Genesis 1:5

1:5 God called ¹  the light “day” and the darkness ²  “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. ³ 

Genesis 1:8

1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” ⁴  There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

Leviticus 24:3

24:3 Outside the veil-canopy ⁵  of the congregation in the Meeting Tent Aaron ⁶  must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁷ 

Psalms 134:1

Psalm 134 ⁸ 

A song of ascents. ⁹ 

134:1 Attention! ¹⁰  Praise the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,

who serve ¹¹  in the Lord’s temple during the night.

¹ tn Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.”

² tn Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.”

⁴ tn Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”

⁵ tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).

⁶ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, and the LXX add “and his sons.”

⁷ tn Heb “for your generations.”

⁸ sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).

⁹ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Look!”

¹¹ tn Heb “stand.”