Night

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Exodus 12:42 (c) The ungodly live in the dark. Paul came to turn men from darkness to light. This darkness in Egypt was just a type and a picture of those who live without the light of life, then are suddenly cut off and taken to the outer dark. When the plague of darkness fell upon Egypt, there was light in all the houses of the Israelites. Those who reject the light of life dwell here and hereafter in darkness.

 Leviticus 6:9 (c) This represents the night of need. The sinner is living in the dark and so the sacrifice is constantly being offered for him in order that he may be saved any time that he will came to the altar to find the Saviour. There is no time in the sinner's life when he may not come and find the Saviour ready to save him.

 Job 35:10 (c) This describes the terrible dark times which Job experienced when he lost all his possessions and only GOD remained. He sang in the midst of his poverty and boils.

 Psalm 16:7 (c) This type represents the dark times in David's life when the shadows fell across his path, and he was constantly in fear for his life.

 Psalm 30:5 (c) This probably represents the whole period of this life as contrasted with the time of the coming of the Lord which is the morning hour. It also represents the dark times of some specific sorrow. The Lord gives deliverance and joy follows.

 Psalm 42:8 (c) This represents a time of perplexity in which victory is given while the difficulty still remains.

 Isaiah 21:12 (b) The night which is mentioned no doubt refers to the long night of eternity which is called the "outer dark" in the New Testament. In hell none of the light of GOD may be seen. The sinner asks about the night. He hardly ever asks, "Is there a Heaven?" His inquiry is about hell. The answer in this verse reminds the inquirer of the fact that there is a morning coming, a morning without clouds. It is the time when our precious Lord rules and reigns, and all sin and wickedness has been put away. The saved man enters into the morning time of blessing, while the unsaved man enters into the night of sorrow and suffering.

 Jeremiah 14:8 (b) Israel is going through a time of darkness and despair while scattered over the earth. Some day this night will be past, and Christ the Sun of Righteousness, will resume His place on the earth, but not as a lowly shepherd, but as the mighty King who will bring light and life to the nation of Israel.

 Hosea 7:6 (b) We may learn from this that those in Israel who should have been producing blessing and profit for the nation were not doing so. The leaders were failing in their task as helpers of GOD's people.

 John 13:30 (c) It is always night for those who turn their backs on CHRIST, go out of His presence to deny Him, and take their place among the enemies of GOD, and those who wickedly oppose Christ Jesus (See also  John 11:10).

 1 Thessalonians 5:5 (a) This is one of the many ways in which the Lord assures us that those who are His children saved by grace, and brought into His marvelous light, do not belong to the kingdom of darkness, nor do they accept the theology of those who are in the dark.

 Revelation 21:25 (a) In Heaven where the Lord is the light, there are no times of darkness, no seasons of sorrow or perplexity, no hidden times when the sun goes down and sin comes up. Those who go to Heaven dwell in the light constantly, and there are never any shadows there.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Νύξ (Strong'S #3571 — Noun Feminine — nux — noox )

is used (I) literally, (a) of "the alternating natural period to that of the day," e.g.,  Matthew 4:2;  12:40;  2—Timothy 1:3;  Revelation 4:8; (b) of "the period of the absence of light," the time in which something takes place, e.g.,  Matthew 2:14 (27:64, in some mss.);   Luke 2:8;  John 3:2 (7:50, in some mss.);   Acts 5:19;  9:25; (c) of "point of time," e.g.,  Matthew 14:27 (in some mss.),30;   Luke 12:20;  Acts 27:23; (d) 27:23; (d) of "duration of time," e.g.,  Luke 2:37;  5:5;  Acts 20:31;  26:7 (note the difference in the phrase in   Mark 4:27 ); (II) metaphorically, (a) of "the period of man's alienation from God,"  Romans 13:12;  1—Thessalonians 5:5 , lit., "not of night," where "of" means 'belonging to;' cp. "of the Way,"  Acts 9:2; "of shrinking back" and "of faith,"  Hebrews 10:39 , marg.; (b) of "death," as the time when work ceases,  John 9:4 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 1:5 1:14 Genesis 8:22 Genesis 20:3 Genesis 31:24 Genesis 46:2 1 Kings 3:5 Job 33:15 Daniel 2:19 Daniel 7:2 7:7 7:13 Acts 16:9 Acts 18:9 Genesis 26:24 Numbers 22:20 1 Chronicles 17:3 2 Chronicles 1:7 2 Chronicles 7:12 Acts 23:11 Acts 27:23 Judges 6:25 Judges 7:9 1 Samuel 15:16 Psalm 91:5 Revelation 21:25 Revelation 22:5 Deuteronomy 16:1 2 Kings 19:35 Job 34:25

