Lexical Summary nogah: Brightness, radiance, light Original Word: נֹגַהּ Strong's Exhaustive Concordance morning (Aramaic) corresponding to nogahh; dawn -- morning. see HEBREW nogahh NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Origin(Aramaic) corresponding to nogah Definition brightness, daylight NASB Translation break of day (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs [נ֫גַהּ] noun [feminine] brightness, daylight (ᵑ7 Syriac; Biblical Hebrew id.); — emphatic בְּנָגְהָא (K§ 54 c), 1) Daniel 6:20. Topical Lexicon Definition and Overview Strong’s Hebrew 5053, נֹגַהּ (nogah), designates the first faint light of dawn. Its lone Old Testament occurrence marks a precise moment when darkness yields to the promise of a new day. Textual Context Daniel 6:19 records: “At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions.” Historical Background Daniel 6 takes place under the Medo-Persian empire. Royal edicts were considered irrevocable (Daniel 6:8). By referencing the daybreak, the text stresses that the king kept vigil all night, constrained by his own law yet hoping against hope. In Near-Eastern culture, official business commonly resumed at dawn; thus the king’s immediate action accents his distress and Daniel’s influence upon him. Theological Significance 1. Transition from Darkness to Deliverance Intertextual Themes and Cross-References While 5053 appears only in Daniel 6:19, Scripture frequently employs dawn imagery: Together these passages weave a canonical motif: God often times rescue with the morning light, linking physical dawns to spiritual revelation. Christological Foreshadowing The pattern culminates in the resurrection, announced “very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise” (Mark 16:2). Nogah thus prefigures the empty tomb: divine vindication manifested at dawn. Practical Ministry Applications • Pastoral Counsel – Encourage believers enduring “night seasons” that God’s intervention may emerge at His appointed “first light.” Conclusion Though occurring only once, נֹגַהּ carries rich narrative and theological weight, illustrating the steadfast pattern of Scripture: God’s faithfulness shines brightest at the turning of the dawn. Forms and Transliterations בְּנָגְהָ֑א בנגהא bə·nā·ḡə·hā benageHa bənāḡəhāLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Daniel 6:19 HEB: בִּשְׁפַּרְפָּרָ֖א יְק֣וּם בְּנָגְהָ֑א וּבְהִ֨תְבְּהָלָ֔ה לְגֻבָּ֥א NAS: at dawn, at the break of day, and went KJV: very early in the morning, and went INT: dawn arose the break haste den 1 Occurrence |