Why Darkness Comes First
Moses thought of darkness as the beginning of a day.
Ancient peoples used the phases of the Moon to measure time intervals longer than a week and less than a year. It is difficult to say on exactly which night the Moon is at its fullest. People who use lunar calendars avoid this difficulty by starting the month at the first appearance of the new Moon. At first appearance the Moon is a thin crescent that sets in the west at twilight just after the Sun goes down. We understand that the new Moon follows the Sun across the sky all day, but during broad daylight the thin crescent of the new Moon is invisible. Therefore the lunar month must start after sunset just before the first stars come out. It seems illogical to have the month start at one time of day and the day at another. Therefore people who use lunar calendars usually start the night-and-day cycle with darkness, at sunset. The Egyptians may have had this practice even before the Hebrews. Moses accepted this arrangement. We read in Leviticus 23:27, 32: The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly… 32 It is a Sabbath of rest for you.… From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath. The regulation for the Day of Atonement shows clearly that in ancient Israel days began with darkness.
It has taken humankind a very long time to discover a kind of darkness that is energetic enough to shine and give rise to something material. Moses’ master stroke of genius was to understand that the Earth existed in darkness before there was light. We are hardly the first to recognize the greatness of Moses’ ideas. Three Bible writers studied the creation narrative and gave their own interpretation. Each one adds a valuable insight to the creation story. In the historical order of their writings, they are the prophet Isaiah, Saul of Tarsus who became the apostle Paul, and the apostle John.
There are many words for darkness in English. A thesaurus lists night, dusk, gloom, dimness, shadows, shade, and obscurity as synonyms. In Hebrew there are about 30 different words that translate as dark or darkness. Isaiah, Paul, and John must have known all of these. Paul and John would have known several additional Greek words for darkness. Other ancient people did not distinguish so many kinds of darkness.
Ancient peoples used the phases of the Moon to measure time intervals longer than a week and less than a year. It is difficult to say on exactly which night the Moon is at its fullest. People who use lunar calendars avoid this difficulty by starting the month at the first appearance of the new Moon. At first appearance the Moon is a thin crescent that sets in the west at twilight just after the Sun goes down. We understand that the new Moon follows the Sun across the sky all day, but during broad daylight the thin crescent of the new Moon is invisible. Therefore the lunar month must start after sunset just before the first stars come out. It seems illogical to have the month start at one time of day and the day at another. Therefore people who use lunar calendars usually start the night-and-day cycle with darkness, at sunset. The Egyptians may have had this practice even before the Hebrews. Moses accepted this arrangement. We read in Leviticus 23:27, 32: The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly… 32 It is a Sabbath of rest for you.… From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath. The regulation for the Day of Atonement shows clearly that in ancient Israel days began with darkness.
It has taken humankind a very long time to discover a kind of darkness that is energetic enough to shine and give rise to something material. Moses’ master stroke of genius was to understand that the Earth existed in darkness before there was light. We are hardly the first to recognize the greatness of Moses’ ideas. Three Bible writers studied the creation narrative and gave their own interpretation. Each one adds a valuable insight to the creation story. In the historical order of their writings, they are the prophet Isaiah, Saul of Tarsus who became the apostle Paul, and the apostle John.
There are many words for darkness in English. A thesaurus lists night, dusk, gloom, dimness, shadows, shade, and obscurity as synonyms. In Hebrew there are about 30 different words that translate as dark or darkness. Isaiah, Paul, and John must have known all of these. Paul and John would have known several additional Greek words for darkness. Other ancient people did not distinguish so many kinds of darkness.