Night:
nit.
1. In the Old Testament:
Figurative uses: The word "night" (laylah or layil is sometimes used figuratively in the Old Testament. Thus, Moses compares the brevity of time, the lapse of a thousand years, to "a watch in the night" (Ps 90:4). Adversity is depicted by it in such places as Job 35:10; compare Isa 8:20; Jer 15:9. Disappointment and despair are apparently depicted by it in the "burden of Dumah" (Isa 21:11,12); and spiritual blindness, coming upon the false prophets (Mic 3:6); again sudden and overwhelming confusion (Am 5:8; Isa 59:10 the King James Version, nesheph, "twilight" as in the Revised Version (British and American)).
2. In the New Testament:
On the lips of Jesus (Joh 9:4) it signifies the end of opportunity to labor; repeated in that touching little allegory spoken to His disciples when He was called to the grave of Lazarus (Joh 11:9,10). Paul also uses the figure in reference to the Parousia (Ro 13:12), where "night" seems to refer to the present aeon and "day" to the aeon to come. He also uses it in 1Th 5:5,7 where the status of the redeemed is depicted by "day," that of the unregenerate by "night," again, as the context shows, in reference to the Parousia. In Re 21:25 and 22:5, the passing of the "night" indicates the realization of that to which the Parousia looked forward, the establishment of the kingdom of God forever. See also Delitzsch, Iris, 35.
Written by Henry E. Dosker
See DAY AND NIGHT
The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.
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