Day of The Lord Word Study
In almost every case, the term ‘day of the Lord’ is preceded by ‘the,’ which indicates the author is discussing a single day. Also, in most cases, ‘the day of the Lord’ is spoken of as a day that will be dreadful for the nations, or sinners. Isaiah 13:9 speaks of destroying sinners, indicating this is a day of judgment by the Lord. Zephaniah 1:7-8 tells us that the Lord has prepared a specific sacrifice, but that He will punish those ‘in foreign clothes,’ perhaps speaking of those who have not done what God has commanded. Zephaniah 1:18 tells us that riches will not save people the day of the Lord’s wrath. Zephaniah 2:-3 speaks of ‘the day of the Lord’s wrath’ and ‘the day of the Lord’s anger’ – giving more descriptive terms for this day. The reader is commanded to seek righteousness and humility, with the hope of being sheltered from the anger of the Lord on the day of the Lord. This indicates the Lord may not harm the righteous. Zechariah speaks of ‘a day of the Lord’, indicating this author speaks of one specific example of what is apparently understood by many to be a day of judgment and wrath.
In the New Testament, ‘the day of the Lord’ still is spoken of in terms of judgment, but now it is accompanied by thoughts of being saved and found blameless on that day. Indeed, Acts 2:20-21 tells us that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” 1 Corinthians 1:8 tells us Jesus will keep us strong so we will be found blameless on the day of the Lord.
The Hebrew Lexicon only give definition of day that deal with temporal measurements, but the Greek Lexicon’s third definition for ‘day’ is most appropriate, given what we have seen in the verses. This definition is: “of the last day of this present age, the day Christ will return from heaven, raise the dead, hold the final judgment, and perfect his kingdom.”
Hebrew Lexicon definition
In Isaiah 13:6, the word for day has Strong’s number 03117 associated with it. When looking it up in the Hebrew Lexicon, we find it transliterated as yowm, pronounced yome. The lexicon gives these definitions:
1) day, time, year
a) day (as opposed to night)
b) day (24 hour period)
1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1
2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day’s journey
c) days, lifetime (pl.)
d) time, period (general)
e) year
f) temporal references
1) today
2) yesterday
3) tomorrow
KJV w/Strong’s Verse Count: Total:1931.
twice in Habakkuk; three times in Jonah; four times each in Nahum and Solomon; six times in Haggai and Obadiah; seven times each in Malachai and Ruth; ten times in Joel; thirteen times in Micah; fourteen times in Zephaniah; sixteen times in Ezra; seventeen times each in Amos and Lamentations; twenty times in Daniel; twenty-two times in Ecclesiastes; twenty-three times in Hosea; twenty-nine times in Proverbs; thirty-four times in 1 Chronicles; thirty-six times in Zechariah; forty times in Esther; forty-three times in Nehemiah; fifty-four times in Job; fifty-eight times in 2 Chronicles; sixty-one times in 2 Samuel; sixty-two times each in Josea and Judges; seventy-two times in 2 Kings; eighty-two times in Exodus; eighty-five times in Ezekiel; eighty-seven times in Leviticus; eighty-eight times in Numbers; ninety-two times in 1 Kings; one hundred seven times in Psalms; one hundred ten times in Isaiah; one hundred twenty-two times in Jeremiah; one hundred thirty-one times in 1 Samuel; one hundred thirty-nine times in Genesis; one hundred forty-six times in Deuteronomy.
Greek Lexicon definition
In 2 Peter 3:10, the word day has Strong’s number 2250 associated with it. Looking it up in the On-line Greek Lexicon, we find day is transliterated as hemera, pronounced hay-mer’-ah. The Lexicon gives four definitions:
1) the day, used of the natural day, or the interval between sunrise and sunset, as distinguished from and contrasted with the night
a) in the daytime
b) metaph., “the day” is regarded as the time for abstaining from indulgence, vice, crime, because acts of the sort are perpetrated at night and in darkness
2) of the civil day, or the space of twenty four hours (thus including the night)
a) Eastern usage of this term differs from our western usage. Any part of a day is counted as a whole day, hence the expression “three days and three nights” does not mean literally three whole days, but at least one whole day plus part of two other days.
3) of the last day of this present age, the day Christ will return from heaven, raise the dead, hold the final judgment, and perfect his kingdom
4) used of time in general, i.e. the days of his life.
KJV w/Strong’s Verse Count: Total: 336.
Once in each 1 John and 1 Timothy, Jude; twice in Colossians, Galatians, James; three times in Ephesians, 1 Peter, 2 Thessalonians; four times in 2 Corinthians, Philippians; five times in 2 Timothy; six times in 1 Thessalonians; seven times in 1 Corinthians; nine times in Romans; ten times in 2 Peter; eighteen times in Hebrews; twenty-one times in Revelation; twenty-six times in Mark; twenty-nine times in John; forty times in Matthew; seventy-nine times in Luke; and ninety times in Acts.
Verses:
Isaiah 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:9 See, the day of the LORD is coming –a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger– to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners
within it.
Ezekiel 13:5 You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD.
Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near– a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
Joel 1:15 Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand—
Joel 2:11 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?
Joel 2:31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Amos 5:18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light.
Amos 5:20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light– pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
Obadiah 1:15 “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited.
Zephaniah 1:14 “The great day of the LORD is near– near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there.
Zechariah 14:1 A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you.
Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.
Acts 2:20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 1:14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
2 Thessalonians 2:2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavenswill disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Similar verses:
Lamentations 2:22 “As you summon to a feast day, so you summoned against me terrors on every side. In the day of the LORD’s anger no one escaped or survived; those I cared for and reared, my enemy has destroyed.”
Ezekiel 7:19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD’s wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin.
Zephaniah 1:8 On the day of the LORD’s sacrifice I will punish the princes and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.
Zephaniah 2:2 before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’s wrath comes upon you.
Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
Reference
Bible Study Tools, The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon, (2008). [on-line] Available: http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebrew/
Bible Study Tools, The New Testament Greek Lexicon, (2008). [on-line] Available: http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Greek/
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