Dayspring

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

Dayspring —The dawn or beginning of the day; cf. for the word  1 Samuel 9:26,  Job 38:12; in NT only  Luke 1:78 (ἀνατολή), but cf. the prophecy quoted  Matthew 4:18 (φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς). Zacharias saw, in the remarkable events taking place, the coming of the new day and the dawning of hope for Israel: ‘the Lord, the God of Israel, hath visited and wrought redemption for his people’ ( Luke 1:68); ‘the dayspring from on high shall visit us’ ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 fut. אB). Ἀνατέλλειν is often used for the rising of the sun ( Matthew 13:6,  Mark 16:2,  James 1:11) and stars ( Numbers 24:17;  2 Peter 1:19), and ἀνατολή, either in sing. or plur. form, for the East ( Matthew 2:1-2 etc.). In  Revelation 7:2;  Revelation 16:12 ἡλίον is added, and there Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 substitutes ‘sunrising’ for Authorized Version ‘east.’ In LXX Septuagint ἀνατολή occurs for the rising of the moon ( Isaiah 60:19). Light frequently stands for salvation and deliverance ( Isaiah 58:10;  Isaiah 60:1,  Malachi 4:2,  Luke 2:32), and was specially applied to the Messiah, cf.  John 1:9 etc.,  Ephesians 5:14 (see Edersheim, Life and Times , ii. 166). For ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους in  Luke 1:78 Vulgate has oriens ex alto .

Ἐξ ὕψους, ‘from on high,’ presents some difficulty, as dawn does not come from on high; perhaps the ref. to a bright shining star is more in keeping (Meyer); ‘He is the Daystar from on high, bringing a new morning to those who sit in the darkness and death-shadows of the world’ (Liddon, Bamp. Lect. 8 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] p. 248). Godet would connect these words with ἐπισκέψεται (‘it is from the bosom of Divine mercy that this star comes down, and it does not rise upon humanity until after it has descended and has been made man’), but this seems hardly necessary; ἐξ ὕψονς represents ‘from God,’ and ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους is simply ‘God’s Messiah’ (Dalman, The Words of Jesus , pp. 223, 224).

A different translation is based on the fact that ἀνατολή in LXX Septuagint stands several times for צֶמַח, a ‘shoot’ or ‘branch,’ one of the prophetic names of the Messiah ( Jeremiah 23:5,  Zechariah 3:8;  Zechariah 6:12; cf.  Jeremiah 40:15 Theod. [Note: Theodotion.] ). So Edersheim: ‘Although almost all modern authorities are against me, I cannot persuade myself that the expression rendered “dayspring” is not here the equivalent of the Heb. צֶמַח Branch’ ( op. cit. i. 158n. [Note: note.] ). But it seems a fatal objection that none of the other expressions in the passage correspond (‘to shine upon’ ἑτιφᾶναι, ‘to guide’ κατευθῦναι); and ἐξ ὓψους causes much greater difficulty (cf.  Isaiah 11:1). Bleek wishes to combine the two meanings by supposing a play of words on the sprouting branch and the rising star; no Hebrew word will bear the double meaning, but LXX Septuagint comes near identifying this Messianic name with the appearance of light when it renders  Isaiah 4:2 (‘in that day shall the branch (צמַח) of the Lord be beautiful and glorious’) by ἑτιλάμψει ὁ θεὸς ἑν βουλῇ μετἁ δοξης. If the source of Lk. be Aramaic, ἀνατολὴ may stand for some other word; cf. its use for ננַהּ ‘brightness’ ( Isaiah 60:19), and in one MS, Qmg, for וָרַח ‘rising’ ( Isaiah 60:3). See the Comm . of Godet and Plummer, in loc .

