Genesis 1:19 — Word Study
WLCוַֽיְהִי־ עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־ בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם רְבִיעִֽי׃ פ
BSAAnd there wasway·hî-▸ [came into being, existed] evening‘e·reḇ [sunset, the end of a day] and there wasway·hî-▸ [came into being, existed] morningḇō·qer [the break of day, a new beginning] the fourthrə·ḇî·‘î [fourth in a sequence, a period of time] dayyō·wm [a 24-hour period, a unit of time]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי־ | and there was | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
| עֶ֥רֶב | evening | Noun common, masculine singular absolute |
| וַֽיְהִי־ | and there was | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
| בֹ֖קֶר | morning | Noun common, masculine singular absolute |
| י֥וֹם | a day | Noun common, masculine singular absolute |
| רְבִיעִֽי׃ פ | fourth | Number -, ordinal masculine singular |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. |
| KJV | And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. |
| ASV | And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. |
| YLT | and there is an evening, and there is a morning — day fourth. |
| WEB | There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. |
| BBE | And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. |
Where they part company is י֥וֹם — see How Translations Differ.
Two main clauses describe the transition from evening to morning, culminating in the identification of the fourth day.
3 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
subjectעֶרֶב
verbהָיָה
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Genesis 1:19
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Fourth Day of Creationgenerated
Genesis 1:19 presents the conclusion of the fourth day of creation, where God establishes a rhythm of evening and morning. This pattern emphasizes the orderly nature of creation, as God separates light from darkness and marks the passage of time. The narrative continues to unfold the creative acts of God, leading into the subsequent days of creation, where life begins to flourish on earth.
Cross References
The Key Word — י֥וֹם, Yomgenerated
The word יוֹם (yom) refers to a day, specifically a 24-hour period. It encompasses a variety of time spans in the Bible, often denoting a literal day or a more figurative period. The parsing as a masculine singular noun indicates its role as a unit of time in the creation narrative.
In this verse, יוֹם is used to indicate the completion of the fourth day, marking a significant point in the creation account. The context of evening and morning surrounding this term highlights the cyclical nature of time established by God.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The sentence consists of two main clauses, each introduced by the verb וַֽיְהִי־, and there was. The first clause describes evening, and the second describes morning, indicating a sequence of time.
The structure emphasizes the transition from evening to morning, reinforcing the concept of a complete day. The repetition of the verb also highlights the significance of these time markers in the creation process.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, וַֽיְהִי־ is rendered as ἐγένετο (egeneto), meaning 'it came to be.' This choice reflects a similar sense of coming into existence, aligning with the Hebrew meaning.
The term for 'fourth' is translated as τετάρτη, which directly corresponds to the ordinal nature of the Hebrew term, indicating the fourth in a sequence.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Genesis 1:19 describes the fourth day of creation, highlighting the transition from evening to morning. This verse shows the order in which God created the world, emphasizing the rhythm of time established by the creation of day and night.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The evening and morning signify the completion of a day in the creation narrative, marking the transition from one phase of creation to another.
The fourth day is significant as it completes the first half of the creation week, where God establishes the celestial bodies to govern day and night.
In Hebrew, 'day' can refer to a literal 24-hour period or a more extended time frame, often contextualized within the creation narrative.
The patterns observed include the rhythmic cycle of evening and morning, indicating God's orderly process of creation.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- How do I see the rhythm of evening and morning in my own life?
- What does the concept of a day mean to me in my daily routine?
- In what ways can I reflect on the significance of time as created by God?
- How can I appreciate the order and structure in God's creation?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Bede comments on the significance of the fourth day in the creation account, linking it to the Passover lamb in Egypt.
It was evening, and it was morning, the fourth day. This is that memorable evening in which the people of God in Egypt offered a lamb in celebration of Passover;Early Church Fathers on Genesis 1 →
Commentators on this verse — 3 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Genesis 1:19 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Made by the rotation of the earth on its own axis, in the space of twenty four hours: this according to Capellus was the twenty first of April,
Read John Gill on Genesis 1 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: Let there be lights in the
Read Robert Jamieson on Genesis 1 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges14–19. Fourth Day. The Creation of the Heavenly Bodies Observe that the creation of the “lights” in the heaven on the fourth day corresponds to the creation of “light” on the first day. If we divide the six days into two groups of three, there are in each group four creative acts, and at the head of each group is the creation of light in two different forms, (1) elemental, (2) sidereal.
Read Cambridge on Genesis 1 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
Tyndale line
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
So the euening and the morning were the fourth day.
Strictly literal
And there was evening, and there was morning — a fourth day.
and there is an evening, and there is a morning — day fourth.
and there is an evening, and there is a morning—[the] fourth day.
And it was evening and it was morning, the fourth day.
