What does עֶרֶב (ʿereb) mean in the Bible?
H6153 names evening, dusk, or the transition from daylight toward night. It can mark ordinary time, the boundary of a day, scheduled worship, travel, mourning, labor, danger, or prophetic imagery.
Hebrew · H6153
עֶרֶב
Dusk
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עֶרֶבH6153
Pronunciationʿereb
What does עֶרֶב (ʿereb) mean in the Bible?
H6153 names evening, dusk, or the transition from daylight toward night. It can mark ordinary time, the boundary of a day, scheduled worship, travel, mourning, labor, danger, or prophetic imagery.
Reader summary
Full entry for עֶרֶב (H6153) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6153?
The BSB source-word alignment has 134 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include evening (53), in the evening (11), twilight (11), and evening (5), the evening (5).
Where does עֶרֶב (ʿereb) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 1:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (33), Exodus (13), Genesis (13), Numbers (13).
What This Word Actually Means
H6153 names evening, dusk, or the transition from daylight toward night. It can mark ordinary time, the boundary of a day, scheduled worship, travel, mourning, labor, danger, or prophetic imagery. In Gen. 1. 5, evening and morning mark the first day within God's ordered creation. In Exod. 12. 6, the Passover animals are slaughtered at twilight on the appointed day, placing evening within Israel's remembered deliverance.
In Ruth. 2. 17, Ruth gleans until evening and then threshes what she has gathered, showing sustained, vulnerable labor met by providential kindness. H6153 opens teaching on daily rhythms, remembrance, perseverance, and human limits. It does not establish one universal biblical method for calculating dates, make evening inherently ominous, or promise that every night of sorrow will end according to a preferred timetable.
How the Bible Uses It
H6153 appears across creation days, evening offerings, festival timing, work, travel, fasting, battle, danger, lament, and hope. It usually marks a real portion or boundary of the day, while poetic contrasts with morning can carry contextual theological force.
- Gen.1.5
God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Evening and morning mark the first day after God names the light day and the darkness night within the ordered creation account.
- Exod.12.6
You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
Israel is commanded to slaughter the Passover animals at twilight on the fourteenth day, joining precise timing to remembered rescue.
- Ruth.2.17
So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.
Ruth gleans until evening and threshes the barley she has gathered, displaying diligent work within a story of loyal love and providence.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itevening53×Genesis 1:5, Genesis 1:8, Genesis 1:13, Genesis 1:19
in the evening11×Genesis 19:1, Genesis 49:27, Leviticus 6:20, Deuteronomy 16:4
twilight11×Exodus 12:6, Exodus 16:12, Exodus 29:39, Exodus 29:41
and evening5×1 Kings 17:6, 1 Chronicles 16:40, 2 Chronicles 2:4, 2 Chronicles 31:3
the evening5×Exodus 12:18, 1 Samuel 30:17, 2 Kings 16:15, Ezra 9:4
. . .4×Genesis 8:11, Leviticus 23:32, 2 Chronicles 13:11
and in the evening4×Deuteronomy 28:67, 2 Samuel 11:13, Ezekiel 12:7, Ezekiel 24:18
from evening3×Exodus 27:21, Leviticus 24:3, Numbers 9:15
that evening3×Genesis 30:16, Exodus 16:13, Judges 19:16
and every evening2×2 Chronicles 13:11
and that evening2×Numbers 19:19, 1 Kings 22:35
from the evening2×Exodus 12:18, Leviticus 23:32
This evening2×Exodus 16:6, Exodus 16:8
[but] by evening1×Psalms 90:6
and night1×Psalms 55:17
and sunset1×Psalms 65:8
As evening approached1×Genesis 24:11
as the day was fading1×Proverbs 7:9
At the evening1×Ezra 9:5
But the night1×Job 7:4
but when evening1×Zechariah 14:7
Do this in the evening1×Deuteronomy 16:6
Early in the evening1×Genesis 24:63
evening {from now}1×1 Samuel 20:5
evening came1×Genesis 29:23
evenings1×Daniel 8:14
it were evening1×Deuteronomy 28:67
like the evening1×Psalms 141:2
Now the evening1×Ezekiel 33:22
of the evening1×Daniel 9:21
of the evenings1×Daniel 8:26
of the night1×Habakkuk 1:8
On the evening1×Joshua 5:10
One evening1×2 Samuel 11:2
only from evening1×Numbers 9:21
the following evening1×Leviticus 23:32
the night1×Psalms 30:5
Then in the evening1×Ezekiel 12:4
to dusk1×Job 4:20
When evening1×Deuteronomy 23:11
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 1:5עֶ֥רֶבtoeveningNoun - masculine singularGenesis 1:8עֶ֥רֶבtoeveningNoun - masculine singularGenesis 1:13עֶ֥רֶבtoeveningNoun - masculine singularGenesis 1:19עֶ֥רֶבtoeveningNoun - masculine singularGenesis 1:23עֶ֥רֶבtoeveningNoun - masculine singularGenesis 1:31עֶ֥רֶבtoeveningNoun - masculine singularGenesis 8:11עֶ֔רֶבto. . .Noun - masculine singularGenesis 19:1בָּעֶ֔רֶבtoin the eveningPreposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 24:11עֶ֔רֶבtoAs evening approachedNoun - masculine singularGenesis 24:63עָ֑רֶבtoEarly in the eveningNoun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 1:5
Aligned rows134
Books represented27
Genesis13Exodus13Leviticus33Numbers13Deuteronomy5Joshua4Judges4Ruth11 Samuel32 Samuel31 Kings22 Kings11 Chronicles22 Chronicles7Ezra3Esther1Job2Psalms8Proverbs1Ecclesiastes1Isaiah1Jeremiah1Ezekiel5Daniel3Habakkuk1Zephaniah2Zechariah1