W. H. Dundas.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Ἀνατολή (Strong'S #395 — Noun Feminine — anatole — an-at-ol-ay' )

lit., "a rising up" (cp. anatello, "to cause to rise"), is used of the rising of the sun and stars; it chiefly means the east, as in  Matthew 2:1 , etc.; rendered "dayspring" in  Luke 1:78 . Its other meaning, "a shoot," is found in the Sept. in  Jeremiah 23:5;  Zechariah 6:12 . See also the margin of  Luke 1:78 , "branch." See East.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

DAYSPRING . An old English expression denoting the dawn (‘the day sprynge or dawnynge of the daye gyveth a certeyne lyght before the rysinge of the sonne,’ Eden, Decades , 1555, p. 264). It occurs in   Job 38:12 ‘Hast thou … caused the dayspring to know his place?’; Wis 16:28 ‘at the dayspring pray unto thee’ (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘at the dawning of the day’). Virtually the same expression occurs in   Judges 19:25 and   1 Samuel 9:26; cf. also   Genesis 32:24 and   Psalms 65:8 (east and west called ‘the outgoings of the morning and evening’). In   Luke 1:78 the expression ‘dayspring from on high’ probably goes back to a Heb. original which was a well-understood personal designation of the Messiah (combining the ideas of ‘light’ and ‘sprout’); it would then be a poetical equivalent for ‘Messiah from heaven.’

G. H. Box.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

ἀνατολη. The word is from 'to arise up.'  Luke 1:78 . It is elsewhere translated 'east' because it is in the east that the sun rises. Christ is here compared to the spring of day from on high, as the true heavenly light, "to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Job 38:12 Luke 1:78 Isaiah 60:1,2 Malachi 4:2 Revelation 22:16

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) The beginning of the day, or first appearance of light; the dawn; hence, the beginning.

King James Dictionary

DA'YSPRING, n. The dawn the beginning of the day, or first appearance of light.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dā´spring  : This beautiful English word, in current use in the time of the King James Version, is found in the Old Testament as the translation of שׁחר , shaḥar , "Hast thou ... caused the dayspring to know his place?" ( Job 38:12 the King James Version). This is no doubt intended literally for the dawn. The "place" of the dayspring is the particular point of the horizon at which the sun comes up on any given day. This slowly changes day by day through the year, moving northward from midwinter till midsummer, and back again southward from midsummer to midwinter. See Astronomy , I, 2. Also once in the New Testament for ἀνατολή , anatolḗ , "a rising." "The dayspring from on high hath visited us" (the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) "shall visit us,"  Luke 1:78 ). Also in Apocrypha, "At the dayspring pray unto thee" (AV; the Revised Version (British and American) "plead with thee at the dawning of the light," The Wisdom of Solomon 16:28). Both the Hebrew and Greek words, however, are of frequent occurrence, but variously rendered "dawn," "break of day," "morning," "sunrise," "east." Note especially "the spring of the day" ( 1 Samuel 9:26 ), "the day began to spring" ( Judges 19:25 ). Used with hēlı́ou , "sun," for rising of the sun ( Revelation 7:2;  Revelation 16:12 ). In the Septuagint the same Greek word is used for Hebrew ה , cemaḥ , "branch," to designate the Messiah ( Jeremiah 23:5;  Zechariah 6:12 . But this sense of the word is wholly unknown in profane Greek The word is also employed in Septuagint to express the rising of a heavenly body, as the moon ( Isaiah 60:19 ). This is good Greek See the kindred verb anatéllō , "to rise" (the Septuagint,  Isaiah 60:1;  Malachi 4:2 ).

What is the meaning of anatolē in  Luke 1:78 ? Certainly not branch; that does not fit any of the facts, unless it be rendered "branch of light" (see Reynolds, John the Baptist , 115). It occurs in Zacharias' hymn over the birth of his son. The ode consists of two parts, "The glory and security of the Messiah's kingdom," and "The glory of the Forerunner." The expression before us is in the latter part. It naturally refers, therefore, not to the Messiah himself, but to John. He is the dayspring from on high who hath visited the people who sat in darkness and the shadow of death. With Godet we believe that the picture is borrowed from the caravan which has missed its way in the desert. The unfortunate pilgrims, overtaken by the night, are sitting down expecting death, when suddenly a star brightly beams above them. They take courage at the sight. The whole caravan leaps to its feet. It is the herald of the coming day and soon they see the great orb himself filling the east with orient pearl and gold. Is not one tempted to go a little farther and see here the morning star, herald of the coming sun to be obliterated by his rising? 'He must wax, but I must wane' ( John 3:30 ). What was John's work but, by his own testimony, to guide the benighted pilgrims into the way of peace, that is, to Him who was the Prince of Peace? If, however, as by most commentators, it be taken to refer to the Messiah, it probably implies prophetic knowledge that the conception of Jesus had already taken place, and that the Messianic era was at hand, when the Jewish world should be filled with spiritual splendor. See Day-Star .