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DAYSPRING.—The dawn or beginning of the day; cf. for the word 1Sa_9:26, Job_38:12; in NT only Luk_1:78 ( ἀíáôïëÞ ), but cf. the prophecy quoted Mat_4:18 ( öῶò ἀíÝôåéëåí áὐôïῖò ). Zacharias saw, in the remarkable events taking place, the coming of the new day and the dawning of hope for Israel: ‘the Lord, the God of Israel, hath visited and wrought redemption for his people’ (Luk_1:68); ‘the dayspring from on high shall visit us’ ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 fut. à B). ἈíáôÝëëåéí is often used for the rising of the sun (Mat_13:6, Mar_16:2, Jam_1:11) and stars (Num_24:17; 2Pe_1:19), and ἀíáôïëÞ , either in sing. or plur. form, for the East (Mat_2:1-2 etc.). In Rev_7:2; Rev_16:12 ἡëßïí is added, and there Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 substitutes ‘sunrising’ for Authorized Version ‘east.’ In LXX Septuagint ἀíáôïëÞ occurs for the rising of the moon (Isa_60:19). Light frequently stands for salvation and deliverance (Isa_58:10; Isa_60:1, Mal_4:2, Luk_2:32), and was specially applied to the Messiah, cf. Joh_1:9 etc., Eph_5:14 (see Edersheim, Life and Times, ii. 166). For ἀíáôïëὴ ἐî ὕøïõò in Luk_1:78 Vulgate has oriens ex alto.
Ἐî ὕøïõò , ‘from on high,’ presents some difficulty, as dawn does not come from on high; perhaps the ref. to a bright shining star is more in keeping (Meyer); ‘He is the Daystar from on high, bringing a new morning to those who sit in the darkness and death-shadows of the world’ (Liddon, Bamp. Lect.8 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] p. 248). Godet would connect these words with ἐðéóêÝøåôáé (‘it is from the bosom of Divine mercy that this star comes down, and it does not rise upon humanity until after it has descended and has been made man’), but this seems hardly necessary; ἐî ὕøïíò represents ‘from God,’ and ἀíáôïëὴ ἐî ὕøïõò is simply ‘God’s Messiah’ (Dalman, The Words of Jesus, pp. 223, 224).
A different translation is based on the fact that ἀíáôïëÞ in LXX Septuagint stands several times for öֶîַç , a ‘shoot’ or ‘branch,’ one of the prophetic names of the Messiah (Jer_23:5, Zec_3:8; Zec_6:12; cf. Jer_40:15 Theod. [Note: Theodotion.] ). So Edersheim: ‘Although almost all modern authorities are against me, I cannot persuade myself that the expression rendered “dayspring” is not here the equivalent of the Heb. öֶîַç Branch’ (op. cit. i. 158n. [Note: note.] ). But it seems a fatal objection that none of the other expressions in the passage correspond (‘to shine upon’ ἑôéöᾶíáé , ‘to guide’ êáôåõèῦíáé ); and ἐî ὓøïõò causes much greater difficulty (cf. Isa_11:1). Bleek wishes to combine the two meanings by supposing a play of words on the sprouting branch and the rising star; no Hebrew word will bear the double meaning, but LXX Septuagint comes near identifying this Messianic name with the appearance of light when it renders Isa_4:2 (‘in that day shall the branch ( öîַç ) of the Lord be beautiful and glorious’) by ἑôéëÜìøåé ὁ èåὸò ἑí âïõëῇ ìåôἁ äïîçò . If the source of Lk. be Aramaic, ἀíáôïëὴ may stand for some other word; cf. its use for ððַäּ ‘brightness’ (Isa_60:19), and in one MS, Qmg, for åָøַç ‘rising’ (Isa_60:3). See the Comm. of Godet and Plummer, in loc.
W. H. Dundas.