David (continued) – Dayspring

David (continued)

We would obtain a very different idea of the personal character of David if we drew our conclusions from the books of Samuel and Kings or from the books of Chronicles. There is no doubt whatever that the former books are much truer to fact, and any estimate or appreciation of David or of any of the other characters described must be based upon them. The Chronicler, on the other hand, is biased by the religious ideas of his own time and is prejudiced in favor of some of those whose biographies he writes and against others. He accordingly suppresses the dark passages of David's life, e. g. the murder of Uriah (1 Chronicles 20:1–8), or sets them in a favorable light, e. g. by laying the blame of the census upon Satan (1 Chronicles 21:1). David's success, especially as against Saul's misfortune, is greatly exaggerated in 1 Chronicles 12:2,1 Chronicles 12:22. Ceremonial functions are greatly elaborated (chapter 16; compare 2Sa 6). The various orders of priests and singers in the second temple have their origin traced back to David (16:4 ff,37 ff; 1 Chronicles 23:1–27:34), and the temple of Solomon itself is to all intents and purposes built by him (chapters 22; 28). At the same time there may be much material in the shape of names and isolated statements not found in the older books, which so long as they are not tinged with the Chronicler's pragmatism or "tendency," may possibly be authentic records preserved within the circle of the priestly caste, e. g. we are told that Saul's skull was fastened in the temple of Dagon (1 Chronicles 10:10). There is no doubt that the true names of Ish-bosheth, Mephibosheth and Eliada (2 Samuel 2:8; 2 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 5:16) were Ish-baal (Esh-baal), Merib-baal and Beeliada (1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39; 1 Chronicles 8:34; 1 Chronicles 9:40; 1 Chronicles 14:7); that the old name of Jerusalem was Jebus (11:4,5; compare Judges 19:10,Revelation 18:11); perhaps a son of David called Nogah has to be added to 2 Samuel 5:15 from 1 Chronicles 3:7; 1 Chronicles 14:6; in 2 Samuel 8:8 and 21:18, for Betah and Gob read Tebah (Tibhath) and Gezer (1 Chronicles 18:8; Genesis 22:24; 1 Chronicles 20:4). The incident recounted in 2 Samuel 23:9 ff happened at Pasdammim (1 Chronicles 11:13). Shammah the Harodite was the son of Elika (2 Samuel 23:25; compare 1 Chronicles 11:27), and other names in this list have to be corrected after the readings of the Chronicler. Three (not seven) years of famine was the alternative offered to David (2 Samuel 24:13; compare 1 Chronicles 21:12).

2. Psalms:

If we could believe that the Book of Psalms was in whole or in part the work of David, it would throw a flood of light upon the religious side of his nature. Indeed, we should know as much about his religious life as can well be known about anyone. Unfortunately the date and authorship of the Psalms are questions regarding which the most divergent opinions are held. In the early Christian centuries all the Psalms were ascribed to David and, where necessary, explained as prophecies. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of the Book of Psalms simply as "David" (Hebrews 4:7). The Greek text, however, of that book ascribes only some 87 of the poems to David, and the Hebrew only 73. Some of these are not David's, and in the whole book there is only one which professes from its contents to be his, namely, Psalms 18:1–50 (= 2 Samuel 22:1–51). The occasion on which a psalm was composed is stated only in the case of thirteen psalms, all of which are ascribed to David. Each of these is referred to some incident recorded in the books of Samuel, although sometimes the citation is erroneous (see PSALMS). The Septuagint supplies occasions to two or three more psalms; but all such statements are merely the conjectures of readers and scribes and are of no historical value.

3. Complex Character:

To form a correct opinion of anyone is much more difficult than to state the facts of his life; to form an opinion which will be generally accepted is impossible. Of David's character the most opposite estimates have been formed. On one hand he is extolled as a saint, and yet few men have committed worse crimes. The character of David must remain, like that of everyone, an insoluble enigma. A person is to be judged by his motives rather than by his actions, and one's true motives are unknown even to oneself (Jeremiah 17:9). There are several sides of David's nature in regard to which there cannot be two opinions.