This was evening and morning, the fourth day.
From the Latin
And the evening and morning were the fourth day.
Simplified
So there was evening, and then the morning, making day four.
And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text (MT) states, "וַֽיְהִי־ עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־ בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם רְבִיעִֽי׃ פ," which translates to, "And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day." The Septuagint (LXX) aligns with the MT in meaning, as it matches all six words, although its word order and articles differ due to translation choices. The Samaritan Pentateuch agrees with the MT word for word, stating, "ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום רביעי." The Dead Sea Scrolls provide varying levels of completeness: 1Q1 has no text here, while 4Q2 fully agrees with the MT. 4Q4 has one word intact, with two partly restored and three supplied by an editor, and 4Q7 has no text, with one word partly restored and five supplied. Overall, the MT is consistently supported by the other witnesses, with minor variations in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
וַֽיְהִי־ עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־ בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם רְבִיעִֽי׃ פ
6 of the 6 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום רביעי
Agrees with the Masoretic Text here, word for word.
[ויהי] [ערב] [ויהי] [בקר] [יום] [רביעי]
nothing on the leather here — 6 supplied entire by an editor.
ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום רביעי
6 words on the leather.
ויהי ערב ויהי [בקר] [יום] [רביעי]
1 word on the leather — 2 partly restored, 3 supplied entire by an editor.
[ויהי] [ערב] [ויהי] [בקר] [יום] רביעי
nothing on the leather here — 1 partly restored, 5 supplied entire by an editor.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Genesis 1:19
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
The Hebrew word הָיָה (hayah) is a primitive root meaning to exist or become, and it encompasses a range of meanings including to happen, occur, and come to pass. It is often used in narrative contexts, particularly in phrases like "and it came to pass." The word can also denote a state of being or existence, and it appears frequently in various forms throughout the Old Testament.
הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be
Qal
Fall out, happen
occur, take place, come about, come to pass
esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass
וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
Come into being, become
abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
sq. prep.
become
sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
sq. pred. adj.
become like
sq. pred. לְ pers.
sq. לְ pred.
oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.
with עַל and לְ
sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)
exist, be in existence
abide, remain, continue
with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie
as copula, joining subj. & pred.
H1961 הָיָה fall out, come to pass, become, be .. . . Fall out, happen
. occur, take place, come about, come to pass
. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass . . וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
. rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
. Come into being, become . . abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
. sq. prep.
. become . sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
. sq. pred. adj.
. become like
. sq. pred. + לְ pers.
. sq. לְ pred.
. oft. c. לְ pred. + לְ pers.
. with עַל and לְ
. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming) . exist, be in existence
. abide, remain, continue
1961 hayah haw-yaw
a primitive root (compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become,
come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or
auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished,
committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint,
fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit
(one-)self, require, X use.
see HEBREW for 01933
הָיָה (ha.yah) — to be.
1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out
1a) (Qal)
1a1) ---
1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass
1a1b) to come about, come to pass
1a2) to come into being, become
1a2a) to arise, appear, come
1a2b) to become
1a2b1) to become
1a2b2) to become like
1a2b3) to be instituted, be established
1a3) to be
1a3a) to exist, be in existence
1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time)
1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality)
1a3d) to accompany, be with
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to occur, come to pass, be done, be brought about
1b2) to be done, be finished, be gone
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms
עֶ֫רֶב (ereb) refers to the time of day known as evening or dusk, originally associated with sunset. It can also denote night, particularly in poetic contexts. The phrase 'between two evenings' suggests a time frame between sunset and darkness.
עֶ֫רֶב 131 n.[m.] (sun)set, evening
evening, orig. sunset
du. in phrase between two evenings, i.e. prob. between sunset and dark
(late poet.) = night
base
H6153 עֶ֫רֶב (sun)set, evening . . evening, orig. sunset
. du. in phrase between two evenings, i.e. prob. between sunset and dark
. (late poet.) = night
6153 `ereb eh'-reb
from 6150; dusk:--+ day, even(-ing, tide), night.
see HEBREW for 06150
עֶ֫רֶב (e.rev) — evening.
1) evening, night, sunset
1a) evening, sunset
1b) night
Noun - masculine singular — Noun common · masculine singular absoluteHNcmsa
Evening
The period following sunset with which the Jewish day began (Gen. 1:5; Mark 13:35). The Hebrews reckoned two evenings of each day, as appears from Ex. 16:12: 30:8; 12:6 (marg.); Lev. 23:5 (marg. R.V., “between the two evenings”). The “first evening” was that period when the sun was verging towards setting, and the “second evening” the moment of actual sunset. The word “evenings” in Jer. 5:6 should be “deserts” (marg. R.V.).
