I enjoy learning words in biblical Hebrew, looking them up in their biblical context for deeper meaning, and including those words in my conversations with God. Here are four biblical Hebrew words you might enjoy learning—and one of them, you probably already know.
Day and Night: Biblical Hebrew Words
The words for day and night—as well as morning and evening—are helpful to learn. They appear in several verses in the Old Testament, so you can look them up in their biblical context and check the biblical Hebrew lexicon for the most appropriate meaning in a particular verse.
These words are also relevant to use every day in prayer: “Lord, thank You for this day.” “Lord, I want to enjoy this morning with You, to be aware of Your presence throughout my day.” “Lord, I am glad to be with You this evening.” “Lord, keep watch over my family and me this night.” “Lord, thank You for creating day and night and for each new morning and evening.”
The word for “day,” you probably already know because it is the first word in the Hebrew holiday, Yom Kippur—Day of Atonement (or Day of Cleansing). Yom is the Hebrew word for “day.”
Let’s take a look at these words in Biblical Hebrew:
Day
Yom (with a long o sound)
יוֹם
Night
Lay-la (stress is on the first syllable, which sounds like “lie”)
לַיְלָה
Morning
Bo-qer (stress is on the first syllable; the q is pronounced like English k)
בֹּקֶר
Evening
Eh-rev (stress is on the first syllable)
עֶרֶב
Most Biblical Hebrew words have the stress on the final syllable. That’s why I note the exceptions when the stress is on an earlier syllable. It’s interesting (and easy to remember) that the words for morning, evening, and night all have the stress on the first syllable. And of course, the word for day only has one syllable.
Day and Night: Bible Verses
Let’s look at a few Bible verses where you can see these words printed in the Hebrew Bible and can look them up in the biblical Hebrew lexicon to find their meaning within the context of each verse.
Genesis 1:5 includes all four words. That’s a great starting place. You can search online under “Genesis 1:5 Hebrew text analysis,” and that will pull up Bible Hub’s Hebrew version of that verse.
You can click on each word to explore the meaning in the biblical Hebrew lexicon. The meaning is always based on the context of the verse where the word occurs. So, be sure to look for the lexicon meanings as the words are used specifically in Genesis 1:5.
Here are a few other verses where these words appear:
Yom (day) and Lay-la (night)
You can find both words referenced in Joshua 1:8, Psalm 74:16, and Jeremiah 33:20.
If the words or letters look different in some verses, it’s because the grammar of the sentence might change the word slightly—with prefixes, suffixes, or vowel changes.
Bo-qer (morning)
You can find this word in Exodus 12:10 and Exodus 10:13 (that last verse also includes the words for day and night).
Eh-rev (evening)
You will find this word in Exodus 12:18 and Psalm 141:2. If you look up that psalm under “Psalm 141:2 Hebrew text analysis,” you’ll find that this verse is a wonderful and simple prayer you can learn to say in biblical Hebrew. The pronunciation is given there for you.
Keep Exploring Biblical Hebrew Words
Those are just a few examples of Bible verses where you can find those four biblical Hebrew words. Just a few verses to get you started. See what else you can find.
There are other Hebrew words that are translated into English with a similar meaning, so don’t be surprised when you come across those. You’ll always be blessed by looking up each word in the biblical Hebrew lexicon, so you can get the meaning from the verse where you’ve found that word.
Day, night, morning, and evening are great words to learn in biblical Hebrew, to get used to reading the Hebrew alphabet, practice making the sounds, and including a few Hebrew words in your prayers. I hope you will enjoy learning those words.
If you would like to learn more about biblical Hebrew, you can find more lessons here.
Adventures with God 