darkening,
the sunset, the dusk. Morning is the _opening_ or _breaking forth_ of
light--the daybreak. It must not be denied that the explanation of
these terms is attended with some difficulty, but this is not at all
lessened by narrowing the day to twenty-four hours. The first
operation of the first day was the creation of light; next we have the
Creator contemplating his work and pronouncing it to be good; then we
have the separation of the light and darkness, previously, it is to be
presumed, intermixed; and all this without the presence of a sun or
other luminary. Which of these operations occupied the evening, and
which the morning, if the day consisted of but twenty-four hours,
beginning, according to Hebrew custom, in the evening? Was the old
primeval darkness the evening or night, and the first breaking forth
of light morning? This is almost the only view compatible with the
Hebrew civil day beginning at evening, but it would at once lengthen
the day beyond twenty-four hours, and contradict the terms of the
record. Again, were the separated light and darkness the morning and
evening? If so, why is the evening mentioned first, contrary to the
supposed facts of the case? why, indeed, are the evening and morning
mentioned at all, since on that supposition this is merely a
repetition? Lastly, shall we adopt the ingenious expedient of dividing
the evening and morning between two days, and maintaining that the
evening belongs to the first and the morning to the second day, which
would deprive the first day of a morning, and render the creative
days, whatever their length, altogether different from Hebrew natural
or civil days? It is unnecessary to pursue such inquiries farther,
since it is evident that the terms of the record will not agree with
the supposition of natural evening and morning. This is of itself a
strong presumption against the hypothesis of civil days, since the
writer was under no necessity so to word these verses that they would
not give any rational or connected sense on the supposition of natural
evening and morning, unless he wished to be otherwise understood.

But what is the meaning of evening and morning, if these days were
long periods? Here fewer difficulties meet us. First: It is readily
conceivable that the beginning and end of a period named a day should
be called evening and morning. But what made the use of these
divisions necessary or appropriate? I answer that nature and
revelation b