H0821 H0821
A watch of the night; a division of the nighttime hours used for military guard duty and poetic time-reckoning.
A feminine noun denoting a 'watch' — one of the divisions into which the ancient Israelites divided the night. The Israelites recognized three watches: beginning, middle, and morning. The word appears in both military and poetic contexts: the morning watch at the Red Sea when God threw the Egyptian camp into confusion (Exod 14:24), Gideon's surprise attack at the beginning of the middle watch (Judg 7:19), and Saul's dawn assault on the Ammonites (1 Sam 11:11). In the Psalms, it becomes a metaphor for the brevity of time — a thousand years in God's sight are like a watch in the night (Ps 90:4).
Senses
1. watch (night division) — A division of the nighttime hours, typically one of three watches into which the Israelite night was divided for guard duty or time-keeping. The Spanish 'vigilia' and English 'watch' both preserve the dual sense of staying alert and a measured period of darkness. The construct forms — 'watch of the morning' (Exod 14:24; 1 Sam 11:11), 'the middle watch' (Judg 7:19) — specify particular periods, while the plural 'watches' in Psalm 63:6 and 119:148 and Lamentations 2:19 denote the succession of night hours spent in meditation or mourning. Psalm 90:4 uses it memorably as a measure of fleeting time: a thousand years pass like a single night watch in God's reckoning. 7×
AR["الـ-هَزِيع", "الْهَزاَعاتِ", "في-هَزيعِ-اللَّيلِ", "فِي-هَزِيعِ", "هَزَعَاتِ-اللَّيْلِ", "وَهَجْعَةٍ"]·ben["-প্রহরে", "এবং-প্রহরী", "প্রহরা", "প্রহরে", "প্রহরের", "রাতের-প্রহরে", "সেই-পাহারার"]·DE["[אשמרות]", "der-Nacht-wacht", "der-wachen", "in-der-Nacht-wacht", "in-wachen-von", "in-watch-von", "und-ein-wachen"]·EN["and-a-watch", "in-the-night-watches", "in-watch-of", "of-the-watches", "the-night-watches", "the-watch"]·FR["[אשמרות]", "dans-veille", "dans-veille-de", "dans-veiller-de", "et-veille", "le-veiller", "veille"]·heb["אשמורות", "ב-אשמורות", "ב-אשמורת", "בְּ-אַשְׁמֹרֶת", "ה-אשמורת", "ו-אשמורה"]·HI["-रात-के-पहरों-में", "और-पहर", "पहर-की", "पहर-में", "पहरों-के"]·ID["dan-jaga", "di-waktu-jaga-malam", "jaga", "jaga-malam", "pada-waktu-jaga"]·IT["[אשמרות]", "e-vigilia", "il-vigilare", "in-osserva-di", "in-vegliare-di", "vigilia"]·jav["ing-gilir-jaga-dalu", "ing-jaga", "jaga", "jaga-dalu", "lan-kados-jaga-mbengi", "wonten-ing-jaga-wengi", "wonten-ing-jagi"]·KO["밤-의-한-경점-이라", "새벽-에", "야경-들-에서", "야경들-에", "야경들-의", "에-새벽-경비", "파수의"]·PT["a-vigília", "e-como-uma-vigília", "na-vigília-de", "nas-vigílias", "vigílias", "às-vigílias-da-noite"]·RU["в-стражах-ночных", "в-стражу", "и-как-стража", "страж", "стражи"]·ES["a-las-vigilias", "en-la-vigilia-de-", "en-vigilia-de", "en-vigilias", "la-guardia", "las-vigilias", "y-vigilia"]·SW["na-zamu-ya", "usiku", "wakati-wa-asubuhi", "zamu", "zamu-ya", "zamu-ya-usiku", "zamu-za-usiku"]·TR["de-nöbetin", "gece-nöbetlerinde-", "gece-nöbetlerini", "nöbetinde", "nöbetinde-", "nöbetler", "ve-nöbet"]·urd["اور-پہر", "بَ-پَہروں", "رات-کے-پہروں-سے", "پہر-میں", "پہروں-کے", "پہرے-کے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אַשְׁמוּרָה, אַשְׁמֹ֫רֶת n.f. watch (division of time);—abs. אַשְׁמוּרָה בַּלָּ֑יְלָה ψ 90:4; רֹאשׁ הָאַשְׁמֹרֶת הַתִּיכוֹנָה Ju 7:19; cstr. אַשְׁמֹרֶת הַבֹּקֶר Ex 14:24 (J), 1 S 11:11; pl. abs. אַשְׁמֻרוֹת La 2:19 ψ 63:7; 119:148.