4. Physical Courage:

Perhaps the feature of his character which stands out most prominently in his earlier years, at any rate, is his boundless physical courage. He never shirked danger (1 Samuel 17:28,1 Samuel 17:34) and delighted in hairbreadth escapes in 1 Samuel 26:6. Like most Semites he was fond of gambling and liked to take risks (18:26; compare 23:9; 30:7), even when modesty would have led him to decline them (17:32; compare Judges 8:20). A native indifference to the shedding of blood grew into a liking for it, giving rise to acts of gross cruelty (1 Samuel 27:9; 2 Samuel 8:2; 2 Samuel 16:7, etc.). He had need, indeed, to be a brave man, considering the character of the men whom he ruled (1 Samuel 22:2). Yet he could rule them by gentleness as well as by force (30:23). All classes had unbounded confidence in his personal courage and soldierly qualities (2 Samuel 18:3), and were themselves driven to restrain his military ardor (2 Samuel 21:17).

5. Moral Courage:

Whether David possessed moral courage to an equal degree is another matter. Had he done so he would hardly have permitted the execution of seven sons of Saul (2 Samuel 21:1 ff), and that, too, at the cost of breaking his plighted word (1 Samuel 24:21); he would not have stood in awe of the sons of his sister Zeruiah (2 Samuel 3:39), and would have punished Joab instead of weakly invoking an imprecation on his head (2 Samuel 3:29), however much he might have felt the loss of his services. But in many matters his natural sense of justice was blunted by the superstitions of the age in which he lived.

6. Prudence:

But David was even more prudent than courageous. He is so described by the person who recommended him (somewhat eulogistically) to Saul (1 Samuel 16:18). Prudence or wisdom was indeed what his biographer most remarks in him (1 Samuel 18:5,1 Samuel 18:30), and situated as he was he could not have too much of it. It shows itself in the fact that he consistently made as many friends and as few enemies as was possible. His wonderful foresight is shown in such acts as his conciliating the Judean chiefs with gifts taken from his spoil (1 Samuel 30:26 ff), in his commendation of the men of Ja-besh-gilead (2 Samuel 2:5–7), and in his reception of Abner (2 Samuel 3:20). Yet it must be confessed that this constant looking forward to the future takes away from the spontaneity of his virtue. His gratitude is often a keen sense of favors to come. His kindness to Merib-baal did him no harm and some advantage (2 Samuel 9:1–13; 2 Samuel 19:24 ff), and his clemency to Shimei helped to win him the tribe of Benjamin (2 Samuel 19:16 ff). Even in his earliest youth he seems to have preferred to attain his ends by roundabout ways. The means by which he obtained introduction or reintroduction to Saul (1 Samuel 17:26 ff) afford some justification for the opinon which his oldest brother held of him (1 Samuel 17:28). Perhaps nothing proves the genius of David better than his choice of Jebus as the capital of the country--which it still continues to be after a lapse of three thousand years.

7. Strategy:

Yet it must be confessed that David's prudence often degenerates into cunning. With true oriental subtlety he believed firmly in keeping one's secret to oneself at all costs (1 Samuel 21:2). The manner in which he got himself out of Gath after this first visit there (1 Samuel 21:13) and the fact that he hoodwinked Achish during sixteen months (1 Samuel 27:1–12; 1 Samuel 28:1) may excite our admiration but not our respect. The Oriental, however, delights in a display of cunning and makes use of it without shame (2 Samuel 15:34), just as the European does in secret. There is something curiously modern in the diplomacy which David employed to ensure his own return in due state (2 Samuel 19:11 ff). We must remember, however, that David lived among persons hardly one of whom he could trust. Joab accuses Abner of deceit, while he himself was faithful to none except David (2 Samuel 3:25). Ziba accuses Merib-baal of treachery, and Merib-baal accuses Ziba of falsehood, and David cannot tell which is speaking the truth (2 Samuel 16:1; 2 Samuel 19:24 ff). David himself is out-witted by Joab, though with a friendly purpose (2 Samuel 14:1 ff). The wonder, therefore, is, not that David was guilty of occasional obliquity, but that he remained as straightforward and simple as he was.

