📖 Biblical Definition
Dawn is the breaking of the morning light — and in Scripture, the hour the women came to the tomb on Resurrection morning. All four Gospels record it: "In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre" (Matthew 28:1; cf. Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). They are unanimous: first-day-of-the-week dawn. Lamentations names the LORD’s mercies new at the same hour: "It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23). Christian men should learn to meet the LORD at dawn.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
DAWN, n.
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1. The break of day; the first appearance of light, in the morning. 2. First opening or expansion; first appearance of intellectual light.
📖 Key Scripture
Lamentations 3:22 — "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning."
John 20:1 — "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre."
Psalm 30:5 — "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
2 Peter 1:19 — "Until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern saints try to digest yesterday's manna; Lamentations 3:23 says the mercies are new every morning.
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Lamentations 3:23 is one of the most-quoted verses in the Bible, but the context is rarely remembered. Jeremiah is in the rubble of fallen Jerusalem. The whole book is funeral; chapter three is the bottom of the lament; and right at the bottom appears the line: his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Even on the worst day of national history, the dawn brought fresh mercy. The supply does not depend on the saint's circumstances; it depends on the Lord's character.
Resurrection morning was a literal dawn. Mary came to the tomb early, while it was yet dark; the stone was already rolled away. Christianity is permanently dawn-shaped. Whatever the night was, the morning brings new mercies, new commission, new evidence that the tomb does not hold the Lord. Wake early. Receive the morning's mercy. The dawn is not just astronomy; it is theology.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew shachar (H7837); Greek orthros (G3722).
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H7837 — shachar — dawn, daybreak
G3722 — orthros — dawn, daybreak
Usage
"Modern saints try to digest yesterday's manna; the mercies are new every morning."
"Christianity is permanently dawn-shaped; the tomb did not hold the Lord at first light."
"The dawn is not just astronomy; it is theology."