What does שַׁחַר (šaḥar) mean in the Bible?
Šaḥar names dawn or daybreak, whether marking a narrative time or supplying a poetic comparison. Genesis 32:24 locates Jacob's wrestling until daybreak, with the next exchange again naming that time.
Hebrew · H7837
שַׁחַר
Šaḥar names dawn or daybreak, whether marking a narrative time or supplying a poetic comparison. Genesis 32:24 locates Jacob's wrestling until daybreak, with the next exchange again naming that time.
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שַׁחַרH7837
Pronunciationšaḥar
What does שַׁחַר (šaḥar) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for שַׁחַר (H7837) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7837?
The BSB source-word alignment has 24 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the dawn (5), . . . (4), of dawn (3), of the Dawn (3), like the dawn (2).
Where does שַׁחַר (šaḥar) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 19:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (4), Psalms (4), Genesis (3), Job (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Šaḥar names dawn or daybreak, whether marking a narrative time or supplying a poetic comparison. Genesis 32:24 locates Jacob's wrestling until daybreak, with the next exchange again naming that time. Job 38:12 asks whether Job has commanded morning or assigned dawn its place. Dawn there exposes a limit on human control, not a method by which a reader can order creation to produce a desired outcome.
Psalm 139:9 speaks of rising on the wings of dawn toward the farthest sea, within an affirmation that God's presence cannot be escaped. Isaiah 58:8 compares the people's light with dawn after commands to loosen burdens and meet concrete needs. Teaching should keep time marker, creation question, spatial poetry and restorative image distinct. The noun does not promise that every hardship ends by the next morning or turn practical mercy into a technique that guarantees a medical result on the giver's schedule.
Passage contextCanonical parallel
How the Bible Uses It
Jacob's daybreak, the Creator's question, dawn's poetic wings and restorative light have distinct functions. The passages can mark time or portray creation and hope without giving a universal overnight timetable for relief.
- Gen.32.24
So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Daybreak marks the duration of Jacob's wrestling and the following request to be released. The time marker alone cannot prescribe a nighttime practice for obtaining blessing.
- Job.38.12
In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
The question asks whether Job has commanded morning or assigned dawn its place. Its rhetorical force emphasizes the limits of his control rather than teaching a command technique.
- Ps.139.9
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
Dawn's wings and the farthest sea portray an imagined reach beyond which God's guiding hand remains. The image is not literal anatomy or a map of one required travel route.
- Isa.58.8
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Dawn-like light follows commands to release oppression, share bread, house the poor and clothe the naked. The restorative promise must remain attached to that prophetic address without becoming a present clinical timetable.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itthe dawn5×Job 38:12, Psalms 57:8, Psalms 108:2, Song Of Solomon 6:10
. . .4×Genesis 32:24, Genesis 32:26, Joshua 6:15, Judges 19:25
of dawn3×Nehemiah 4:21, Job 3:9, Job 41:18
of the Dawn3×Psalms 22:1, Psalms 139:9, Isaiah 14:12
like the dawn2×Isaiah 58:8, Joel 2:2
dawn1×1 Samuel 9:26
daybreak1×Genesis 19:15
how to charm it away1×Isaiah 47:11
light of dawn1×Isaiah 8:20
the sun rises1×Hosea 6:3
When dawn1×Jonah 4:7
When the day dawns1×Hosea 10:15
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 19:15הַשַּׁ֣חַרtodaybreakArticle | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 32:24הַשָּֽׁחַר׃to. . .Article | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 32:26הַשָּׁ֑חַרto. . .Article | Noun - masculine singularJoshua 6:15הַשַּׁ֔חַרto. . .Article | Noun - masculine singularJudges 19:25הַשָּֽׁחַר׃to. . .Article | Noun - masculine singular1 Samuel 9:26הַשַּׁ֙חַר֙todawnArticle | Noun - masculine singularNehemiah 4:21הַשַּׁ֔חַרtoof dawnArticle | Noun - masculine singularJob 3:9שָֽׁחַר׃toof dawnNoun - masculine singularJob 38:12שַׁחַרtothe dawnArticle | Noun - masculine singularJob 41:18שָֽׁחַר׃toof dawnNoun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 19:15
