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Hour

20 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.

These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.

The verses

The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.

Daniel 3:6Easton · ISBE
And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Daniel 4:33Easton · ISBE
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
Judges 7:19Smith
¶ So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
Nehemiah 9:3Smith
And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.
Psalms 55:17Easton
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
Daniel 3:15ISBE
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour…
Daniel 4:19Easton
¶ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream…
Daniel 5:5Easton
¶ In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
Matthew 8:13Easton
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Matthew 13:25Easton
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Matthew 14:25Easton
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Matthew 20:1–5Smith
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about…

Show 8 more

Matthew 25:13 Easton
Matthew 26:40 Easton
Luke 12:38 Easton
Luke 12:39 Easton
John 11:9 Smith
Acts 2:15 Smith
Acts 3:1 Smith
Acts 10:9 Smith

In the reference works

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 12 references

First found in Dan. 3:6; 4:19, 33;5:5. It is the rendering of the Chaldee shaah, meaning a “moment,” a “look.” It is used in the New Testament frequently to denote some determinate season (Matt. 8:13; Luke 12:39).

With the ancient Hebrews the divisions of the day were “morning, evening, and noon-day” (Ps. 55:17, etc.). The Greeks, following the Babylonians, divided the day into twelve hours. The Jews, during the Captivity, learned also from the Babylonians this method of dividing time. When Judea became subject to the Romans, the Jews adopted the Roman mode of reckoning time. The night was divided into four watches (Luke 12:38; Matt. 14:25; 13:25). Frequent allusion is also made to hours (Matt. 25:13; 26:40, etc.). (See DAY.)

An hour was the twelfth part of the day, reckoning from sunrise to sunset, and consequently it perpetually varied in length.

Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 7 references

The ancient Hebrews were probably unacquainted with the division of the natural day into twenty-four parts; but they afterwards parcelled out the period between sunrise and sunset into a series of divisions distinguished by the sun’s course. The early Jews appear to have divided the day into four parts, (Nehemiah 9:3) and the night into three watches, (Judges 7:19) and even in the New Testament we find a trace of this division in (Matthew 20:1-5) At what period the Jews first became acquainted with the division of the day into twelve hours is unknown, but it is generally supposed they learned it from the Babylonians during the captivity. It was known to the Egyptians at a very early period. They had twelve hours of the day and of the night. There are two kinds of hours, viz. (1) the astronomical or equinoctial hour, i.e. the 24th part of a civil day, and (2) the natural hour, i.e. the 12th part of the natural day, or of the time between sunrise and sunset. These are the hours meant in the New Testament, (John 11:9) etc., and it must be remembered that they perpetually vary in length, so as to be very different at different times of he year. For the purpose of prayer the old division of the day into four portions was continued in the temple service. as we see from (Acts 2:15; 3:1; 10:9)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 4 references

our (sha`atha', she`a'; hora): Hour as a division of the day does not occur in the Old Testament; the term she`a' (sha`atha') found in Dnl, is Aramaic, and as used there denotes a short period or point of time of no definite length (Da 3:6,15; 4:33 (Hebrew 30); 5:5). The Greek hora is commonly used in the New Testament in the same way, as "that same hour," "from that hour," etc., but it also occurs as a division of the day, as, "the third hour," "the ninth hour," etc. The Hebrews would seem to have become acquainted with this division of time through the Babylonians, but whether before the captivity we are not certain. The mention of the sun dial of Ahaz would seem to indicate some such reckoning of time during the monarchy.

See TIME.

H. Porter

Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.

Hour

The verses

In the reference works

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