H3916 H3916
Night; an Aramaic noun for nighttime, used in Daniel's apocalyptic visions received 'in the night.'
The Aramaic noun for 'night,' cognate with Hebrew laylah, appearing exclusively in the book of Daniel. It occurs in the emphatic state lelyeya, always marking the temporal setting of divine revelation: the mystery is revealed to Daniel 'in a vision of the night' (Dan 2:19), Belshazzar is slain 'that very night' (Dan 5:30), and the great apocalyptic beasts rise from the sea 'in my vision in the night' (Dan 7:2, 7, 13). German 'Nacht' and Spanish 'noche' render it straightforwardly, but the consistent pairing with vision-language in Daniel gives this ordinary time-word an extraordinary freight of revelation.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Night, nighttime—the Aramaic temporal noun marking when events or visions occur in the book of Daniel. Dan 2:19 uses the emphatic form lelyeya for the night when God reveals Nebuchadnezzar's dream to Daniel. Dan 5:30 marks Belshazzar's death 'in that night,' the climactic moment of judgment. Dan 7:2, 7, and 13 frame the apocalyptic beast visions as occurring 'in visions of the night.' Spanish 'la noche' and German 'in der Nacht' preserve the simple temporal sense, while the consistent apocalyptic context gives this ordinary word an atmosphere of divine disclosure unique in the Aramaic portions of Scripture. 5×
AR["الـ-لَّيْلِ", "اللَّيْلَةِ", "الَّليْلِ"]·ben["রাতে", "রাতের"]·DE["Nacht", "in-der-Nacht"]·EN["night", "the-night"]·FR["nuit"]·heb["ה-לילה", "לילה"]·HI["में-रात", "रात", "रात-के"]·ID["-malam", "hari", "malam-itu"]·IT["nella-notte", "notte"]·jav["dalu", "dalu-punika"]·KO["밤-에", "밤의"]·PT["a-noite", "noite"]·RU["-ночи", "ночи", "ночь", "ночью"]·ES["la-noche", "noche"]·SW["usiku", "usiku-ule"]·TR["gecede", "gecenin"]·urd["رات-کو", "رات-کی", "رات-کے"]
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
† [לֵילָא] n.[m.] night (v. BH לַ֫יְלָה);—emph. לֵילְיָא Dn 2:19; 5:30; 7:2, 7, 13.