8. Nobility:

David was, indeed, a man very much ahead of the times in which he lived. His fine elegies upon the death of Saul and Jonathan, Abner and Absalom show that his nature was untainted with malice. It was no superstitious fear but a high sense of honor which kept him back from putting out of his way his arch-enemy when he had him in his power (1Sa 24-26). He even attempts to find an excuse for him (1 Samuel 26:19), while depreciating himself (1 Samuel 24:14; 1 Samuel 26:20) in phrases which are more than a mere oriental metonymy (2 Samuel 9:8). It was the ambition of his life to be the founder of a permanent dynasty (2 Samuel 7:29), yet he was willing that his house should be sacrificed to save his nation from destruction (2 Samuel 24:17). Like most Orientals he was endowed with a refinement of feeling unknown in the West. His refusal to drink of water obtained at the cost of bloodshed has become classic (2 Samuel 23:17). And he seems to have been gifted with the saving sense of humor (1 Samuel 26:15). That he was a religious person goes without saying (2 Samuel 7:1–29; 2 Samuel 8:11). He probably did not believe that outside the land of Israel Yahweh ceased to rule: the expression used in 1 Samuel 26:19 is not a term of dogmatic theology. Like other Hebrews David had no theology. He believed in Yahweh alone as the ruler, if not of the universe, at any rate of all the world known to him. He certainly did not believe in Chemosh or Milcom, whether in the lands of Moab and Ammon or out of them (2 Samuel 12:30; for "their king" read Malcam (Milcom)).

9. David in Relation to His Family:

David discharged, as most Orientals do, his duty toward his parents (1 Samuel 22:3). To Michal, his first wife, his love was constant (2 Samuel 3:13), although she did not bear him any children. In accordance with the custom of the times, as his estate improved, he took other wives and slave-girls. The favorite wife of his latter days was Bathsheba. His court made some show of splendor as contrasted with the dwellings of the peasantry and the farmer class (2 Samuel 19:28,2 Samuel 19:35), but his palace was always small and plain, so that it could be left to the keeping of ten women when he removed from it (2 Samuel 15:16). David and Michal seem to have lived on terms of perfect equality (2 Samuel 6:20 ff). In this he contrasts somewhat with Ahab (1 Kings 21:5 ff). David's chief weakness in regard to his family was his indulgence of some of his sons and favoring some above others, and want of firmness in regard to them. He could refuse them nothing (2 Samuel 13:27). His first favorite was his oldest son Amnon (2 Samuel 13:21, Septuagint). After the death of Amnon, Absalom became the favorite (2 Samuel 18:33), and after the death of Absalom, Adonijah (1 Kings 1:6). Yet David lived for two whole years in Jerusalem along with Absalom without seeing him (2 Samuel 14:28), and he was succeeded not by Adonijah, but by Solomon, whose mother was the favorite wife of his later years.

10. David in Relation to His Friends:

Not only did David know the value of having many friends, but he was capable of sincere attachment. There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of his love for Jonathan, although it is not so completely cut off from all suspicion of self-interest as is that of Jonathan for him. David, indeed, had the faculty of winning the confidence and love of all sorts and conditions of people, not only of Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1 1 Samuel 18:20; 1 Samuel 23:16 ff), but of Jonathan's sister Michal (1 Samuel 18:20), of the whole people (1 Samuel 18:28 Septuagint; 2 Samuel 19:14), and even of his people's enemies (2 Samuel 17:27 ff). His friendship lasted as long as the object of it lived (2 Samuel 1:17 2 Samuel 10:1 f). In the case of his officers this was partly due to his faculty for choosing good men (2 Samuel 8:16 ff), so that the same persons often held the same offices during David's life (2 Samuel 20:23 ff). Yet the services of one of them at least were retained more by compulsion than by choice (2 Samuel 3:39). He seems, indeed, to have continued Joab in his post because he felt he could not do without him. Joab was devoted to David with the devotion of Caleb Balderstone to his master, and he was as utterly unscrupulous. He did not hesitate to commit any crime that would benefit David. The latter dared not perpetrate these atrocities himself, but he did not mind taking advantage of such a useful instrument, and never punished Joab for them, save with an impotent curse (2 Samuel 3:29). He dealt otherwise with malefactors who could be better spared (2 Samuel 1:14 2 Samuel 4:9 ff). Indeed, a suspicious juryman might find that David put both Abner and Amasa, in the way of Joab (2 Samuel 3:23 2 Samuel 19:13; 2 Samuel 19:4). It does not say much for David that he fell so low as to fear losing the good opinion even of Joab, this ready instrument of his worst crime (2 Samuel 11:25).

