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מִשְׁחָר

𐤌𐤔𐤇𐤓

mishchâr

H4891 noun

SILEX Entry

Root שחר to seek early, to look for dawn, dawn, be dark before dawn

Definition

The earliest part of the daylight, the initial appearance of dawn or the first light of morning. The term denotes the period when darkness gives way to light, often marking a boundary between night and day and signifying new beginnings or transitions. In poetic or figurative contexts, it can connote hope, renewal, or the period immediately after night.

Semantic Range

dawn, daybreak, earliest light of morning, period immediately following night, hope or renewal (figurative)

Root / Etymology

Derived from the root שחר (ש-ח-ר), meaning 'to seek early, look for dawn, be dark before dawn, dawn.' The noun form מִשְׁחָר is a nominal abstraction indicating the time or event of daybreak, built from the root with an 'mi-' nominal prefix.

Historical & Contextual Notes

מִשְׁחָר occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible: Psalm 110:3 and Job 38:12. In both contexts, it refers specifically to the earliest light or daybreak rather than the broader period of 'morning.' Most standard English versions translate as 'dawn' or 'daybreak,' which aligns closely with the Hebrew sense. In ancient Israelite culture, מִשְׁחָר marks both temporal and symbolic transitions—such as beginnings of action, or periods for seeking divine favor (cf. the related verb שחר in contexts of seeking God early; e.g., Psalm 63:2). Its use is poetic and distinct from more common terms for morning (בוקר), which can denote the entire morning period. Later Jewish tradition uses a variety of words for morning, but מִשְׁחָר is rare and literary. English traditions sometimes conflate dawn and morning, but the biblical sense of מִשְׁחָר is more precise.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from שָׁחַר in the sense of day breaking; dawn; morning.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

שחר (š-ḥ-r) — to seek early, to look for dawn, dawn, be dark before dawn

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H6890 צֶרֶת הַשַּׁחַר the dawn-light
H7815 שְׁחוֹר black soot
H7835 שָׁחַר dawn-light
H7836 שָׁחַר I earnestly-seek you
H7837 שַׁחַר the dawn

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H4891-01 מִשְׁחָ֑ר mishechar HNcmsa of the dawn earliest dawn-light 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H4891-01 Psalms 110:3 מִשְׁחָ֑ר mishechar HNcmsa of the dawn earliest dawn-light
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