When Sagui Dekel-Chen was finally released after 498 days of captivity in Gaza, he met his daughter Shachar Mazal for the first time. His wife Avital had given birth to their third daughter two months after October 7th, choosing a name that carried the weight of hope during Israel’s darkest hours. Sagui did not know the fate of his family from that terrible day. He spent the entirety of his captivity wondering if and when he emerged from the darkness of the torture tunnels, if he would be met with the light of a new day. The name Shachar – dawn – appears throughout biblical text not merely as a marker of time, but as a powerful symbol of divine promise and renewal.
What makes dawn such a persistent metaphor for hope in biblical tradition? The answer lies in both the linguistic roots and the theological significance of shachar (ש××Ø) in Hebrew scripture.
The first significant appearance of shachar comes at a pivotal moment in Genesis, during Jacob’s transformation into Israel. The text tells us that Jacob wrestles with a divine being until “the dawn (hashachar) broke”
This is not incidental timing – the breaking of dawn coincides precisely with Jacob’s receiving of a new name and divine blessing. The physical dawn mirrors a spiritual awakening, establishing a pattern that repeats throughout scripture.
The prophetic texts particularly emphasize shachar as a symbol of divine faithfulness. Hosea draws a direct parallel between God’s reliability and the dawn itself:
This comparison is significant – dawn represents not just hope, but certainty. Just as no night, however long, can prevent the sunrise, no period of darkness can prevent God’s promised redemption.
This certainty appears again in Isaiah’s writings. The prophet declares:
The Hebrew text uses shachar here specifically to emphasize the inevitability of this promise. Dawn doesn’t merely happen – it breaks forth, suggesting an active force that cannot be contained.
The Psalms provide some of the most vivid uses of shachar as both time marker and metaphor. In Psalm 57:8, David writes:
The Hebrew a’irah shachar (××¢××Ø× ×©××Ø) suggests that dawn itself can be summoned – a startling image that positions hope not as passive waiting, but active anticipation.
Perhaps the most striking use of shachar appears in Psalm 130:6:
The repetition serves a dual purpose – it echoes the watchman’s longing while emphasizing the absolute certainty of dawn’s arrival. The watchman doesn’t hope the morning might come; he knows it will come.
This certainty is embedded in the very structure of the Hebrew word. Shachar (ש××Ø) consists of three letters: shin (ש), representing divine power; chet (×), symbolizing life; and resh (×Ø), indicating primacy or beginning. Together, these letters paint dawn not just as a natural phenomenon, but as a divine appointment with renewal.
The rabbinical tradition expands on this connection between dawn and divine promise. The Talmud notes that the morning prayers must begin at shachar precisely because dawn represents the daily renewal of creation itself. Each sunrise reenacts God’s first creative act – “Let there be light” – serving as a living reminder that darkness is never permanent.
This understanding of shachar as both natural phenomenon and spiritual metaphor helps explain its enduring power as a symbol of hope. Dawn doesn’t triumph over darkness through force; it simply arrives, as it always has and always will. The certainty of this arrival transforms waiting from a passive state into an active expression of faith.
For the Dekel-Chen family, naming their daughter Shachar Mazal carried this weight of biblical promise – not just hope for reunion, but the certainty that light would return. In this way, their personal story echoes an ancient truth: darkness remains temporary, no matter how profound. Dawn will come, because dawn always comes. This is not merely optimism, but the deepest pattern of creation itself, written in Hebrew scripture and reflected in the daily miracle of sunrise.
The Hebrew Bible is a very big book – actually, 24 books, to be exact. Studying it can feel very overwhelming. Where do you start?
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