When Does a Biblical Day Begin?

Sunset?

Both sunrise and sunset are times of transition when the light of day and the darkness of night "mingle". Watching a sunrise or a sunset is a great time for taking a break from the business of everyday life for some inner reflection, time alone, peaceful appreciation of the little things, feeling Yah's presence in our lives, and so forth. These are special moments when we can experience an amazing and mystical tranquility in the transitions of light with darkness.  Does either one of these mark the beginning or the ending of a Biblical day?

Well for the majority of us, our "day" begins when we wake up, and it ends when we go to sleep. Many of us live in a somewhat artificial environment where sunrise and sunset really have no bearing on when our day starts or ends. Usually whenever we wake up, the actual 24-hour day of modern society has already begun, and this 24-hour period will normally end during the night after we are asleep. Of course there are lots of exceptions to this since many people are working or otherwise active during the late night/wee morning hours, and their "day" overlaps the official ending/beginning of a day at midnight.

So simply based on this discussion of the modern "day", we can see that the word "day" can mean different things. The Hebrew word for "day" is "yom", and it works the same way in the Hebrew language as "day" does in English. We must always consider the context used in conjunction with the actual word, "day" or "yom" to know how to apply its intended meaning.

A great many times in Scripture, the daytime or light portion of a 24-hour day is being referred to. It is often simply mentioned as a matter of something taking place during the time of day when people are awake and active - the daytime as contrasted to nighttime. It is usually not in any kind of a context to mark the beginning or the ending of a complete daily cycle. This is critically important to keep in mind when studying Scripture to determine the Biblical definition of when a "day" or "yom" begins or ends its 24-hour cycle of time.

Unfortunately, we've seen many videos where people are using verses without considering their proper context. Here is an example where the videographer is looking at a verse in English and using it as a proof text that the Biblical day begins in the morning:

• (13) And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. (Exodus 18:13)

First of all, while "the morrow" could be considered as a "day", the Hebrew word used here is not even "yom" or any form thereof. It is H4283 - "mochorath" which means "tomorrow".  The Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon further clarifies that H4283 can explicitly refer to the dawn-to-evening (daylight) portion of the next day. So in an effort to define the Biblical "day", this person is not looking at how Scripture defines the word "yom". Rather he chooses to look at something that barely represents a "day"; this is not a proper methodology. "Day" is first mentioned in Genesis with the word "yom", so this is the word that we need to be concerned with to see how Scripture defines it. However in all fairness, we can also glean more understanding when we study ancillary words such as "mochorath" or "tomorrow" that can have a relational bearing on the meaning of "day".   Studying other relevant words for "day" can be very helpful, but the primary focus needs to be directed at the actual Hebrew word for "day" which is "yom".

Secondly, and more importantly, the actual content being stated within this verse, much less its context, does not lend itself to anything that says the people were standing by Moses at the beginning of a day for a complete daily cycle. It says they stood by him from morning to evening which doesn't even cover a whole day, and it certainly does not mean that the morning began this 24-hour day. When we go to a job in the morning and stay there all day until evening, we cannot say that we actually worked a complete 24-hour day. Maybe we worked a very long work-day, but that is something entirely different.

This is just one example of how so many verses are being misappropriated, misunderstood and misaligned without their proper content or context. We can find plenty of verses that might seem to say that the day begins at sunrise, but please be aware of the context in these verses. Most references to "yom" in Scripture are referencing the daylight portion of a day; they are not referencing the complete 24-hour period of a daily rotation. These verses are generally showing that the content of the passage is occurring during the day (daytime vs nighttime), and they do not confirm when the 24-hour day begins or ends.

The determination for the beginning of a Biblical "yom" is most important to us when it comes to properly observing the weekly Sabbath, the annual Holy Days and the Feasts.  Our previously revised article "Evening or Morning?" was written to hopefully present a clear and concise summary to help sort through any confusion that exists about determining when a Biblical day begins and ends. We believe that Scripture is actually quite clear on this subject, and it is very specific in one instance that should hold true for all the days of human history.