The Hebrews reckoned two evenings in each day; as in the phrase, "between the two evenings," Ex 12:6 Nu 9:3 28:4. In this interval the Passover was to be killed, and the daily evening sacrifice offered, Ex 29:39-41, Hebrew. According to the Carites, this time between the evenings is the interval from sunset to complete darkness, that is, the evening is the interval from sunset to complete darkness, that is, the evening twilight. Compare De 16:6. According to the Pharisees and the rabbins, the first evening began when the sun inclined to descend more rapidly, that is, at the ninth hour; while the second or real evening commenced at sunset. See DAY.
The Hebrew word הָיָה (hayah) is a primitive root meaning to exist or become, and it encompasses a range of meanings including to happen, occur, and come to pass. It is often used in narrative contexts, particularly in phrases like "and it came to pass." The word can also denote a state of being or existence, and it appears frequently in various forms throughout the Old Testament.
הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be
Qal
Fall out, happen
occur, take place, come about, come to pass
esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass
וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
Come into being, become
abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
sq. prep.
become
sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
sq. pred. adj.
become like
sq. pred. לְ pers.
sq. לְ pred.
oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.
with עַל and לְ
sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)
exist, be in existence
abide, remain, continue
with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie
as copula, joining subj. & pred.
H1961 הָיָה fall out, come to pass, become, be .. . . Fall out, happen
. occur, take place, come about, come to pass
. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass . . וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
. rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
. Come into being, become . . abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
. sq. prep.
. become . sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
. sq. pred. adj.
. become like
. sq. pred. + לְ pers.
. sq. לְ pred.
. oft. c. לְ pred. + לְ pers.
. with עַל and לְ
. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming) . exist, be in existence
. abide, remain, continue
1961 hayah haw-yaw
a primitive root (compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become,
come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or
auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished,
committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint,
fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit
(one-)self, require, X use.
see HEBREW for 01933
הָיָה (ha.yah) — to be.
1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out
1a) (Qal)
1a1) ---
1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass
1a1b) to come about, come to pass
1a2) to come into being, become
1a2a) to arise, appear, come
1a2b) to become
1a2b1) to become
1a2b2) to become like
1a2b3) to be instituted, be established
1a3) to be
1a3a) to exist, be in existence
1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time)
1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality)
1a3d) to accompany, be with
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to occur, come to pass, be done, be brought about
1b2) to be done, be finished, be gone
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms
בֹּ֫קֶר (boqer) means 'morning' and is derived from the root word for 'dawn.' It encompasses the time of day when light begins to appear, marking the end of night and the start of a new day. The term can also refer to the next day or morning after a specific point in time. It is associated with brightness and joy following periods of distress.
בֹּ֫קֶר 214 n.m. morning
morning (of point of time, time at which, never during which, Eng. morning = forenoon
morrow, next day
base
H1242 בֹּ֫קֶר morning . morning (of point of time, time at which, never during which, Eng. morning = forenoon
. morrow, next day
1242 boqer bo'-ker
from 1239; properly, dawn (as the break of day); generally,
morning:--(+) day, early, morning, morrow.
see HEBREW for 01239
בֹּ֫קֶר (bo.qer) — morning.
1) morning, break of day
1a) morning
1a1) of end of night
1a2) of coming of daylight
1a3) of coming of sunrise
1a4) of beginning of day
1a5) of bright joy after night of distress (fig.)
1b) morrow, next day, next morning
Noun - masculine singular — Noun common · masculine singular absoluteHNcmsa
mor'-ning: There are several Hebrew and Greek words which are rendered "morning," the most common in Hebrew being boqer, which occurs 180 times. It properly means "the breaking forth of the light," "the dawn," as in Ge 19:27; Jud 19:8,25,27. Another word with the same meaning is shachar (Ge 19:15; Ne 4:21; Isa 58:8). mishchar ("womb of the morning," Ps 110:3) is a poetical term derived from. the same root. See HIND OF THE MORNING. noghah, naghha' (Da 6:19 (Hebrew 20)), mean "brightness." hashkem, comes from…
- The second part of the day at the creation
Ge 1:5,8,13,19,23,31
- The first part of the natural day
- Ordained by God
- Began with first dawn
יוֹם (yowm) means 'day' and refers to a division of time, contrasting with night. It can denote a literal 24-hour period, a general time span, or even a year. The term is used in various contexts, including the 'day of Yahweh,' which signifies a time of divine judgment. It also appears in phrases indicating temporal references like today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
יוֹם 2285 n.m. day
day, opp. night
Day as division of time
יוֹם י׳ day of Yahweh, chiefly as time of his coming in judgment, involving often blessedness for righteous
Pl. days of anyone
Days
יוֹם = time
Phrases
base
H3117 יוֹם day . day, opp. night
. Day as division of time
. יוֹם י׳ day of Yahweh, chiefly as time of his coming in judgment, involving often blessedness for righteous
. Pl. days of anyone
. Days
. יוֹם = time
. Phrases
3117 yowm yome
from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm
hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one
sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by
an associated term), (often used adverb):--age, + always, +
chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to)
day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, +
(for) ever(-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as
(... live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually,
presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space,
then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble,
weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole
(+ age), (full) year(-ly), + younger.
