The word can mean both, depending on
context. For example, take a look at the text of the ISV's current
unpublished draft of Genesis 1:1-2:6, in which the word "yom" may connote
a literal day in Genesis chapter one, but where "yom" clearly cannot
connote a literal day in Genesis 2:4b:
1In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2When the
earth was
an unformed desolation, with the surface of the ocean depths shrouded
in darkness, and while the Spirit of
God was hovering over the surface of the waters, 3God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.
4God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light
from the darkness. 5God called the light “Day,” and the darkness he called “Night.” The twilight and the dawning were
day one.
6Then
God said, “Let there be an expanse between the
waters, separating waters from waters!” 7So God made the
expanse, and he separated the waters that were beneath the expanse from
the waters that were above the expanse. And so it was. 8God
called the expanse “Sky.”
The twilight and the dawning were the second day.
9Then
God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky be
gathered together into one area, and let the dry ground appear!”
And so it was. 10God called the dry ground “Land,”
and the waters that were gathered together he called “Seas.” And God saw how good it was.
11Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation on the earth:
seed-bearing plants and fruit trees bearing fruit, each kind in which is
their seed!” And so it was. 12So the earth produced
vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees bearing fruit, each kind in
which is their seed. And God saw that it was good. 13The
twilight and the dawning were the third day.
14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to
separate the day from the night! Let them be for signs and for seasons and
for days and years, 15and let
them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light upon the earth!”
And so it was. 16God made the two great lights—the greater
light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night—and the
stars. 17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light
upon the earth, 18to rule over both day and night, and to
separate light from darkness. And God saw how good it was. 19The
twilight and the dawning were the fourth day.
20Then
God said, “Let the waters swarm with a swarm of
living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the expanse of the
sky!” 21So God created every kind of great sea creature,
every kind of living sea crawler
with which the waters swarmed, and every kind of winged bird. And God saw
how good it was. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the waters in the
seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth!” 23The
twilight and the dawning were the fifth day.
24Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth each kind of living
creature, each kind of livestock and crawling thing, and each kind of wild
animal of the earth!” And so it was. 25God made each
kind of wild animal of the earth and every kind of livestock and crawling
thing on the ground. And God saw how good it was.
26Then
God said, “Let us make human
beings in our image, according to
our likeness! Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the
birds of the sky, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all
crawling things that crawl on the earth!”
27So
God created human beings
in his own image:
in the image of God did he create
them,
male and female he created them.
28God blessed them, and God said
to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth,
and be master over it! Rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
the sky, and over every living thing that crawls on the earth!”
29God
also said, “See, I have given you every
seed-bearing plant that is on the surface of the earth, and every tree in
which there is seed-bearing fruit. They shall be food for you.
30To every wild
animal of the earth, to every bird of the sky, and to every thing that
crawls on the earth in which there is life, I have given all green plants for food.”
And so it was. 31Now God saw all that he had made, and, indeed,
it was very good! The twilight and the dawning were the sixth day.
Chapter 2
1Thus
the heavens and the earth were completed, with all their vast array.
2By the seventh day God completed the work that he had been
doing, and on the seventh day he ceased
from all the work that he had been doing. 3Then God blessed the
seventh day and made it holy, because on it God ceased
from all his work that he created.
4This
is the account
of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
In the day that the LORD God
made the earth and the heavens, 5no bush of the field was yet
on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up. For the LORD God
had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no one
to work the ground. 6Instead, an underground stream
would rise from the earth and water the surface of the ground.
Note how the ISV renders "yom" as a
traditional long period of time in Genesis 2:4b: "In the day that the LORD
God made the earth and the heavens..." refers to the entire creative week
as consisting of "the day" in which God made the earth and the heavens. In
Genesis 2:4b, the Hebrew word "yom" is referring to a period of time
consisting of seven periods that are themselves referred to by the Hebrew
word "yom".
We also note that in Genesis 1, the "yom"
referred to in each day is composed of a twilight (Hebrew: erev) and a
dawning (Hebrew: boker), rather than consisting of periods of "night and
day". Some scholars suggest that if the writer of Genesis had intended to
connote literal 24 hour periods, he would have written that the "lailah
and the yom" (i.e., the night and the day) were the first day instead of
using "twilight and dawning".
The policy of the ISV is to translate
ambiguities as ambiguities, leaving the application of the text to the
reader. When clarifications can be added, we add them. For example, note
the distinction of "day one" versus "second day" in Genesis 1:5-6, where
the ISV carefully translates the distinction between cardinal and ordinal
numbers. This distinction has been communicated in the Hebrew but is
usually missed by other English translations.
