Thursday 7 April 2016

Liylah

Grammar

Word: לילה
Representation: LYLH

Transliteration: Lie-lah
Noun: "night".
Strong Concordance: H3915


Exposition

This word appears more than 200 times in the Tanach. Its first appearance is in Genesis 1:5 where we read "...and [the Elohim] called out to the tangible-darkness "NIGHT!""

This style of naming is repeated later, when, in Genesis 1:8, where we read "And the-Elohim called to the firmament (rakia) "HEAVENS!" (shamayim)".

This renaming does not eliminate the prior name, and in fact the prior name will still be referenced from time to time. Rather, the new name is an expression of the previous name. Heavens cannot exist without a firmament, and night cannot exist without darkness. There is a dependency that continues.

In the case of "night", this new name marks the passage of time - day and night. When the blanket of darkness lays upon to upper waters, we have night. When the tangible darkness is rolled back and is replaced by light, it is no longer night.

Remember, these terms, day and night, are used when there are no suns or stars, and it was believed that the source of light and darkness was God ("I form the light and manifest the darkness..." - Isaiah 45:7)

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