We recently wrote a 2nd article on this topic titled "When Did Y'shua Consider a Day to Begin?".  A brother pointed out some wording in the Gospel of Luke that prompted us to examine the timing of Peter's three denials with the "cockcrow" (which the article explains has nothing to do with a rooster).  Upon Peter's third denial, the cock crowed, thus signaling the start of the temple workday shortly after sunrise.  The workday could not begin while it was yet dark since it began with removing ashes from the altar in preparation for the morning daily sacrifice.  Regarding the "cockcrow", Mishnah Tamid 3:2* says: 

• "The appointed one said to the priests:  Go out and observe if it is day and the time for slaughter has arrived.   If the time has arrived, the observer says:  There is light.  Matya ben Shmuel says that the appointed priest phrased his question differently, saying:  Is the entire eastern sky illuminated as far as Hebron?  And the observer says: Yes."

  *https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Tamid.3.2?lang=bi

Knowing that the "cockcrow" is coming from an appointed man (not a rooster) at a certain time when the entire eastern sky is illuminated and daytime has taken over nighttime, we can gain a true sense of the timing here in Luke:

• Luke 22:60-61

  (60) And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.

  (61) And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

It was obviously daylight at this point for Y'shua to look upon Peter, and for Peter to see Him looking at him, since Peter was located somewhat of a distance away.  Remember that Peter had been holding himself separate and apart from Y'shua, trying to blend in with the crowd, and he was certainly not within a distance of Y'shua being able to physically hear him "curse and swear" (Matthew 26:74) in his third denial when the "cock crew".  Please refer to the article for further explanation.  These factors are indeed most relevant to understanding that Y'shua must have considered the morning daylight hours to be included in the same 24-hour day as the night before when he spoke to Peter.

Now in all fairness to our brothers and sisters who are otherwise convinced with a differing viewpoint on this controversial topic, we are not opposed to looking at other reasonable arguments which promote something other than an "evening-to-evening" cycle.  However please know that so far, we have always found some combination of applying slightly impaired or incorrect presumptions, gaps in Scriptural apologetics, and just plain illogical reasoning. 

We recently analyzed a well-written article by a rabbinical scholar that was sent to us as a counter-argument from a beloved sister in Messiah.  The author was stating that the "evening-to-evening" cycle is a Jewish tradition that had evolved in their history, and that a day was originally "morning-to-morning".  This possibility was certainly of interest to us, so we were eager to investigate.  Although at first glance his thesis seemed to be very reasonable and Scriptural, we clearly saw some faulty premises and other incongruent rationale in addition to the fact that he never mentioned any actual history that marked this "evolution" of a Jewish day. 

When it comes down to it though, we do not desire to spend time refuting the work of others to strengthen our own assessments.  Proving others "wrong" does not make us "right."  We realize that any of us, Bill and Karen included, can fall victim to the slightest "spin" or lack of spiritual or intellectual comprehension in addition to the always present threat of our own personal biases.  Each of us is working within a certain amount of finite reasoning that can produce deficient conclusions, and highlighting flaws in the thinking of others should only serve to help us to be aware of our own possible inadequacies.  We must always remain humble and empathetic with each other, leaving room for each of us to be a little bit right and a little bit wrong.

Our desire with any of our writing and teaching is to simply contribute our understanding of Yah's Word while we all continue to seek and learn the truth brought to us through Scripture, especially with the Torah as our foundation.  Our ministry work is motivated by our perceived calling in the Holy Spirit to utilize His gifts of teaching and edification.  Please always consider anything we say with an honest assessment in your own studies and prayers.  If you see something out of line with our work, please bring it to our attention. None of us has a complete understanding of the Truth, and together, through the grace and wisdom of our Messiah, we are finding the narrow way - returning to the garden!

Shalom, Bill & Karen