11. His Success:

One reason for the high position David held in the popular estimation was no doubt his almost uninterrupted success. He was regarded as the chosen of Heaven, by friend and foe alike (1 Samuel 23:17). Fortune seemed to favor him. Nothing could have been more timely than the death of Saul and Jonathan, of Ishbaal and Abner, of Absalom and Amasa, and he did not raise his hand against one of them. As a guerrilla chief with his 600 bandits he could keep at bay. Saul with his 3,000 picked men (1 Samuel 24:2; 1 Samuel 26:2), but he was not a great general. Most of the old judges of Israel did in one pitched battle what David effected in a campaign (1 Samuel 18:30; 1 Samuel 19:8; 1 Samuel 23:1 2 Samuel 5:17 2 Samuel 21:15 ff). Most of his conquests were won for him by Joab (1 Chronicles 11:6; 2 Samuel 11:1), who willingly accorded David the credit of what he himself had done (2 Samuel 12:27,2 Samuel 12:28; compare 2 Samuel 8:13; 1 Chronicles 18:11 with the title of Psalms 60:1–12). And to crown all, when he came to turn his arms east and west, he found his two most formidable opponents in these directions crippled and harmless. That he ever survived Saul he owed to a timely incursion of the Philistines (1 Samuel 23:24 ff), and his whole career is largely to be explained by the fact that, at the moment, the tribe of Judah as a whole was passing from insignificance to supremacy.

12. His Foreign Friends:

In the prosecution of his military achievements David employed everyone who came to his hand as an instrument without any question of nationality. This is not to impugn his patriotism. Eastern peoples are united not by the ties of country but of religion. Still it does seem strange that two of David's best friends were two enemies of his nation-- Nahash, king of the sons of Ammon (1 Samuel 11:1; 2 Samuel 10:1 ff) and Achish, lord of Gath (1 Samuel 21:10; 1 Samuel 22:12; 1 Samuel 28:1 1 Samuel 29:4). He appears to have found the Philistines more reliable and trustworthy than the Hebrews. When he became king, his personal body-guard was composed of mercenaries of that nation--the Cherethites and Pelethites-- with whom he had become acquainted when at Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:14; 2 Samuel 8:18; 2 Samuel 20:23). It was to a native of Gath that he committed the care of the sacred ark on its passage from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:10,2 Samuel 6:11). When the rebellion broke out under Absalom, he committed one-third of his forces to a banished soldier of the same town, who had come to him a little while before with a band of followers (2 Samuel 15:19 2 Samuel 18:2). Some of the soldiers in whom he placed the greatest confidence were Hittites (1 Samuel 26:6; 2 Samuel 11:6), and his commissariat was furnished by persons outside of Israel (2 Samuel 17:27; the Machir tribe were half Syrian; Gilead is the son of Machir, 1 Chronicles 7:14). The threshing-floor of a Jebusite became the site of the temple of Solomon (2 Samuel 24:18 ff).

13. Nemesis:

David was a strong believer in the power of Nemesis, and that daughter of Night played a considerable part in his life. He felt a peculiar satisfaction in being undeservedly cursed by Shimei, from a conviction that poetic justice would in the end prevail (2 Samuel 16:12). He must have felt that the same unseen power was at work when his own oldest son was guilty of a crime such as his father had committed before him (2Sa 13 and 11), and when the grandfather of the wife of Uriah the Hittite became the enemy whom he had most to fear (2 Samuel 11:3; 2 Samuel 23:34; compare Psalms 41:9; Psalms 55:12 f). And David's own last hours, instead of being spent in repose and peace following upon a strenuous and successful life, were passed in meting out vengeance to those who had incurred his displeasure as well as commending those who had done him service (1 Kings 2:5 ff).

