Toward Reading Genesis 1-2 Well: Some Exegetical Reflections on the Sixth and Seventh Days of Creation

ABSTRACT This paper dialogues with the remarkably insightful and exegetically astute Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary by C. John Collins regarding three issues in the accounts of the sixth and seventh days of Creation in Genesis 1-2: (1) the length of the Creation days—literal days, or God’s longer work days as Collins suggests, (2) the nature of the seventh day—ending as on other days, or open-ended as Collins suggests, and (3) implications of the divinely established human institutions of Sabbath, marriage, and work, which can be expanded from Collins’s profound observations. BIO Dr. Gane, who is originally from Australia, completed his MA and PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, in Biblical Hebrew Language and Literature. He also studied for two years (1986-88) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has published eight books, including Leviticus, Numbers (NIV Application Commentary); Ritual Dynamic Structure; Cult and Character: Purification Offerings, Day of Atonement, and Theodicy; and Old Testament Law for Christians: Original Context and Enduring Application. He was the primary translator for the Leviticus portion of the Common English Bible (2011)