Day – Age Creation: Five apparent problems with the 1917 JPS translation resolved.
Introduction
I first wrote on this subject in an essay at my Gordon College, a Christian college. As a part of the ecology and evolution class, students were expected to pick one of the four standard theories of creation and write an essay about it. Before attending the class, I already believed in the Day – Age theory, so I chose to write on it. My Professor asked me for the references for what I wrote of in my essay, stating that they, the references, in fact already do exist, but I could not find them. I still have not found them. As far as I can tell, the only reference I need to give is the Bible, basic biology textbooks, and the fossil record.
Problem and resolution 1 – Is It Days or Ages?
In Genesis chapter 1, there are 6 ages where G-d creates the earth. There are other passages in the Bible and ancient writing that support that the word “Yom” is sometimes rendered as the word “age,” exclusive of the concept of the 24 hour day of which the translators of the 1917 JPS translation used. Day occurs in this translation in verses 5, 8 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 23, 31. The verse numbering system for Christian Bibles is sometimes different from that of Jewish Bibles. For this essay I used a Jewish translation though I am unaware of any complete modern translation Jewish or Christian that renders the Hebrew word, “Yom,” as age in the creation story. Sometimes it must be rendered day and sometimes it must be rendered age. I will prove that much. I believe that each “day” of creation lasted millions or billions of years in duration, such that the word for “day” in this translation of Genesis is improperly rendered, and should be rendered as “age,” such that there are 6 ages of creation in Genesis chapter 1.
Problem and Resolution 2 – If Day Is Translated as Age, then Wouldn’t The Plants Have Died?
From Genesis chapter 1:
(11) And God said: 'Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.' And it was so. (12) And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (13) And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
From Genesis chapter 1:
(17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, (18) and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. (19) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Plants came about during the 3rd age, while the sun came about on the 4th age: How can this be so? That is, plants require the sun in order to live because they undergo photosynthesis. That is, if the plants had no sunlight, then it seems likely that they would all die over the course of millions of years. However, And, no I am not suggesting something silly such as all the plants died for lack of sunlight. I suggest that this translation given by JPS lacks the elegance that it needs in order to have proper meaning. Thus, it is such that I believe in modern science’s given date for the age of planet earth, which to theologians is called, “Old earth.” There is ample evidence to support the claim that earth is old, and I need not reference it here.
Given the Day-Age theory of creation, where the Hebrew word “Yom” is translated as “Age” instead of a 24 hour day, if plants and light were separated by an age, then it follows that the Bible apparently does not make sense, such that only a single 24 hour day could have passed between the creation of plants and the creation of the sun, but not an age. There is a solution for this. It is not a problem to Day-Age Theorists. The solution to the first problem is as follows: that the plants that were created during the 3rd age where actually the ancestors of modern plants, cyanobacteria (blue–green algae), such that the ability to use light for metabolism evolved before the sun was available to create light for the cyanobacteria to use. Thus, it is such that I believe in evolution, especially in this instance where it is essential that a form of bacteria evolved over millions of years until it became more complex, such as the form of a tree. The fossil record supports that much as history.
Researchers believe that the early earth’s atmosphere was much different than the current one, making the idea of an earth unknown to the sun possible. It is true that cyanobacteria do not necessarily require light. However, they are able to use it for energy. The end meaning of the quoted passages from Genesis above therefore must mean that first the ancestors of trees where created with the ability to use energy from the sun, then millions of years later the sun appeared and that then the cyanobacteria were able to take advantage of the sunlight and in later ages continued in their evolution to what we call trees, etc,.
This is not a problem for someone who observes that Adam was the first men, while some people are black and some people are white. That is mutations caused some humans evolve to have white skin that enable humans discovering Northern Europe to be better able to survive due to the climate.
The 3rd age ended complete with the bacteria having evolved to the point where the possibilities of creating the more complex and recent photosynthesizing species could evolve. Thus, the creation that occurred during the 3rd age was sufficient to give rise to what is known in the present. G-d needed no additional creation day for trees when cyanobacteria had already been created.
