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Biblical Timekeeping and the Concept of Days

Biblical timekeeping, particularly the concept of "days," encompasses both literal and figurative meanings, with the civil day traditionally reckoned from sunset to sunset [1, 2]. This practice is rooted in the Genesis account, where "the evening and the morning were the first day" [2, 9, 13].

The ancient Hebrews initially divided the day into broader segments, such as "morning, evening, and noonday" [2, 5]. Psalm 55:17 also reflects this division, mentioning three times for prayer [1]. Before the Babylonian Captivity, the night was typically divided into three watches: from sunset to midnight, from midnight until cock-crowing, and from cock-crowing until sunrise [1]. During the New Testament era, the influence of Greek and Roman customs led to the adoption of a four-watch system for the night [1]. The division of the natural day into twenty-four parts, or hours, was likely not a native Hebrew concept but was adopted later, possibly during the Captivity, from the Babylonians and then the Romans [4, 5]. The term "hour" appears in Daniel and later in the New Testament to denote specific seasons or moments [5].

The concept of a "day" (Hebrew yom) in Scripture can refer to several durations:

The creation narrative in Genesis 1 establishes the pattern of the week, with God creating for six "days" and resting on the seventh [6]. This seven-day cycle, or week, is of great antiquity and is considered by some to be as old as humanity itself, establishing a theological basis for the Sabbath [6]. The heavenly bodies—the sun, moon, and stars—were appointed to mark out seasons, days, and years, forming the basis for Israel's liturgical calendar and its festivals [3, 10].

Beyond literal timekeeping, biblical texts also use "days" in a prophetic or symbolic sense. For instance, Daniel 12:11 mentions "one thousand two hundred ninety days," and Daniel 12:12 speaks of "one thousand three hundred five and thirty days" [8, 11]. In prophetic computation, days are sometimes reckoned as years [3]. Interpretations of these prophetic "days" vary; for example, John Gill suggests that the "one thousand three hundred five and thirty days" in Daniel 12:12 refer to years during which antichristian states will be judged and Christ's kingdom established [11].

The observation of specific days, months, and years could also carry religious significance, as noted in Galatians 4:10, where the apostle Paul addresses the Galatians' adherence to certain ceremonial observances [12]. This highlights a distinction between civil observation of time, which is necessary, and religious observation of specific days that might lead to bondage to legalistic practices [12].

The duration of human life is also expressed in terms of days, as seen in Sirach 37:28, which states, "The life of a man is in the number of his days" [7]. This contrasts with the "innumerable" days of Israel, suggesting a qualitative difference in their existence [7].

