Genesis 1: A Tale of Labor and Delivery

This post is dedicated to the women at my church who are embarking on a study of the book of Genesis.  Many of these women are mothers and I hope they will take a special delight in my analysis of Genesis chapter 1.  Some have school-aged children who may have questions that arise in science class this year that this post could help them to address.

Genesis chapter 1 is a unique passage of Scripture with an expansive scope that literally addresses all of space and most of time.  It also adopts a unique writing style.  On the one hand, it moves to a climax, like prose.  On the other hand, the prominence of repetition is similar to poetry.

In an article written for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, the author cites the following opinion of Genesis 1:

Sometimes called a "hymn," it appears to be a unique blend of prose and poetry.1

One of the most powerful phrases in Genesis 1 goes like this: (New American Standard)

"And there was evening and there was morning, one day."

"And there was evening and there was morning, a second day."

"..., a third day.", "..., a fourth day.", "..., a fifth day.", "..., a sixth day." 

This phrase not only provides a repetitive element of poetry, but simultaneously executes the progress toward the climax of the seventh day like prose.  To interpret the phrase in an entirely literal manner is to ignore the poetic content.  To treat it as mere poetic decoration is to lose its narrative meaning.  The true sense of the phrase is a blend of the two possibilities.  To discern this blend, however, requires an examination of the Hebrew text itself.  Helpfully, Studylight.org contains powerful, easy-to-use tools for the exploration of the Bible in its original Hebrew language.  I encourage you to delve into these resources.  They can help enrich any Bible study.

Here we see that the word translated as "evening" is the Hebrew word 'ereb, which can literally mean "night, sunset, or evening".  In the scope of the Genesis 1 narrative the "greater light" does not come to govern the day until the fourth day of creation.  Therefore, we can exclude "sunset" as an intended meaning of the author.

There is another word for "night", the Hebrew layil, meaning, "night (as opposed to day)" or "of gloom, protective shadow".  That is a different kind of "night" and contrasted to "day".  In our target phrase, 'ereb is not contrasted to but a companion of the word for morning.  Therefore, the meaning is the sum of two meanings.  This is similar to how the words "heaven and earth" taken together form a merism that means "the totality of everything".  In this case, we are not studying a merism but we still need to look at the word for morning before we can interpret the word for evening correctly.

The word for "morning" is the Hebrew boqer, which is a complex term.

Brown-Driver-Brigg's Definition

• 1) morning, break of day 
• 1a) morning
• 1a1) of end of night 
• 1a2) of coming of daylight 
• 1a3) of coming of sunrise 
• 1a4) of beginning of day 
• 1a5) of bright joy after night of distress (figuratively) 
• 1b) morrow, next day, next morning

Because, in the narrative, boqer ends the Day instead of beginning the Day and because boqer is not associated with sunrise or the "rule of the greater light", which does not happen until the Fourth Day, I struck out some of the possible definitions listed above.

We now have two possible translations of the target phrase:

"And there was night and there was an end of night, one day."

or

"And there was night and there was a bright joy after a night of distress, one day."

Now at first, it might seem prudent to immediately discard the figurative meaning because it seems odd to associate any type of distress with the creation week in which we find the repeated term used, "good" which means "pleasing".

But the contrast between distress and joy is intriguing to explore in this context.  We have to keep in mind:

• the creation was not declared "very good" until it was finished
• only specific aspects of creation were declared "good" during the week
• distress, while it seems "bad", is not necessarily so from God's perspective

The concept of a "night of distress followed by a bright joy" immediately brings to my mind the childbirth process.  Some of you women are moms and can relate to this.  I am not a mother, but I have been through the childbirth process ten times with my wife, and this is a pretty apt description in my experience.

So we could see this phrase as "And there was labor and there was delivery, one day."

We have another clue.  The phrase "evening and morning" do not define a Day, as in "the second day" and so forth.  But rather, it wraps up the work of the Day in which God created.

The poetic structure of Genesis 1 then comes out as follows:

"And God said, "Let..."
(creative acts occur and it was so)
"And there was labor and there was delivery, one Day", "... a second Day",  and so forth

The Spirit of God overshadows His creation and then God tends His creation and at end of the term of development, there is tumultuous event that results in a bright joy which is the revelation of His creative intent.  The Day then, is a period of development much longer than the labor and delivery at the end.  These are not "time markers" per se but markers of phases of God's creative works.  One follows the other in orderly procession.