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

Layil ( לֵיל , Strong'S #3915), “night.” Cognates of this noun appear in Ugaritic, Moabite, Akkadian, Aramaic, Syrian, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The word appears about 227 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods.

Layil means “night,” the period of time during which it is dark: “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night” (Gen. 1:5—the first biblical appearance). In Exod. 13:21 and similar passages the word means “by night,” or “during the night”: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud … and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.” This word is used figuratively of protection: “Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; [betray] not him that wandereth” (Isa. 16:3). Layil also figures deep calamity without the comforting presence and guidance of God, and/or other kinds of distress: “Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night …?” (Job 35:10).

During Old Testament times the “night” was divided into three watches: (1) from sunset to 10 P.M., (Lam. 2:19), (2) from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. (Judg. 7:19), and (3) from 2 A.M. to sunrise (Exod. 14:24).

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

The ancient Hebrews began their artificial day in the evening, and ended it the next evening; so that the night preceded the day, whence it is said, "evening and morning one day,"  Genesis 1:5 . They allowed twelve hours to the night, and twelve to the day. Night is put for a time of affliction and adversity: "Thou hast proved mine heart, thou hast visited me in the night, thou hast tried me,"  Psalms 17:3; that is, by adversity and tribulation. And "the morning cometh, and also the night,"  Isaiah 21:12 . Night is also put for the time of death: "The night cometh, wherein no man can work,"  John 9:4 . Children of the day, and children of the night, in a moral and figurative sense, denote good men and wicked men, Christians and Gentiles. The disciples of the Son of God are children of light: they belong to the light, they walk in the light of truth; while the children of the night walk in the darkness of ignorance and infidelity, and perform only works of darkness. "Ye are all the children of the light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness,"  1 Thessalonians 5:5 .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The ancient Hebrews began their artificial day at evening, and ended it the next evening, so that the night proceeded the day. This usage may probably be traced to the terms employed in describing the creation,  Genesis 1:5,8,13 , etc., "The evening and the morning were the first day." The Hebrews allowed twelve to the day; but these hours were not equal, except at the equinox. At other times, when the hours of the night were long, those of the day were short, as in winter; and when the hours of night were short, as at midsummer, the hours of the day were long in proportion. See Hours .

The nights are sometimes extremely cold in Syria, when the days are very hot; and travelers in the deserts and among the mountains near Palestine refer to their own sufferings from these opposite extremes, in illustration of Jacob's words in  Genesis 31:40 , "In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes."

King James Dictionary

NIGHT, n. The sense may be dark, black, or it may be the decline of the day, from declining, departing.

1. That part of the natural day when the sun is beneath the horizon, or the time from sunset to sunrise. 2. The time after the close of life death.  John 9 .

She closed her eyes in everlasting night.

3. A state of ignorance intellectual and moral darkness heathenish ignorance.  Romans 13 . 4. Adversity a state of affliction and distress.  Isaiah 21 . 5. Obscurity a state of concealment from the eye or the mind unintelligibleness.

Nature and natures works lay hid in night.

In the night, suddenly unexpectedly.  Luke 12 .