Sources

  1. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Day — The Jews reckoned the day from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32). It was originally divided into three parts (Ps. 55:17). "The heat of the day" (1 Sam. 11:11; Neh. 7:3) was at our nine o'clock, and "the cool of the day" just before sunset (Gen. 3:8). Before the Captivity the Jews divided the night into three watches, (1) from sunset to midnight (Lam. 2:19); (2) from midnight till the cock-crowing (Judg. 7:19); and (3) from the cock-crowing till sunrise (Ex. 14:24). In the New Testament the division of the Greeks and Romans into four watches was adopted (Mark 13:35)”
  2. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Day — The variable length of the natural day at different seasons led in the very earliest times to the adoption of the civil day (or one revolution of the sun) as a standard of time. The Hebrews reckoned the day from evening to evening, (Leviticus 23:32) deriving it from (Genesis 1:5) "the evening and the morning were the first day." The Jews are supposed, like the modern Arabs, to have adopted from an early period minute specifications of the parts of the natural day. Roughly, indeed, they were content to divide it into "morning, evening and noonday," (Psalms 55:17)”
  3. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Years — The sun and moon appointed to mark out -- Ge 1:14. Early computation of time by -- Ge 5:3. Divided into Seasons. -- Ge 8:22. Months. -- Ge 7:11; 1Ch 27:1. Weeks. -- Da 9:27; Lu 18:12. Days. -- Ge 25:7; Es 9:27. Length of, during the patriarchal age -- Ge 7:11; 8:13; 7:24; 8:3. Commencement of, changed after the exodus -- Ex 12:2. Remarkable Sabbatical. -- Le 25:4. Jubilee. -- Le 25:11. In prophetic computation, days reckoned as -- Da 12:11,12. Illustrative (Coming to,) of manhood. -- Heb 11:24. (Well stricken in,) of old age. -- Lu 1:7. (Being full of,) of ol”
  4. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Hour — The ancient Hebrews were probably unacquainted with the division of the natural day into twenty-four parts; but they afterwards parcelled out the period between sunrise and sunset into a series of divisions distinguished by the sun's course. The early Jews appear to have divided the day into four parts, (Nehemiah 9:3) and the night into three watches, (Judges 7:19) and even in the New Testament we find a trace of this division in (Matthew 20:1-5) At what period the Jews first became acquainted with the division of the day into twelve hours is unknown, but it is”
  5. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Hour — First found in Dan. 3:6; 4:19, 33;5:5. It is the rendering of the Chaldee shaah, meaning a "moment," a "look." It is used in the New Testament frequently to denote some determinate season (Matt. 8:13; Luke 12:39). With the ancient Hebrews the divisions of the day were "morning, evening, and noon-day" (Ps. 55:17, etc.). The Greeks, following the Babylonians, divided the day into twelve hours. The Jews, during the Captivity, learned also from the Babylonians this method of dividing time. When Judea became subject to the Romans, the Jews adopted the Roman mode of”
  6. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Week — There can be no doubt about the great antiquity of measuring time by a period of seven days. (Genesis 8:10; 29:27) The origin of this division of time is a matter which has given birth to much speculation. Its antiquity is so great its observance so widespread, and it occupies so important a place in sacred things, that it must probably be thrown back as far as the creation of man. The week and the Sabbath are thus as old as man himself. A purely theological ground is thus established for the week. They who embrace this view support it by a reference to the six”
  7. Sirach “Sirach 37:28 (DRC) — The life of a man is in the number of his days: but the days of Israel are innumerable.”
  8. Daniel “From the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days. -- Daniel 12:11”
  9. Genesis “Genesis 1:23 (Geneva1599) — So the euening and the morning were the fifte day.”
  10. Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 1:14: 1:14-31 On days 4–6, God filled the domains that had been formed during days 1–3 (1:3-13). 1:14 Let them . . . mark the seasons, days, and years: The movement of the heavenly bodies defined Israel’s liturgical calendar, whose roots in creation gave a sacred timing to Israel’s festivals and celebrations (see Exod 23:15; Lev 23:4).”
  11. Daniel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Daniel 12:12: Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the one thousand three hundred five and thirty days. Which is an addition of forty five days or years more, beginning at the end of one thousand two hundred and ninety, and make up this sum; during which time the vials will be poured out upon all the antichristian states, and the Turkish empire be destroyed, and all the enemies of Christ and his church removed, and clear way made for the setting up of his kingdom in the world in a more visible and glorious manner; and therefore happy is the man that will be found waiting for ”
  12. Galatians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Galatians 4:10: Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. Lest the apostle should be thought to suggest, without foundation, the inclination of these people to be in bondage to the ceremonies of the law, he gives this as an instance of it; which is to be understood, not of a civil observation of times, divided into days, months, and years, for which the luminaries of the heavens were made, and into summer and winter, seedtime and harvest, which is not only lawful, but absolutely necessary; but of a religious observation of days, &c. not of the lucky and unlucky days, or o”
  13. Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 1:5: And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night,.... Either by the circulating motion of the above body of light, or by the rotation of the chaos on its own axis towards it, in the space of twenty four hours there was a vicissitude of light and darkness; just as there is now by the like motion either of the sun, or of the earth; and which after this appellation God has given, we call the one, day, and the other, night: and the evening and the morning were the first day: the evening, the first part of the night, or darkness, put for the whole night, wh”
  14. Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 1:5: 1:5 God called (or named): To name something is to exercise authority over it (see also 2:19-20). • day: The Hebrew yom can refer to daylight (1:5a), to a 24-hour period (1:5b), or to an unspecified time period (2:4b, “When,” literally in the day; cp. Exod 20:8-11). • evening . . . morning: The Hebrew day began at sundown, just as the first day began with darkness and brought the first morning light.”
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