Hebrew word · H6150

עָרַב

'arevah

to grow dark

A verb built from 'erev, 'evening'. In the simple form it means 'grow dark, become evening' (Judg 19:9; Isa 24:11). The causative form, meaning roughly 'do at evening' or 'act late', appears only here in the Hebrew Bible.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to become evening, grow dark

1a) (Qal) to become evening, grow dark

1b) (Hiphil) to spend the evening, do at evening

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 1 Samuel 17:16

Range of meaning

A verb built from 'erev, 'evening'. In the simple form it means 'grow dark, become evening' (Judg 19:9; Isa 24:11). The causative form, meaning roughly 'do at evening' or 'act late', appears only here in the Hebrew Bible.

Against the English

English versions all give 'evening'. The supplied word-by-word gloss ('and [the] evening darkened') takes it too literally. Grammatically it is an adverb parallel to hashkem, 'and at evening', not a separate clause about the sky growing dark.

Used elsewhere in the period

Unique in this form. It looks like a deliberate coinage to match hashkem in sound and form, the way English says 'early and late'.

Where it appears

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 19:9 לַעֲרֹ֗ב to become evening

    When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.”

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 17:16 וְהַעֲרֵ֑ב and [the] evening darkened

    For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.

    Here: The same construction made from the word for 'evening'. It is used this way only here in the Bible, coined to rhyme with 'hashkem': 'early and late', morning and evening.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 24:11 עָֽרְבָה֙ it has become evening

    In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.

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