Now, this is perhaps clever, and as mothers you might enjoy this view, but we have to test this interpretation rigorously with Scripture.  It is not enough to satisfy ourselves with an interpretation that makes sense to us in our own experience.  To rightly divide God's Word requires testing our interpretation by God's Word.

Test Number 1

Even before the Book of Genesis was given to the Israelites by Moses, back during the time of Abraham, there lived a man named Job.  Job had an encounter with God who revealed to Him the wonders of His mighty acts of creation.

Job 38:4-11 English Standard Version (ESV)

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

The language of childbirth is associated with the work of creation in God's revelation to Job, as is the element of joy.  This passage describes the origin of "the deep" over which the Spirit of God hovers in Genesis 1, thereby setting up the entire process as a series of birth experiences.

Test Number 1: Passed

Test Number 2

Romans 8:18-22 English Standard Version (ESV)

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

In this passage, childbirth is associated with the work of the creation itself.  The ultimate product of this birth experience is the revealing of the sons of God, which in Romans refers to the children of God saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  The original revealing of the "sons of God" was through the creation of Adam and the godly line of descent through Seth.  Clearly this "revelation" has been progressive.

While the human sufferings of the present time are associated with sin and the Fall of man, the original "sufferings" of creation are associated with the natural processes of wear and decay, apart from sin.  God created a world in which man could both sin and die in order that He might provide salvation through death, and even death on a cross.

Test Number 2: Passed

Test Number 3

John 16:21 English Standard Version (ESV)

21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

How can the days of creation be declared "very good" if they contain elements of distress?  This is clearly answered by analogy to the process of childbirth.  Joy wipes away the memory of the anguish.    Elements that we see in the natural world such as fossils of animals that lived and died before God made man can be seen as part of God's greater plan.  They are "good" in their own sense because God willed it to be so.

The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.  Psalm 104:21

We see that "good", "very good", and "joy" can be consistent with purposeful distress because of the benefit of the final outcome.  A fossil record "red in tooth and claw" does not stand opposed to a sovereign God executing His ultimate plan of "revealing the sons of God".

Test Number 3: Passed

Test Number 4

Psalm 104 (ESV)

24 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
...
27 These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke!

On the Seventh Day, God rests from all His work of creating.  Therefore, when Psalm 104 refers to creatures being created, it must be reflecting on the creation week.  In the referenced event, God has filled the earth with creatures, then taken away their breath such that they die, and then created anew by His Spirit.  He rejoices in His work in which the earth trembles and the mountains smoke.

This is an apt description of an extinction-renewal event such as the demise of the dinosaurs and most other animals (at the end of the Fourth Day) and the subsequent rapid replacement with all-new species of birds and fish (on the Fifth Day) and finally with livestock and mankind (on the Sixth Day).

God rejoices and is glorified by events in Earth's history that we might at first struggle to reconcile with His goodness and sovereignty.  By seeing creation as story of travail and joy, not unlike the birth process, we see the goodness of our Heavenly Father and understand how much love and patience He really has for us.

Test Number 4: Passed

Test Number 5

Genesis 2:4 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

4 These [are] births of the heavens and of the earth in their being prepared, in the day of Jehovah God's making earth and heavens;

Here I leverage Young's Literal Translation to expose the underlying literal meaning of Hebrew words.  The word births is often translated generations (ESV) or the even more bland account (NASB), thereby masking the rich imagery the Author means to convey.  God makes the earth and heavens by preparing them for the sons of God through a sequence of births.  The imagery presented in Genesis 2 which details the story of Adam and Eve is clearly tied to the poetic narrative of Genesis 1 by following the theme of births.

Test Number 5: Passed

In my analysis, I present Genesis 1 as a series of six successive experiences of overshadowing by the Spirit, growth and development caused by God, the distress of labor, and the joy of delivery.  After these six successive, back-to-back pregnacy-birth experiences, God rests.   Who can blame Him! (a little humor)

Now, you may not agree with my analysis and whether all these tests were appropriately constructed and truly pass, but I do hope that you see the importance of delving into the original language, of being curious and exploring God's Word, and of submitting your interpretation to God's Word for testing.

I hope you enjoyed this post and that you have a new appreciation, as mothers and as women, that your Heavenly Father can relate to all that you go through.  Please feel free to post comments below or send feedback and questions to agesofjoy @ gmail.com.

1 Henri Blocher, In the Beginning (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press,
1984), pp. 31-33.