14. References in the New Testament:

Even as early as Ezekiel, David became the ruler who was to govern the restored people of Israel (34:23,14; 37:24). If there were to be a ruling house, it must be the Davidic dynasty; it did not occur to the Jews to think of any other solution (Amos 9:11; Hosea 3:5; Jeremiah 30:9; Zechariah 12:8). That Jesus was descended from David (Matthew 9:27, etc.) is proved by the fact that his enemies did not deny that he was so (Matthew 22:41 ff). In the New Testament, David is regarded as the author of the Psalms (Acts 4:25; Romans 4:6; Hebrews 4:7). He is also one of the Old Testament saints (Hebrews 11:32) whose actions (unless otherwise stated) are to be imitated (Matthew 12:3); but yet not to be compared with the Messiah (Acts 2:29 Acts 13:36) who has power over the life to come (Revelation 3:7) and who is "the Root of David" (Revelation 5:5; Revelation 22:16).

LITERATURE.

See the commentaries on the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Psalms, and histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, especially Wellhausen and Kittel. A sketch of the life and historical position of David from the modern Continental point of view will be found in G. Beer, Saul, David, Salomo, published by Mohr, Tubingen, 1906.

Thomas Hunter Weir

David, City Of

See ZION.

David, Root Of

root (he rhiza Daueid, Revelation 5:5; Revelation 22:16): Root here means stock, family, descendant, hence, "the Root of David" is that which descended from David, not that from which David descended. Jesus Christ in His human nature and family connections was a descendant of David, a member of his family.

David, Tower Of

tou'-er. See JERUSALEM.

Dawn; Dawning

don: The word means the approach of the morning light, the breaking of the day. There are several words in the Bible that indicate this. nesheph, "twilight" of the morning (Job 7:4; Psalms 119:147). The same word is used for evening twilight (1 Samuel 30:17; 2 Kings 7:5,2 Kings 7:7); penoth ha-boqer, "the turning" of the morning, the change from darkness to light, approach of the morning (Judges 19:26); 'aph`-appe shachar, "the eyelids" of the morning (Job 3:9; Job 41:18 (Job 41:10)); aloth ha-shachar, "the ascent" or "rise" of the morning (Joshua 6:15); epi-phosko, "to grow light," the approach of the dawn (Matthew 28:1; Luke 23:54 margin); diaugazo, "to grow bright", "lustrous" (2 Peter 1:19), "until the day dawn" figurative of the Second Coming of Christ (compare 2 Peter 1:16).

H. Porter

Day

da (yom; hemera): This common word has caused some trouble to plain readers, because they have not noticed that the word is used in several different senses in the English Bible. When the different uses of the word are understood the difficulty of interpretation vanishes. We note several different uses of the word:

(1) It sometimes means the time from daylight till dark. This popular meaning is easily discovered by the context, e. g. Genesis 1:5; Genesis 8:22, etc. The marked periods of this daytime were morning, noon and night, as with us. See Psalms 55:17. The early hours were sometimes called "the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8). After the exile the day. or daytime was divided into twelve hours and the night into twelve (see Matthew 20:1–12; John 11:9; Acts 23:23); 6 a. m. would correspond to the first hour, 9 a. m. to the third; 12 noon to the sixth, etc. The hours were longer during the longer days and shorter during the shorter days, since they always counted 12 hours between sunrise and sunset.

(2) Day also means a period of 24 hours, or the time from sunset to sunset. In Bible usage the day begins with sunset (see Leviticus 23:32; Exodus 12:15–20; 2 Corinthians 11:25, where night is put before day). See DAY AND NIGHT.

(3) The word "day" is also used of an indefinite period, e. g "the day" or "day that" means in general "that time" (see Genesis 2:4; Leviticus 14:2); "day of trouble" (Psalms 20:1); "day of his wrath" (Job 20:28); "day of Yahweh" (Isaiah 2:12); "day of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10); "day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2);. "day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

(4) It is used figuratively also in John 9:4, where "while it is day" means "while I have opportunity to work, as daytime is the time for work." In 1 Thessalonians 5:5,1 Thessalonians 5:8, "sons of the day" means spiritually enlightened ones.

(5) We must also bear in mind that with God time is not reckoned as with us (see Psalms 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8).

