The question of the Earth’s age is one of the most discussed topics among Bible-believing Christians. Many approach the book of Genesis with a firm conviction that it is a literal, historical account of creation. However, even within a literal reading, there are textual nuances that make the exact length of the creation days less straightforward than it may first appear.

1. The Literal Nature of Genesis

Genesis is not written as myth or allegory; it presents itself as a historical narrative. The Hebrew grammar and structure of Genesis 1 and 2 are consistent with historical prose used elsewhere in Scripture. The text intends to communicate real acts of creation by a real Creator.

However, being literal does not mean that every word must always refer to only one possible sense. The challenge comes with the meaning of the Hebrew word translated “day.”

2. Understanding the Word Yom (יוֹם)

The key to this discussion is the Hebrew word יוֹם (yom), translated as “day.”
 Throughout the Old Testament, yom is used in several ways:

1. A 24-hour day—e.g., “Evening and morning” (Genesis 1:5).
2. Daylight hours—e.g., “God called the light Day” (Genesis 1:5).
3. An indefinite period of time—e.g., “In the day of the Lord” or “In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (Genesis 2:4).

Thus, while yom often means a literal day, it can also refer to a period of unspecified length depending on the context.

3. The Problem of the First Three Days

Genesis tells us that the sun, moon, and stars, which govern our current 24-hour day-night cycle, were not created until the fourth day (Genesis 1:14–19).
 Yet, the text describes three “days” before that point.

If the sun was not present to define a solar day, what kind of “days” were these first three?

• Some propose that the first three “days” were God-defined periods of light and darkness, perhaps symbolizing phases of creative activity rather than literal 24-hour periods.
• Others suggest that God, being sovereign, did not need the sun to define a “day,” since He Himself was the source of light (Genesis 1:3).

Either way, the text leaves room for ambiguity about the exact duration of those days.

4. The “Thousand Years” Misinterpretation

Occasionally, people reference Psalm 90:4 or 2 Peter 3:8, “For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by,” to suggest that each creation day might represent a thousand years.
 However, this is not a literal equivalence.
 Both passages are poetic expressions emphasizing that God exists beyond the constraints of human time. The psalmist is not giving a formula for measuring creation days; he is proclaiming God’s timelessness and eternal perspective.

Thus, while these verses affirm that time functions differently for God, they do not redefine the meaning of “day” in Genesis.

5. The Genealogical Approach and Its Limits

Some Bible scholars, like Archbishop James Ussher, used the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11, tracing Adam to Abraham, to estimate that the creation occurred around 4000 B.C.
If one assumes that the genealogies are complete and without gaps, this would yield an Earth roughly 6,000 years old.

However, Biblical genealogies sometimes omit generations to emphasize lineage or covenant, not chronology. For example, Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1) is intentionally structured with symbolic numbers, not exhaustive records.
Therefore, while the genealogies give a general timeline of human history, they do not allow us to pinpoint the Earth’s age with precision.

6. Theological Considerations: God’s Work and Rest

Genesis 2:2 tells us that God rested on the seventh day. The pattern of six days of work and one of rest becomes the model for human labor and the Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:8-11).
Some argue that this parallel proves the days must be 24-hour days. However, others note that God’s “rest” has continued ever since creation (Hebrews 4:3–10), suggesting that His “seventh day” could represent an ongoing period rather than a single solar day.

This shows that the Biblical concept of “day” can serve symbolic and theological purposes even within a literal framework.

7. Conclusion: What Can We Really Know?

A faithful, literal reading of Genesis affirms that:

• God is the Creator of all things.
• Creation occurred in six ordered stages, followed by a seventh day of rest.
• The word “day” (yom) is used consistently but may not correspond precisely to a 24-hour period, especially in the first three days before the sun was created.

Therefore, while the Bible clearly teaches that God created, it does not definitively specify how long the process took.

The age of the Earth, from a Biblical standpoint, remains open to interpretation. It could be thousands of years, or it could span billions; the text simply does not give us enough information to determine that with certainty.

The focus of Genesis is not the duration of creation, but the divine authorship of it. The first words of Scripture remind us of the central truth:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

Everything else flows from that foundational revelation.