יוֹם (yom) — day.
: day/when/time/period
1) day, time, year
1a) day (as opposed to night)
1b) day (24 hour period)
1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1
1b2) as a division of time
1b2a) a working day, a day's journey
1c) days, lifetime (pl.)
1d) time, period (general)
1e) year
1f) temporal references
1f1) today
1f2) yesterday
1f3) tomorrow
יוֹם (yom) — day: old.
: old/(full/many)[days]
1) day, time, year
1a) day (as opposed to night)
1b) day (24 hour period)
1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1
1b2) as a division of time
1b2a) a working day, a day's journey
1c) days, lifetime (pl.)
1d) time, period (general)
1e) year
1f) temporal references
1f1) today
1f2) yesterday
1f3) tomorrow
יוֹם (yom) — day: year.
: year[of_days]
1) day, time, year
1a) day (as opposed to night)
1b) day (24 hour period)
1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1
1b2) as a division of time
Noun - masculine singular — Noun common · masculine singular absoluteHNcmsa
da (yom; hemera): This common word has caused some trouble to plain readers, because they have not noticed that the word is used in several different senses in the English Bible. When the different uses of the word are understood the difficulty of interpretation vanishes. We note several different uses of the word:
(1) It sometimes means the time from daylight till dark. This popular meaning is easily discovered by the context, e. g. Ge 1:5; 8:22, etc. The marked periods of this daytime were morning, noon and night, as with us. See Ps 55:17. The early hours were sometimes called "the cool of the day" (Ge 3:8). After the exile the day. or daytime was divided into twelve hours and the night into twelve (see
Day
The Jews reckoned the day from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32). It was originally divided into three parts (Ps. 55:17). “The heat of the day” (1 Sam. 11:11; Neh. 7:3) was at our nine o’clock, and “the cool of the day” just before sunset (Gen. 3:8). Before the Captivity the Jews divided the night into three watches, (1) from sunset to midnight (Lam. 2:19); (2) from midnight till the cock-crowing (Judg. 7:19); and (3) from the cock-crowing till sunrise (Ex.…
The variable length of the natural day at different seasons led in the very earliest times to the adoption of the civil day (or one revolution of the sun) as a standard of time. The Hebrews reckoned the day from evening to evening, (Leviticus 23:32) deriving it from (Genesis 1:5) "the evening and the morning were the first day." The Jews are supposed, like the modern Arabs, to have adopted from an early period minute specifications of the parts of the natural day. Roughly, indeed, they were content to divide it into "morning, evening and noonday," (Psalms 55:17) but when they wished for greater accuracy they pointed to six unequal parts, each of which was again subdivided. These are held to have been -- "the dawn." "Sunrise."…
The day is distinguished into natural, civil, and artificial. The natural day is one revolution of the earth on its axis. The civil day is that, the beginning and the end of which are determined by the custom of any nation. The Hebrews began their day in the evening, Le 23:32; the Babylonians at sunrise; and we begin at midnight. The artificial day is the time of the sun’s continuance above the horizon, which is unequal according to different seasons, on account of the obliquity of the equator. The sacred writers generally divide the day into twelve hours. The sixth hour always ends at noon throughout the year; and the twelfth hour is the last hour before sunset. But in summer, all the hours of the day were longer than in winter, while those of night were shorter. See HOURS, and THREE.
רְבִיעִי (rbiy`iy) means 'fourth' and can also refer to a 'fourth part' or describe something as 'foursquare.' It is derived from the root word for 'four' and has both masculine and feminine forms. The term appears in contexts where ordinal numbers are used.
רְבִיעִי m., רְבִיעִית f., adj.num.ordin. fourth
base
H7243 רְבִיעִי, רְבִיעִית fourth
7243 rbiy`iy reb-ee-ee'
or rbiiy {reb-ee-ee'}; from 7251; fourth; also
(fractionally) a fourth:--foursquare, fourth (part).
see HEBREW for 07251
רְבִיעִי (re.vi.i) — fourth.
1) fourth
1a) fourth
1b) four square
1c) fourth part
Aramaic equivalent: re.vi.ay (רְבִיעִי "fourth" H7244)
Number - ordinal masculine singular — Number - · ordinal masculine singularHAomsa