Aligned rows24
Books represented13
Genesis3Joshua1Judges11 Samuel1Nehemiah1Job3Psalms4Song Of Solomon1Isaiah4Hosea2Joel1Amos1Jonah1
Source forms
שָׁ֑חַר3xšā·ḥarPsalms 139:9, Song Of Solomon 6:10, Isaiah 14:12
שָֽׁחַר׃3xšā·ḥarJob 3:9, Job 41:18, Isaiah 8:20
הַשַּׁ֔חַר2xhaš·ša·ḥarJoshua 6:15, Nehemiah 4:21
הַשָּֽׁחַר׃2xhaš·šā·ḥarGenesis 32:24, Judges 19:25
כְּשַׁ֖חַר2xkə·ša·ḥarHosea 6:3, Joel 2:2
שָּֽׁחַר׃2xšā·ḥarPsalms 57:8, Psalms 108:2
בַּשַּׁ֕חַר1xbaš·ša·ḥarHosea 10:15
הַשַּׁ֣חַר1xhaš·ša·ḥarGenesis 19:15
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - masculine singular10xGenesis 19:15, Genesis 32:24, Genesis 32:26, Joshua 6:15
Noun - masculine singular9xJob 3:9, Job 41:18, Psalms 57:8, Psalms 108:2
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular2xHosea 6:3, Joel 2:2
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular1xHosea 10:15
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular1xIsaiah 58:8
Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct | third person feminine singular1xIsaiah 47:11
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Offer hopeful imagery without a deadline that shames someone whose hardship or illness persists.
- Keep practical mercy directed toward the person's need rather than treating assistance as a transaction purchasing a desired outcome.
Avoid claiming...
- Šaḥar does not establish that every hardship ends at the next sunrise or that a reader can command creation.
- The noun does not guarantee a healing timetable, reproduce Jacob's blessing or assign fault for delayed recovery.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Temporal threshold marking transition from darkness to light; carries theological weight as renewal and God's fresh mercies
Source Gloss
dawn (literal, figurative or adverbial)
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Temporal threshold marking transition from darkness to light; carries theological weight as renewal and God's fresh mercies
dawn (literal, figurative or adverbial) BDB: dawn Usage: day(-spring), early, light, morning, whence riseth.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
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
Genesis uses daybreak to place an encounter in time, while Job uses dawn in a question about the limits of human power. Psalm 139 stretches the imagination through dawn's wings and the distant sea, only to insist that God's presence and guiding hand remain. These different functions cannot be replaced by one dictionary promise that morning automatically brings the reader's requested outcome.
Isaiah's dawn-like light belongs to an address that exposes oppressive fasting and calls for freeing burdens and sharing food, shelter and clothing. Hope and practical mercy are held together, but the image does not create a medical mechanism or permit blaming someone whose recovery is slower than expected. Romans 13:11-14 supplies a Christian comparison in which approaching day calls for changed conduct, not a universal dawn schedule for prosperity. Teaching should explain the local image and required response while leaving literal timing, individual health and present outcomes beyond a lexical noun's authority.
Anchor passage
Isa.58.8
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis 32:22-30 places daybreak within Jacob's particular wrestling encounter, request and blessing.
- Job 38:12-15 questions human control over the dawn and describes its effect in creation imagery.
- Psalm 139:7-12 uses dawn and darkness to affirm the reach of God's presence and guiding hand.
- Isaiah 58:6-10 joins dawn-like restoration with loosening burdens and meeting hunger, shelter and clothing needs.
- Romans 13:11-12 uses waking and approaching day to call readers away from deeds of darkness.
- Romans 13:13-14 specifies responsible conduct and being clothed with Christ rather than supplying an overnight prosperity deadline.
Dawn can function as a literal time noun, a poetic image or part of a comparison. Its construction and literary purpose determine the use; the wings image, narrative daybreak and restorative light do not establish one hidden prediction or universal schedule.
From Old to New Testament
Romans 13:11-14 uses the approaching day and ending night to urge responsible conduct and being clothed with Christ. It supplies a Christian comparison of daylight imagery's ethical purpose. It does not use the Hebrew noun or make every šaḥar occurrence a prediction that hardship or illness ends by the next sunrise.
Passage contextCanonical parallel