Hebrew word · H2096

זֹ֫הַר

zohar

brightness

Brightness, shining, radiance. Related to the verb zāhar, which in the causative form means 'to warn, enlighten', and in Aramaic and later Hebrew 'to shine'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

brightness, shining

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 8:2

Range of meaning

Brightness, shining, radiance. Related to the verb zāhar, which in the causative form means 'to warn, enlighten', and in Aramaic and later Hebrew 'to shine'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT 'brightness', BSB 'bright as the gleam'. The English is accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Bible only here and in Daniel 12:3 ('the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament'). Much later the word became the title of the medieval Jewish mystical book the Zohar, which took its name partly from Daniel 12:3. That later use plays no part in Ezekiel's meaning.

Where it appears

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 8:2 זֹ֖הַר brightness

    Then I looked and saw a figure like that of a man. From His waist down His appearance was like fire, and from His waist up He was as bright as the gleam of amber.

    Here: A rare word for shining light, used elsewhere in the Bible only in Daniel 12:3 ('the brightness of the sky'). The upper body glows rather than burns.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 12:3 כְּזֹ֣הַר like [the] shining of

    Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

    Here: A noun from the same root as the verb, so the line literally reads 'they will shine like the shining of…'. The only other use is in Ezekiel's vision of a glorious figure (Ezekiel 8:2), so the word carries the brilliance of heavenly vision, not ordinary daylight.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.