The Hebrew shachar means dawn, daybreak, or the first light of morning — the moment darkness gives way to light. The related verb (shachar, to seek early/diligently) may connect dawn with the idea of early, earnest seeking.
Shachar is a word of hope and divine faithfulness. Throughout Scripture, dawn is the moment of rescue after the night of danger — 'joy comes in the morning' (Psalm 30:5). The 'wings of the dawn' (Psalm 139:9) symbolize the farthest reach of existence. Most powerfully, God's mercies are 'new every morning (boqer)' (Lamentations 3:23), and He is described as coming forth 'like the dawn' (shachar) in Hosea 6:3. The Messianic figure of 'the bright Morning Star' (Revelation 22:16; cf. 2 Peter 1:19; Numbers 24:17 — 'a star will rise out of Jacob') builds on this dawn imagery. Christ is the eternal shachar — the Light who ends every darkness permanently.