In fact, most scientists will list cyanobacteria among the top 5 most important species on the planet even if it means excluding humans from the top 5. They, cyanobacteria, might be small, but they are very important indeed.
Problem and Resolution 3 – But there were no microscopes back when Genesis was first penned, how could the author have possibly known of cyanobacteria?
An anticipated objection might be that bacteria where not discovered since the invention of the microscope, such that the author of Genesis would not have had knowledge of their existence. But, that is not true. In fact, the possibility of creating a microscope and then having the knowledge of how to create it getting lost is possible. Discovery of a 70,000 year old microscope seems unlikely given the transience of modern microscope; they don’t last forever. Thus, there may have been knowledge of cyanobacteria prior to our knowledge of the creation of the modern microscope. Thus, it is such that the Torah may have had an author, such that it was not dictated by G-d. The argument of divine inspiration of the Torah is thus null and void in that it is unnecessary. However, the fact is that there is a text which carries relevant meaning, and is worthy of inspection. However, nonetheless, the Torah may have been divinely inspired by G-d such the meanings of its words would unfold to mankind. Thus, the currently known date for the creation of the microscope that could discover cyanobacteria may have been the correct one, such that the Torah is truly an inspired text that is very mystical indeed.
Problem and resolution 4 – Don’t Insects Predate Fowl in the Fossil Record?
(20) And God said: 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.' (21) And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that creepeth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (22) And God blessed them, saying: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.' (23) And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
From Genesis chapter 1:
(24) And God said: 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind.' And it was so. (25) And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (26) And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' (27) And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. (28) And God blessed them; and God said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.' (29) And God said: 'Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed -- to you it shall be for food; (30) and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food.' And it was so. (31) And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Another apparent problem arises with the two most recent passages posted above. Something that creeps might be thought of as an insect created on the 6th age, while fowl were supposedly created on the 5th age. The fossil record however is clear that insects predate birds, an apparent problem. However, the Hebrew word translated here as “Fowl,” should be translated as “Flying insects” in verses 20 and 21. The Hebrew word in question may be transliterated as “Owph,” and elsewhere it loosely means “Flying things.” Thus, it is such that owph in the sentences above must be rendered as flying insects, where flying insects predate fowl. Additionally, the things created that “creepeth” in the 5th age are non-flying insects.
Problem 5 – The 1917 JPS Translation Is From the Department of Redundancy Department.
The fossil record shows that the descendents of insects are not fowl. Fowl descend from reptiles according to the fossil record. It thus follows that the things that “creepeth” on the 6th age are reptiles (verse 34) and actual fowl are not mentioned in the creation story. Consequently, for the traditional literalist there is a major problem when it is considered that G-d created things that creepeth twice – verses 21 and 24 – when everything else that God creates is so vastly different. That is there is no need to create things or more things that creepeth on the 6th age (verse 24) for they were already created on the 5th age (verse 21) unless it is that the things created that creepeth on the 5th and 6th ages are vastly different, and it is true that both reptiles that creepeth, such as amphibians and turtles, are vastly different from insects. So it must be concluded that the Bible, if it is true tells that insects were created during the 5th age that the things created in the 6th age were in fact reptiles.
Conclusion
The creation story in both cases fits the fossil record. Thus, it is such that the Day – Age theory is in fact the correct literal translation of Genesis chapter 1. Thus, it is such that the 24 hour day theory, which has been determined by many theologians to mean literal is in fact not correct. The current, “Literal” translation of Genesis is thus a misnomer. It is not the Literal Theory of Creation, but the errant translation of the Genesis chapter 1. Thus, it is such that the creation of the universe is not only reasonable – harmonious with the history known to scientists - but is also poetical; first there was something that was created, but it was incomplete, such that another parallel age became necessary to fill the need.
