- The Hebrew indicates six 24 hour day periods as we understand them.
That's one way to look at it.
Another way is to consider what was being talked about, was 6 time periods from God's own perspective, not necessarily man's own perspective. Or more simply (not demanding these time periods being "days, from God's perspective") just 6 periods of time of indeterminate length -- of length not much understandable to man, and possibly neither here nor there, the Scriptures being not scientific journal, but rather, the Torah is not a history book as I found it put within an article about a writer's work I will discuss just after this extract from https://www.judaismandscience.com/science-and-judaism-the-strange-claim-of-dr-schroeder-part-i/;
Etz Hayim, the Torah commentary published by the Conservative movement (2001) holds similarly: “The opening chapters of Genesis are not a scientific account of the origins of the universe. The Torah is a book of morality, not cosmology.” (At 3, emphasis supplied.) The Chumash (The Stone Edition)(1993), published as part of the more traditional Art Scroll series, accepts Rashi’s understanding that Torah starts with Creation in order to establish God’s supremacy, but acknowledges that “the Torah is not a history book . . . .”
It's been a long while since I read them, but there were a pair of books written by a Jewish physicist by the name of Gerald L. Schroeder, Genesis and The Big Bang, and The Science of God wherein a general theme is to take notice of, from within the text, from who's perspective the "days" are talked about, invoking in first; special relativity, then perhaps in effort to correct himself, re-adjust his theory in the second book(?) general relativity, placing either God, or "the bible" itself outside of what was being created, prior to then abiding somehow with, and within that creation *everywhere* at once (omnipresence).
According to his thinking, that including the idea that; :laws of nature: themselves preexisted the beginning moment of creation itself, thus preexisting the then later resultant existence of natural physical realms.
This sort of idea being difficult to grasp in all it's possible implications, in his own applications hinged upon "perspective" of the viewers, (either 'God' or else man--once man was created on the sixth day, that is)...
You did say "days as we understands them, did you not? Well, man wasn't around on the first five days to be observing them, and so according to as I understand Schroeder's own views to tend, the perspectives not only can be turned from one way (one observer's God's standpoint) to another way (the other observer's, man's own viewpoint).
The viewpoint and perspective from which Creations was being described either simply is, or else must be switched from God's to man's. In the grace of God acknowledging His Creation, I think I find room to assume Schroeder may also assume the perspectives must be turned/changed from an initial perspective (God's) to now our own, or else we couldn't understand anything He was saying much at all - there being no bible, no Torah if not for the changes of perspective which must be, must have to have been included in the Genesis creation account man.
Time itself transpires at differing rates dependent upon perspective of observers, what is being observed, velocities of either, either moving away or nearer, doesn't it? I mean, hasn't that been measured and observed to some small degree, and could be applied to much larger, truly entire Universe scale? This is the stuff of Schroeder's explanations of how 13 billion years can be examined, from those differing perspectives, and still be only 6 days.
I'm likely not explaining it all that well...I confess to not understanding it all that well... but if you can see what I think I see Schroeder is driving at, it is intriguing isn't it?
A little complicated, no? But I think I see what he was driving at, and do confess I'm rather fond of his way of making both; billions of years, and six days (of initial actions by God resulting in creation of all that there is, including the entire universe) fit together in one envelope.
Those books have received critique from many quarters, naturally enough (hidden little pun intended -- a tiny one Shroeder might smile at). :^')