(6) The apocalyptic use of the word "day" in Daniel 12:11; Revelation 2:10, etc., is difficult to define. It evidently does not mean a natural day. See APOCALYPSE.

(7) On the meaning of "day" in the story of Creation we note (a) the word "day" is used of the whole period of creation (Genesis 2:4); (b) these days are days of God, with whom one day is as a thousand years; the whole age or period of salvation is called "the day of salvation"; see above. So we believe that in harmony with Bible usage we may understand the creative days as creative periods. See also ASTRONOMY; CREATION; EVOLUTION.

G. H. Gerberding

Figurative: The word "day" is used figuratively in many senses, some of which are here given.

(1) The span of human life.--Genesis 5:4: "And the days of Adam .... were eight hundred years." "And if thou wilt walk .... then I will lengthen thy days" (1 Kings 3:14; compare Psalms 90:12; Isaiah 38:5).

(2) An indefinite time.--Existence in general: Genesis 3:14: "All the days of thy life" (compare Genesis 21:34; Numbers 9:19; Joshua 22:3; Luke 1:24; Acts 21:10).

(3) A set time.--Genesis 25:24: "And when her days .... were fulfilled"; Daniel 12:13: "Thou shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of the days" (compare Leviticus 12:6; Daniel 2:44).

(4) A historic period.--Genesis 6:4: "The Nephilim were in the earth in those days"; Judges 17:6: "In those days there was no king in Israel" (compare 1 Samuel 3:1; 1 Chronicles 5:17; Hosea 2:13).

(5) Past time.--Psalms 18:18: "the day of my calamity"; Psalms 77:5: "I have considered the days of old" (of Micah 7:20; Malachi 3:7; Matthew 23:30).

(6) Future time.--Deuteronomy 31:14: "Thy days approach that thou must die"; Psalms 72:7: "In his days shall ...." (compare Ezekiel 22:14; Joel 2:29; Matthew 24:19; 2 Peter 3:3; Revelation 9:6).

(7) The eternal.--In Daniel 7:9,Daniel 7:13, where God is called "the ancient of days."

(8) A season of opportunity.--John 9:4: "We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work" (compare Romans 13:12,Romans 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:5–8). See DAY (4), above.

(9) Time of salvation.--Specially referring to the hopes and prospects of the parousia (see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT). Romans 13:12: "The night is far spent, and the day is at hand."

Henry E. Dosker

Day And Night

"Day," yom; ordinarily, the Hebrew "day" lasted from dawn to the coming forth of the starts (Nehemiah 4:21). The context usually makes it clear whether the term "day" refers to the period of twenty-four hours or to daytime; when there was a possibility of confusion, the term laylah, "night," was added (Genesis 7:4,Genesis 7:12; Genesis 31:39). The "day" is reckoned from evening to evening, in accordance with the order noted in the account of Creation, namely, "And there was evening and there was morning, one day" (Genesis 1:5); Leviticus 23:32 and Daniel 8:14 reflect the same mode of reckoning the day. The phrase `erebh boker, "evening-morning," used in this last passage, is simply a variation of yom and laylah, "day" and "night"; it is the equivalent of the Greek nuchthemeron (2 Corinthians 11:25). That the custom of reckoning the day as beginning in the evening and lasting until the following evening was probably of late origin is shown by the phrase "tarry all night" (Judges 19:6–9); the context shows that the day is regarded as beginning in the morning; in the evening the day "declined," and until the new day (morning) arrived it was necessary to "tarry all night" (compare also Numbers 11:32).

The transition of day to night begins before sunset and lasts till after sunset; the change of night to day begins before sunrise and continues until after sunrise. In both cases, neither `erebh, "evening," nor boqer, "morning," indicate an exact space of time (compare Genesis 8:11; Exodus 10:13; Deuteronomy 16:6).

