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The division of the day by hours is first mentioned in Daniel 3:6, 15; 4:19; 5:5. This mode of reckoning was borrowed from the Chaldeans. The reckoning of twelve hours was from sunrise to sunset, and accordingly the hours were of variable length (John 11:9).

The word “day” sometimes signifies an indefinite time (Genesis 2:4; Isaiah 22:5; Hebrews 3:8, etc.). In Job 3:1 it denotes a birthday, and in Isaiah 2:12, Acts 17:31, and 2 Timothy 1:18, the great day of final judgment.

DAYS JOURNEY The usual length of a day’s journey in the East, on camel or horseback, in six or eight hours, is about 25 or 30 miles. The “three days’ journey” mentioned in Exodus 3:18 is simply a journey which would occupy three days in going and returning.

DAYSMAN an umpire or arbiter or judge (Job 9:33). This word is formed from the Latin diem dicere, i.e., to fix a day for hearing a cause. Such an one is empowered by mutual consent to decide the cause, and to “lay his hand”, i.e., to impose his authority, on both, and enforce his sentence.

DAYSPRING (Job 38:12; Luke 1:78), the dawn of the morning; daybreak. (Comp. Isaiah 60:1, 2; Malachi 4:2; Revelation 22:16.)

DAYSTAR which precedes and accompanies the sun-rising. It is found only in 2 Peter 1:19, where it denotes the manifestation of Christ to the soul, imparting spiritual light and comfort. He is the “bright and morning star” of Revelation 2:28; 22:16. (Comp. Numbers 24:17.)

DEACON Anglicized form of the Greek word diaconos, meaning a “runner,” “messenger,” “servant.” For a long period a feeling of mutual jealousy had existed between the “Hebrews,” or Jews proper, who spoke the sacred language of palestine, and the “Hellenists,” or Jews of the Grecian speech, who had adopted the Grecian language, and read the