To-night, in this night. To-night the moon will be eclipsed.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

I only pause at this word just to remark, that the Hebrews reckoned their hours different from modern custom. They always began at six in the evening to count their hours; so that what we call three in the afternoon was to them the ninth hour of the day. And so by a. parity of calculation, of all the rest. Hence when Peter and John, as we read  Acts 3:1 went up to the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour, this would have been with us three in the afternoon. I need not stay to remark, for I presume the sense of the expression is generally understood, that night in Scripture language is sometimes figuratively used for darkness in divine things. Thus God's people are called children of the day, and not of the night; meaning their conduct is according to light, and not darkness. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:5)

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) That part of the natural day when the sun is beneath the horizon, or the time from sunset to sunrise; esp., the time between dusk and dawn, when there is no light of the sun, but only moonlight, starlight, or artificial light.

(2): ( n.) Darkness; obscurity; concealment.

(3): ( n.) Intellectual and moral darkness; ignorance.

(4): ( n.) The period after the close of life; death.

(5): ( n.) A state of affliction; adversity; as, a dreary night of sorrow.

(6): ( n.) A lifeless or unenlivened period, as when nature seems to sleep.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

(See Day .) Figuratively:

(1) the time of distress ( Isaiah 21:12).

(2) Death, the time when life's day is over ( John 9:4).

(3) Children of night, i.e. dark deeds, filthiness, which shuns daylight ( 1 Thessalonians 5:5).

(4) The present life, compared with the believer's bright life to come ( Romans 13:12).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Used symbolically for:

1. Death, a time "when no man can work."  John 9:4 .

2. The moral darkness of the world, in which men sleep and are drunken.  1 Thessalonians 5:7 .

3. The period of Christ's rejection, which is far spent, and the 'day' at hand.  Romans 13:12 . There will be no night of moralor spiritual darkness in the heavenly Jerusalem.  Revelation 21:25;  Revelation 22:5 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Night. See Day .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

NIGHT. See Time.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

See Day and Night, Time.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( לִיַל , La ' Yil [with ה paragogic, לִיְלָה , La ' Yelath], Νύξ ) , the period of darkness, from sunset to sunrise, including the morning and evening twilight, as opposed to "day," the period of light ( Genesis 1:5). Following the Oriental sunset is the brief evening twilight נֶשֶׁ , Nesheph,  Job 24:15, rendered "night" in  Isaiah 5:11;  Isaiah 21:4;  Isaiah 59:10), when the stars appeared ( Job 3:9). This is also called "evening" עֶרֶב , Ereb,  Proverbs 7:9, rendered "night" in  Genesis 49:27;  Job 7:4), but the term which especially denotes the evening twilight is עֲלָטָה , Alatdh ( Genesis 15:17, A. V. "dark;"  Ezekiel 12:6-7;  Ezekiel 12:12). Ereb also denotes the time just before sunset ( Deuteronomy 23:11;  Joshua 8:29), when the women went to draw water ( Genesis 24:11), and the decline of the day is called "the turning of evening" ( פְּנוֹת עֶרֶב ,  Genesis 24:63), the time of prayer. This period of the day must also be that which is described as "night" when Boaz winnowed his barley in the evening breeze ( Ruth 3:2), the cool of the day ( Genesis 3:8), when the shadows begin to fall ( Jeremiah 6:4), and the wolves prowl about ( Habakkuk 1:8;  Zephaniah 3:3). The time of midnight ( חֲצַי הִלִּיְלָה , Half Of The Night,  Ruth 3:7, and הִלֵּיְלָה חֲצוֹת , the plural form,  Exodus 11:4), or greatest darkness, is called in  Proverbs 7:9, The Pupil Of Night ( אַישׁוֹן לִיְלָה , A. V. "black night"). The period between midnight and the morning twilight was generally selected for attacking an enemy by surprise ( Judges 7:19). The morning twilight is denoted by the same term, Nesheph as the evening twilight, and is unmistakably intended in  1 Samuel 31:12;  Job 7:4; Psalm cxix. 147; possibly also in Isaiah v, 11. With sunrise the night ended. In one passage ( Job 26:10, חשֶׁךְ , Choshek ) "darkness" is rendered "night" in the A. V., but is correctly given in the margin. (See Day). As figuratively the term of human life is often called a day in Scripture, so in one passage it is called night, to be followed soon by day: "The day is at hand" ( Romans 8:12). Being a time of darkness, the image and shadow of death, in which the beasts of prey go forth to devour, night was made a symbol of a season of adversity and trouble, in which men prey upon each other, and the strong tyrannize over the weak ( Isaiah 21:12;  Zechariah 14:6-7; comp.  Revelation 21:23;  Revelation 22:5). Hence continued day, or the absence of night, implies a constant state of quiet and happiness. Night is also put, as in our own language, for a time of ignorance and helplessness ( Micah 3:6). In  John 9:4, by a natural figure, night represents death. Children of the day and children of the night denote good men and wicked men. The disciples of the Son of God are children of the light: they belong to the light, they walk in the light of truth; while the children of the night walk in the darkness of ignorance and infidelity, and perform only works of darkness ( 1 Thessalonians 5:5). (See Night-Watch).

