I. יון (√ of foll.; meaning unknown). H3119
by day, in the daytime — a temporal adverb marking actions that occur during daylight hours
Yomam is the adverbial counterpart of laylah ('by night'), and the two words together form one of Hebrew's most characteristic merisms for continual, unceasing activity. Its 51 occurrences paint a vivid picture of God's ceaseless guidance: the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night that led Israel through the wilderness (Exod 13:21-22; Num 14:14; Neh 9:12, 19), the shade from heat by day and shelter from storm (Isa 4:6), and the steadfast love that the LORD commands 'by day' while his song accompanies 'by night' (Ps 42:8). Jeremiah uses the yomam-laylah pair to describe God's unbreakable covenant with creation itself (Jer 33:20, 25). The translations are straightforward: Spanish 'de dia,' French 'jour,' German 'bei Tag.'
Senses
1. by day, in the daytime — A temporal adverb meaning 'by day' or 'during the daytime,' used to locate events within daylight hours and very frequently paired with laylah ('by night') to express ceaseless duration or round-the-clock divine protection. The paradigmatic usage is the Exodus pillar imagery: 'The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud' (Exod 13:21), a motif recalled throughout the Psalms and Prophets (Ps 78:14; Isa 4:5-6; Neh 9:12). The adverbial -am ending is an archaic accusative of time, parallel in formation to other Hebrew temporal adverbs. All 51 occurrences carry this single daytime-temporal sense. 51×
AR["نَهاراً", "نَهارًا", "نَهَارًا"]·ben["দিনে"]·DE["Tag", "bei-Tag", "durch-Tag", "in-tagsueber", "tagsueber"]·EN["by-day", "day"]·FR["[ביומם]", "[יומם]", "jour", "par-jour"]·heb["ב-יומם", "יומם"]·HI["और-बादल-में", "दिन", "दिन-को", "दिन-में"]·ID["pada-siang-hari", "siang", "siang-hari"]·IT["da-giorno", "di-giorno", "giorno", "per-giorno"]·jav["ing-siyang", "rina", "siang", "siyang"]·KO["낮", "낮-에", "낮과", "낮에", "낮에도", "낮으로"]·PT["de-dia", "de-dia,", "dia"]·RU["днём"]·ES["de-día", "día"]·SW["mapema", "mchana", "na-usiku"]·TR["gündüz"]·urd["دن", "دن-میں", "دن-کو"]
Exod 13:21, Exod 13:21, Exod 13:22, Exod 40:38, Lev 8:35, Num 9:21, Num 10:34, Num 14:14, Deut 1:33, Deut 28:66, Josh 1:8, Judg 6:27 (+38 more)
Related Senses
H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H6258 1. and now (421×)G2250 1. day (388×)H5750 1. again, more, further (288×)H5769 1. forever, to eternity (280×)H6256 1. time, period (264×)H2320 1. month, calendar period (260×)H0310a 2. after (temporal) (258×)H3915 1. night, period of darkness (234×)H1242 1. morning (214×)H5750 2. still, yet (continuative) (166×)G5119 1. then (160×)G3568 1. now (147×)G2193 1. until (143×)G3825 1. (141×)G3752 1. (123×)H6153 1. evening, time of day (123×)H0227a 1. then (122×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
I. יון (√ of foll.; meaning unknown).