Dawn

— the reflection of the sun’s rays in the air before sunrise and after sunset (Gen. 32:26 [32:24]). The phenomenon of the morning and evening dawn, beautiful everywhere, is especially majestic in the East. The dawn is often mentioned in Holy Scripture, and especially the morning dawn. “Let me go,” said He who wrestled all night with Jacob, “for the day breaketh [the dawn has risen]” (Gen. 32:26 [32:24]). “If I take the wings of the morning,” exclaims the Psalmist, “and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me” (Ps. 139:9–10 [138:9–10]).

The dawn is mentioned in various other places, e.g., Gen. 19:15; Job 38:12; Josh. 6:15, and elsewhere. In the Song of Songs, the beloved bride of the mystical Bridegroom is compared to the dawn: “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning?” and so on (6:10), exclaims the writer of the sacred book. The joyful event of true conversion to God is likewise compared to the dawn. “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,” says the prophet Isaiah (58:8). To the dawn, the daybreak, the morning star, is likened the prophetic word in the hearts of believers in relation to the light of the Gospel (2 Pet. 1:19). In the book of Job (3:9) the dawn is called “the eyelids of the morning.”