Acts 6:4

6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Psalms 55:17

55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan, ¹ 

and he will hear ²  me. ³ 

Daniel 6:10

6:10 When Daniel realized ⁴  that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows ⁵  in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. ⁶  Three ⁷  times daily he was ⁸  kneeling ⁹  and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously.

Matthew 20:5

20:5 So they went. When ¹⁰  he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon, ¹¹  he did the same thing.

Matthew 27:45

Jesus’ Death

27:45 Now from noon until three, ¹²  darkness came over all the land. ¹³ 

Ephesians 6:18

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray ¹⁴  at all times in the Spirit, and to this end ¹⁵  be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

[55:17]  ¹ tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here.

[55:17]  ² tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions.

[55:17]  ³ tn Heb “my voice.”

[6:10]  ⁴ tn Aram “knew.”

[6:10]  ⁵ sn In later rabbinic thought this verse was sometimes cited as a proof text for the notion that one should pray only in a house with windows. See b. Berakhot 34b.

[6:10]  ⁶ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:10]  ⁷ sn This is apparently the only specific mention in the OT of prayer being regularly offered three times a day. The practice was probably not unique to Daniel, however.

[6:10]  ⁸ tc Read with several medieval Hebrew MSS and printed editions הֲוָה (havah) rather than the MT הוּא (hu’).

[6:10]  ⁹ tn Aram “kneeling on his knees” (so NASB).

[20:5]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he went out again about the sixth and ninth hour.”

[27:45]  ¹² tn Grk “from the sixth hour to the ninth hour.”

[27:45]  ¹³ sn This imagery has parallels to the Day of the Lord: Joel 2:10; Amos 8:9; Zeph 1:15.

[6:18]  ¹⁴ tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.

[6:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and toward it.”