The odd Hebrew phrase “in the bone of the day” (translated as “the very same day”) occurs in Genesis 7 (Noah enters the ark), Genesis 17 (circumcision of Abram’s household), Exodus 12 (Passover), and Leviticus 23 (day of atonement).
Though the phrase is used a few other times in the OT, perhaps the repetition of the phrase joins these events together. In the flood, the world is “circumcised” and we have a foreshadowing of the Passover and the ultimate atonement.
What makes these “bone” days? Literally, the “bone of the day” has been taken as a reference to noonday – the “strength” of the day. That may be, but why describe strength as “bone”? Bones are structuring organs for the human body. The bone of days are days that provide a skeletal structure to time.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Moral Certitude and the Iran War
The current military engagement with Iran calls renewed attention to just war theory in the Catholic tradition.…
The Slow Death of England: New and Notable Books
The fate of England is much in the news as popular resistance to mass immigration grows, limits…
Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War
What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…