The term nesheph, is used for both evening twilight and morning dawn (compare 1 Samuel 30:17; 2 Kings 7:5,2 Kings 7:7; Job 7:4). Since there were no definite measurements of the time of day, the various periods were indicated by the natural changes of the day; thus "midday" was the time of the day when the sun mounted its highest (cohorayim); afternoon was that part of the day when the sun declined ( neToth ha-yom); and evening was the time of the going down of the sun (`erebh). "Between the evenings" (ben ha-`arbayim) was the interval between sunset and darkness. The day was not divided into hours until a late period. [~sha`ah = Aramaic] (Daniel 3:6), is common in Syriac and in later Hebrew; it denoted, originally, any short space of time, and only later came to be equivalent to our "hour" (Driver). The threefold division of the day into watches continued into post-exilic Roman times; but the Roman method of four divisions was also known (Mark 13:35), where all four divisions are referred to: "at even" (opse), "midnight" (mesonuktion), "at cock crowing" (alektorophonia), "in the morning" (proi). These last extended from six to six o'clock (of also Matthew 14:25; Mark 13:35). Acts 12:4 speaks of four parties of four Roman soldiers (quaternions), each of whom had to keep guard during one watch of the night. In Berakhoth 3b, Rabbi Nathan (2nd century) knows of only three night-watches; but the patriarch, Rabbi Judah, knows four. See also DAY.

Horace J. Wolf

Day Before The Sabbath

(he paraskeue, "preparation"): Considered as a day of preparation, in accordance with Exodus 16:23, both before the regular Sabbath and before a feast Sabbath (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14,John 19:31,John 19:42). At 3 p. m., the Hebrews began to prepare their food for the next day, and to perform all labors which were forbidden to be done on the Sabbath and yet must be done. They bathed and purified themselves, dressed in festive apparel, set their tables, and lighted their lamps. On the day before Easter, the Hebrews of the later period made it their chief business to remove all leaven from the house (1 Corinthians 5:7). This custom of converting at least a portion of the day before the Sabbath into a holy day was recognized by the Romans to such an extent that, according to a rescript of Augustus, Jews need not appear in court after 3 p. m. on such days. Criminal cases were not brought before court on this day, and journeys exceeding 12 Roman miles were prohibited. The signal for the preparations was given by the priests by means of trumpets blown six times at intervals.

Frank E. Hirsch

Day Of Atonement

See ATONEMENT, DAY OF.

Day Of Christ

See DAY OF THE LORD.

Day Of Judgment

See JUDGMENT, LAST.

Day Of The Lord (Yahweh)

On the other hand the New Testament idea is pervaded with the elements of hope and joy and victory. In the New Testament it is eminently the day of Christ, the day of His coming in the glory of His father. The very conception of Him as the "Son of Man" points to this day (E. Kuehl, Das Selbstbewusstsein Jesu, 68). John 5:27: "And he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man" (compare Matthew 24:27,Matthew 24:30; Luke 12:8). It is true in the New Testament there is a dark background to the bright picture, for it still remains a "day of wrath". (Romans 2:5,Romans 2:6), a "great day" (Revelation 6:17; Jude 1:6), a "day of God" (2 Peter 3:12), a "day of judgment" (Matthew 10:15; 2 Peter 3:7; Romans 2:16).

Sometimes it is called "that day" (Matthew 7:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:4; 2 Timothy 4:8), and again it is called "the day" without any qualification whatever, as if it were the only day worth counting in all the history of the world and of the race (1 Corinthians 3:13). To the unbeliever, the New Testament depicts it as a day of terror; to the believer, as a day of joy. For on that day Christ will raise the dead, especially His own dead, the bodies of those that believed in Him--"that of all that which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day" (John 6:39). In that day He comes to His own (Matthew 16:27), and therefore it is called "the day of our Lord Jesus" (2 Corinthians 1:14),"the day of Jesus Christ" or "of Christ" (Philippians 1:6,Philippians 1:10), the day when there "shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven" (Matthew 24:30). All Paulinic literature is especially suffused with this longing for the "parousia," the day of Christ's glorious manifestation. The entire conception of that day centers therefore in Christ and points to the everlasting establishment of the kingdom of heaven, from which sin will be forever eliminated, and in which the antithesis between Nature and grace will be changed into an everlasting synthesis. See also ESCHATOLOGY (OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT).

Henry E. Dosker

Day Of Yahweh

See DAY OF THE LORD.

