King James Bible Dictionary

The Jews reckoned the day from sunset to sunset (Leviticus 23:32). It was originally divided into three parts (Psalms 55:17). "The heat of the day" (1 Samuel 11:11; Nehemiah 7:3) was at our nine o'clock, and "the cool of the day" just before sunset (Genesis 3:8). Before the Captivity the Jews divided the night into three watches, (1) from sunset to midnight (Lamentations 2:19); (2) from midnight till the cock-crowing (Judges 7:19); and (3) from the cock-crowing till sunrise (Exodus 14:24). In the New Testament the division of the Greeks and Romans into four watches was adopted (Mark 13:35). (See WATCHES.)

The division of the day by hours is first mentioned in Daniel 3:6, 15; 4:19; 5:5. This mode of reckoning was borrowed from the Chaldeans. The reckoning of twelve hours was from sunrise to sunset, and accordingly the hours were of variable length (John 11:9).

The word "day" sometimes signifies an indefinite time (Genesis 2:4; Isaiah 22:5; Hebrews 3:8, etc.). In Job 3:1 it denotes a birthday, and in Isaiah 2:12, Acts 17:31, and 2 Timothy 1:18, the great day of final judgment.

A creative period
Genesis 1:5; Genesis 1:8; Genesis 1:13; Genesis 1:19; Genesis 1:23; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 2:2

Divided into twelve hours
John 11:9

Prophetic
2 Peter 3:8; Daniel 8:14; Daniel 9:24-27; Daniel 12:11-12; Revelation 11:3; Revelation 9:15; Revelation 12:6

Six working days ordained
Exodus 20:9; Ezekiel 46:1

Sixth day of the week called preparation day
Mark 15:42; John 19:14; John 19:31; John 19:42

First day of the week called the Lord's day
Revelation 1:10

Day's journey, eighteen or twenty miles
Exodus 3:18; 1 Kings 19:4; Jonah 3:4

Sabbath day's journey, about two thousand paces
Acts 1:12
Sabbath

Times of adversity called Day of the Lord
Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6; Isaiah 13:9; Isaiah 34:8; Jeremiah 46:10; Lamentations 2:22; Ezekiel 30:3; Amos 5:18; Joel 2:1; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:8; Zephaniah 1:18; Zephaniah 2:2-3; Zech 14:1

Judgment

Called Day of the Lord
Malachi 4:5; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10
Judgment

A figure of spiritual illumination
Proverbs 4:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:8

The variable length of the natural day at different seasons led in the very earliest times to the adoption of the civil day (or one revolution of the sun) as a standard of time. The Hebrews reckoned the day from evening to evening, (Leviticus 23:32) deriving it from (Genesis 1:5) "the evening and the morning were the first day." The Jews are supposed, like the modern Arabs, to have adopted from an early period minute specifications of the parts of the natural day. Roughly, indeed, they were content to divide it into "morning, evening and noonday," (Psalms 55:17) but when they wished for greater accuracy they pointed to six unequal parts, each of which was again subdivided. These are held to have been

1. "the dawn."
2. "Sunrise."
3. "Heat of the day," about 9 o'clock.
4. "The two noons," (Genesis 43:16; 28:29)
5. "The cool (lit. wind) of the day," before sunset, (Genesis 3:8)

   so called by the Persians to this day.

6. "Evening." Before the captivity the Jews divided the night into three watches, (Psalms 63:6; 90:4) viz. the first watch, lasting till midnight, (Lamentations 2:19) the "middle watch," lasting till cockcrow, (Judges 7:19) and the "morning watch," lasting till sunrise. (Exodus 14:24) In the New Testament we have allusions to four watches, a division borrowed from the Greeks and Romans. These were

7. From twilight till 9 o/clock, (Mark 11:11; John 20:19)
8. Midnight, from 9 till 12 o'clock, (Mark 13:35) 3 Macc 5.23.
9. Till daybreak. (John 18:28) The word held to mean "hour" is first found in (Daniel 3:6,15; 5:5) Perhaps the Jews, like the Greeks, learned from the Babylonians the division of the day into twelve parts. In our Lord's time the division was common. (John 11:9)

DAY, noun

1. That part of the time of the earth's revolution on its axis, in which its surface is presented to the sun; the part of the twenty four hours when it is light; or the space of time between the rising and setting of the sun; called the artificial day

And God called the light day Gen. I.

In this sense, the day may commence at any period of the revolution. The Babylonians began the day at sun-rising; the Jews, at sun-setting; the Egyptians, at midnight, as do several nations in modern times, the British, French, Spanish, American, etc. This day in reference to civil transactions, is called the civil day Thus with us the day when a legal instrument is dated, begins and ends at midnight.

3. Light; sunshine.

Let us walk honestly as in the day Romans 13:12.

4. Time specified; any period of time distinguished from other time; age; time with reference to the existence of a person or thing.

He was a useful man in his day

In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely

die. Genesis 2:2.

In this sense, the plural is often used; as, from the days of the judges; in the days of our fathers. In this sense also, the word is often equivalent to life, or earthly existence.

5. The contest of a day; battle; or day of combat.

The day is his own.

He won the day that is, he gained the victory.

6. An appointed or fixed time.

If my debtors do not keep their day Dryden.

7. Time of commemorating an event; anniversary; the same day of the month, in any future year. We celebrate the day of our Savior's birth.

DAY by day daily; every day; each day in succession; continually; without intermission of a day

DAY by day we magnify thee. Common Prayer.

But or only from day to day without certainty of continuance; temporarily.

To-day, adverb On the present day; this day; or at the present time.

DAYs of grace, in theology, the time when mercy is offered to sinners.

To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Psalms 95:7.

DAYs of grace, in law, are days granted by the court for delay, at the prayer of the plaintiff or defendant.

Three days, beyond the day named in the writ, in which the person summoned may appear and answer.

DAYs of grace, in commerce, a customary number of days, in Great Britain and America, three, allowed for the payment of a note or bill of exchange, after it becomes due. A note due on the seventh of the month is payable on the tenth.

The days of grace are different in different countries. In France, they are ten; at Naples, Eight; at Venice, Amsterdam and Antwerp, six; at Hamburg, Twelve; in Spain, fourteen; in Genoa, thirty.

DAYs in bank, in England, days of appearance in the court of common bench.