Ecclesiastes' call to enjoy youth before old age arrives includes this disputed term. Does it mean 'the dawn' (thus 'the dawn of life,' youth), or 'blackness' (thus 'blackness of hair,' vigor)? The two meanings seem contradictory—dawn suggests light, while blackness suggests darkness—but Hebrew שׁחר can relate to both dawn and black. Context clearly points to youthfulness however interpreted. The Targum reads it as black hair (marking prime of life), while others take it metaphorically as life's dawn. Either way, it represents fleeting vitality.