Day's Journey

jur'-ni (derekh yom, Genesis 30:36; Numbers 10:33; Numbers 11:31; hemeras hodos, Luke 2:44): The common way of estimating distances in the East is by hours and days. This is natural in a country where roads are mere bridle paths or non-existent, as in the desert. The distance traveled must of course differ largely according to the difficulties of the way, and it is more important to know where night will overtake the traveler than the actual distance accomplished. A day's journey is now commonly reckoned at about 3 miles per hour, the distance usually covered by a loaded mule, the number of hours being about 8. Hence, a day's journey is about 24 miles, and this may be taken as a fair estimate for Bible times.

H. Porter

Day, Break Of

See BREAK OF DAY.

Day, Joshua's Long

See BETH-HORON, THE BATTLE OF.

Day, Last

(he eschate hemera): Repeatedly used by Jesus in John 6:39,John 6:40,John 6:44,John 6:54; John 11:24; John 12:48, for the day of resurrection and judgment (see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT). Compare the usage in the Old Testament (Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1) and the New Testament (Acts 2:17; 2 Timothy 3:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18; Jude 1:18) of "last days" and "last time" to denote the Messianic age.

See LATTER DAYS; LAST DAYS; LAST TIME.

In John 7:37, "the last day, the great day of the feast" refers to the eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles. This closing day was observed as a Sabbath (Leviticus 23:36). On it the libation of water made on other days was not made; hence, the allusion of Jesus to Himself as the Giver of the living water.

James Orr

Day, Lord's

See LORD'S DAY.

Day, That (The)

See DAY OF THE LORD.

Day-Star

(helel ben-shachar, Isaiah 14:12; phosphoros, 2 Peter 1:19): The Old Testament passage is rendered in the King James Version "Lucifer, son of the morning," in the King James Version margin and the Revised Version (British and American) "day-star," i.e. the morning star. The reference is to the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4). In 2 Peter 1:19, "Until .... the daystar arise in your hearts," the word is literally, "light-bringer." It is applicable, therefore, not only to the planet Venus, seen as a morning star, herald of the dawn, but to the sun itself, and is used here as a title of our Lord. See ASTRONOMY, sec. I, 6.

Days, Last

See LAST DAYS.

Daysman

daz'-man (yakhach, "to argue, decide, convince," the Revised Version (British and American) UMPIRE): The use of this word appears to have been more common in the 16th century than at the later date of the translation of the King James Version, when its adoption was infrequent. The oldest instance of the term given in the Oxford English Dictionary is Plumpton Corresp. (1489), p. 82: "Sir, the dayesmen cannot agre us." It appears also in the 1551 edition of the Old Testament in 1 Samuel 2:25, where the English Versions of the Bible "judge" is translated "dayes-man." Tyndale's translation has for Exodus 21:22, "He shall paye as the dayesmen appoynte him" (EV as the "judges determine"). See also Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene, ii, c. 8, published in 1590. As used in the King James Version (Job 9:33) the word means an arbitrator, umpire, referee; one who stands in a judicial capacity between two parties, and decides upon the merits of their arguments or case at law. "Neither is there-any daysman (the Revised Version (British and American) "umpire") betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both" (compare Genesis 31:37). It was the eastern custom for a judge to lay his hands upon the heads of the two parties in disagreement, thus emphasizing his adjudicatory capacity and his desire to render an unbiased verdict. Job might consider a human judge as capable of acting as an umpire upon his own claims, but no man was worthy to question the purposes of Yahweh, or metaphorically, to "lay his hands upon" Him.

In the New Testament (1 Corinthians 4:3, anthropine, hemera) "man's judgment" is literally, "man's day," in the sense of a day fixed for the trial of a case. Both Tyndale and Coverdale so translate. See also 1 Timothy 2:5, where the Saviour is termed the "one mediator .... between God and men." Here the word understands a pleader, an advocate before an umpire, rather than the adjudicator himself (see Job 19:25–27).

Arthur Walwyn Evans

Dayspring

da'-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 shachar, "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, sec. I, 2. Also once in the New Testament for anatole, "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 heliou, "sun," for rising of the sun (Revelation 7:2; Revelation 16:12). In the Septuagint the same Greek word is used for Hebrew tsemach, "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 anatello, "to rise" (the Septuagint, Isaiah 60:1; Malachi 4:2).

What is the meaning of anatole 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.

G. H. Trever