening as the completion of a day’s work
In the ancient Hebrew mindset, the end of the daylight period signified that the workday was over. Evening represented a completion or fulfillment of that day’s labor. By mentioning evening first, Genesis 1 highlights the stopping point of God’s creative work on that particular day.
This also parallels mankind’s cycle of working during the day and resting at night. The sequence in Genesis matches this pattern, showing that God worked in creation during each figurative day, then paused at evening, before resuming the next period of creating at morning.
The rhetorical effect is to emphasize the fulfillment of God’s tasks within that day before moving to the next. The cadence of evening and morning reinforces the orderly progression in which He crafted the universe over six days.
Morning as the start of the next day
After the transitionary evening period concluded a day’s work, the morning then represented the start of a new day. The Hebrew word used in Genesis 1:5 for “morning” is “boker,” which can refer to the break of day.
By mentioning morning second in the sequence after evening, Genesis 1 highlights how God’s creative progression restarting on the following day flows out of the previous day’s finished work. The morning introduces what God will accomplish next in the daily building sequence.
Together, the evening and morning form a complete day unit. The two parts are always mentioned together, underscoring their linkage. The refrain ties each day together as part of the continuous, organized account of God designing the cosmos over six days.
Evening and morning in Hebrew thinking
In the ancient Hebrew mind, the full day flowed in the sequence of evening and morning. Leviticus 23:32 states:
It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your sabbath.
This first evening was considered the transition point starting the day. The Hebrew calendar was not arranged around the rising and setting of the sun, but these longer units of evening to evening.
So when Genesis 1 says “there was evening and there was morning,” it uses the Hebrew idiom denoting a complete day. The language matches the Israelites’ customary reckoning of time spanning from evening to morning.
Evening and morning as literary framework
The recurring refrain of “evening and morning” provides a literary framework for organizing the days of creation narratively. The repetition at the start of each day: (1) connects the days together, (2) emphasizes the orderly sequence, and (3) segments the narrative into seven units.
Similar phrases are used as transition markers in other ancient Hebrew literature. So this device would resonate with Genesis’ original audience as a structural element, allowing the passage to flow methodically from one day to the next.
The predictable pattern provides cohesion as the reader journeys through the chronology of God speaking various parts of the cosmos into being. The repetition reinforces the culmination and fulfillment of each day before commencing the next.
While perhaps unfamiliar to modern readers, the recurring timeline from evening to morning unifies the creation account into a sequential narrative arc in a way familiar to early listeners.
Interdependence of day and night
The cyclical refrain also highlights the interplay between day and night. Both are necessary phases created for the benefit of God’s living creatures. As Genesis 1:14 (ESV) states:
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years.”
By linking evening and morning in the same sentence, the text underscores their symbiotic relationship. Light and dark periods rely on each other to form a complete day-night cycle.
The narrative’s structure continually reinforces that both elements are equally part of God’s design. Day needs night, and night needs day – they complement each other in God’s creative work.
This interplay is highlighted linguistically in a way that would resonate with ancient listeners. To their ears, the recurring language conveyed day and night’s integral partnership in God’s plan.
The seventh day Sabbath pattern
The evening-to-morning pattern across six days sets up a theological shift to the seventh day, when God’s creative work was completed and He rested (Genesis 2:1-3). His Sabbath rest then becomes the model for mankind’s weekly Sabbath observance.
As Exodus 20:8-11 states:
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.
The Genesis 1 text primes the reader for this important seventh day transition by employing “evening and morning” so consistently across the first six days of the week.
When day seven refrains from using this phrase, it alerts readers that God’s behavior on this day contrasts with the previous six. The pattern shift emphasizes the significance of Sabbath rest conceptually.
So the repetition of evening-to-morning frames the creation week narrative in a way that foreshadows the Sabbath as the theological climax.
Conclusion
While the pattern of evening-to-morning may seem unusual to modern societies, it has deep significance in the Genesis account. Some key reasons include:
- Matching the natural flow from darkness to light
- Symbolizing the completion of each day’s work
- Starting the new day’s creative acts
- Corresponding to the Hebrew reckoning of days
- Providing literary cohesion as a structural device
- Highlighting the interplay between day and night
- Foreshadowing the climactic seventh day of Sabbath rest
Appreciating the repetition of “evening and morning” provides insight into how God carefully structured His magnificent universe in an orderly sequence. Each phase relies on the other as part of His wise design. As creatures within this creation, gaining this biblical perspective helps us grasp our place within God’s perfectly crafted cosmic plan.