NIGHT (Latin Nox). The ancient Greeks and Romans deified Night, and called her the daughter of Chaos. Orpheus reckons her the most ancient of the deities, and calls her the mother of gods and men. The poets describe her as clothed with a black veil, and riding in a chariot, attended by the stars. The sacrifice proper to her was a cock, being a bird that is an enemy to silence. Night had a numerous offspring, as Madness, Contention, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Love, Deceit, Fear, Labor, Emulation, Fate, Old Age, Darkness, Misery, Complaint, Partiality, Obstinacy, etc. All this is plainly allegorical. Pausanias has left us a description of a remarkable statue of the goddess Night. "We see," he says, "a woman holding in her right hand a white child sleeping, and in her left a black child, asleep likewise, with both its legs distorted. The inscription tells us what they are, though we might easily guess without it. The two children are Death and Sleep, and the woman is Night, the nurse of them both." See Broughton, Hist. of Religion; Smith, Dict. of Classical Biog. and Mythol. 2:1218.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

nı̄t . See Day And Night for the natural usage and the various terms.

Figurative uses: The word "night" ( לילה , laylāh or ליל , layil ) is sometimes used figuratively in the Old Testament. Thus, Moses compares the brevity of time, the lapse of a thousand years, to "a watch in the night" (  Psalm 90:4 ). Adversity is depicted by it in such places as  Job 35:10; compare  Isaiah 8:20;  Jeremiah 15:9 . Disappointment and despair are apparently depicted by it in the "burden of Dumah" ( Isaiah 21:11 ,  Isaiah 21:12 ); and spiritual blindness, coming upon the false prophets ( Micah 3:6 ); again sudden and overwhelming confusion ( Amos 5:8;  Isaiah 59:10 the King James Version, נשׁף , nesheph , "twilight" as in the Revised Version (British and American)).

On the lips of Jesus ( John 9:4 ) it signifies the end of opportunity to labor; repeated in that touching little allegory spoken to His disciples when He was called to the grave of Lazarus ( John 11:9 ,  John 11:10 ). Paul also uses the figure in reference to the Parousia ( Romans 13:12 ), where "night" seems to refer to the present aeon and "day" to the aeon to come. He also uses it in  1 Thessalonians 5:5 ,  1 Thessalonians 5:7 where the status of the redeemed is depicted by "day," that of the unregenerate by "night," again, as the context shows, in reference to the Parousia . In  Revelation 21:25 and   Revelation 22:5 , the passing of the "night" indicates the realization of that to which the Parousia looked forward, the establishment of the kingdom of God forever. See also Delitzsch, Iris , 35.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

The general division of the night among the Hebrews has been described under Day; and it only remains to indicate a few marked applications of the word. The term of human life is usually called a day in Scripture but in one passage it is called night, to be followed soon by day, 'the day is at hand' . Being a time of darkness, the image an shadow of death, in which the beasts of prey go forth to devour, it was made a symbol of a season of adversity and trouble, in which men prey upon each other, and the strong tyrannize over the weak (;; comp.; ). Hence continued day, or the absence of night, implies a constant state of quiet and happiness, undisturbed by the vicissitudes of peace and war. Night is also put, as in our own language, for a time of ignorance and helplessness . In , night represent death, a necessary result of the correlative usage which makes life a day.