Source forms
הָעָֽרֶב׃27xhā·‘ā·reḇExodus 18:13, Leviticus 11:24, Leviticus 11:25, Leviticus 11:27
הָעָ֑רֶב10xhā·‘ā·reḇLeviticus 11:28, Leviticus 11:40, Leviticus 15:10, Leviticus 22:6
בָּעֶ֔רֶב6xbā·‘e·reḇGenesis 19:1, Exodus 12:18, Leviticus 23:32, Judges 19:16
עֶ֥רֶב6x‘e·reḇGenesis 1:5, Genesis 1:8, Genesis 1:13, Genesis 1:19
עֶ֔רֶב6x‘e·reḇGenesis 8:11, Genesis 24:11, Leviticus 23:32, Deuteronomy 28:67
עָֽרֶב׃5x‘ā·reḇExodus 18:14, Psalms 104:23, Psalms 141:2, Jeremiah 6:4
בָּעָ֑רֶב3xbā·‘ā·reḇDeuteronomy 16:6, 1 Kings 17:6, Ezekiel 24:18
בָּעָֽרֶב׃3xbā·‘ā·reḇExodus 12:18, Leviticus 6:20, Numbers 19:19
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - masculine singular51xExodus 18:13, Leviticus 11:24, Leviticus 11:25, Leviticus 11:27
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular26xGenesis 19:1, Genesis 29:23, Genesis 30:16, Exodus 12:18
Noun - masculine singular25xGenesis 1:5, Genesis 1:8, Genesis 1:13, Genesis 1:19
Article | Noun - md11xExodus 12:6, Exodus 16:12, Exodus 29:39, Exodus 29:41
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular5xGenesis 49:27, 1 Chronicles 16:40, 2 Chronicles 2:4, Ezra 3:3
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular5x1 Chronicles 23:30, Job 4:20, Psalms 59:6, Psalms 59:14
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular4xNumbers 9:15, Deuteronomy 28:67, 2 Chronicles 13:11, Ezekiel 12:7
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular4xExodus 27:21, Leviticus 23:32, Leviticus 24:3, Numbers 9:21
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not burden congregations with one disputed calendar calculation as though faithfulness depended on treating every evening formula identically.
- Do not tell a grieving person that morning relief must arrive quickly because a poetic text contrasts night with joy.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that H6153 inherently symbolizes sin, judgment, rest, worship, or the end times; it normally identifies evening.
- Do not claim that the word by itself resolves every debate about when a biblical day, festival, or prophetic period begins.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Liminal threshold between day and night; marks time of transition, vulnerability, and divine activity in covenant contexts
Source Gloss
dusk
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Liminal threshold between day and night; marks time of transition, vulnerability, and divine activity in covenant contexts
dusk BDB: set Usage: day, even(-ing, tide), night.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Time of day marking the boundary between day and night, used for ritual purification timing
Showing 1 selected witness from 134 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
עֶרֶב is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
H6153 places much of biblical life at a threshold. Evening closes labor, begins appointed observances, gathers households, exposes travelers to danger, and reminds human beings that their activity has limits. Genesis locates evening within a creation God orders and names. Exodus makes twilight part of Passover's concrete memory, not a timeless code detached from deliverance.
Ruth works until evening, yet her diligence is not a self-made guarantee; it unfolds within vulnerability, covenant provision for gleaners, Boaz's protection, and God's larger providence. Morning and evening offerings further show that repeated time can train communal worship. Scripture also speaks honestly of evening terror, mourning, and uncertainty. Faithful teaching neither fears dusk nor sentimentalizes it.
It receives time from God, plans worship and labor responsibly, and allows lament to last without manufacturing a deadline. Evening testifies that creatures stop, remember, wait, and entrust unfinished work to the Lord whose faithfulness is not confined to daylight.
Anchor passage
Ruth.2.17
Doctrinal connections
- H6153: evening belongs to God's ordered creation and reminds people that time is received rather than possessed.
- H6153: Passover twilight joins a real appointed hour to God's historical deliverance and Israel's obedient remembrance.
- H6153: regular morning and evening worship forms covenant faithfulness through repeated communal practice.
- H6153: Ruth's labor until evening honors diligence while the narrative keeps provision grounded in covenant mercy and providence.
- H6153: the close of daylight exposes human limits and invites rest, watchfulness, mourning, or trust according to circumstance.
- H6153: biblical hope can contrast evening sorrow with morning joy without giving every sufferer a predictable schedule.
H6153 is a Hebrew noun for evening or dusk. Paired with morning it may mark recurring daily rhythm or a span of days; festival formulas and phrases translated at twilight require attention to prepositions, numbers, and the governing legal context.
From Old to New Testament
The New Testament continues the ordinary pattern of evening as a time for meals, healing, travel, prayer, burial, and resurrection appearances. The canonical witness honors real daily rhythms while locating final hope in God's saving acts rather than in a sacred quality inherent to dusk.