מָחָר
tomorrow
‘tomorrow’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H4279 appears — 52 distinct verses across 14 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis 1 verse
Exodus 11 verses
- Exodus 8:10 לְ/מָחָ֑ר prep + n c ms He said, "Tomorrow." He said, "Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is none like Yahweh our God.
- Exodus 8:23 לְ/מָחָ֥ר prep + n c ms I will put a division between my people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be."'"
- Exodus 8:29 מָחָ֑ר n c ms Moses said, "Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don't let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh."
- Exodus 9:5 מָחָ֗ר n c ms Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, "Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land."
- Exodus 9:18 מָחָ֔ר n c ms Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.
- Exodus 10:4 מָחָ֛ר n c ms Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,
- Exodus 13:14 מָחָ֖ר n c ms It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that you shall tell him, 'By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage;
- Exodus 16:23 מָחָ֑ר n c ms He said to them, "This is that which Yahweh has spoken, 'Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning."
- Exodus 17:9 מָחָ֗ר n c ms Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God's rod in my hand."
- Exodus 19:10 וּ/מָחָ֑ר conj + n c ms Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments,
- Exodus 32:5 מָחָֽר n c ms When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh."
Numbers 4 verses
- Numbers 11:18 לְ/מָחָר֮ prep + n c ms Say you to the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore Yahweh will give you flesh, and you shall eat.
- Numbers 14:25 מָחָ֗ר n c ms Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
- Numbers 16:7 מָחָ֔ר n c ms and put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yahweh tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom Yahweh does choose, he [shall be] holy: you take too much on you, you sons of Levi.
- Numbers 16:16 מָחָֽר n c ms Moses said to Korah, You and all your company go before Yahweh, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:
Deuteronomy 1 verse
Joshua 9 verses
- Joshua 3:5 מָחָ֗ר n c ms Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you.
- Joshua 4:6 מָחָר֙ n c ms that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, What do you mean by these stones?
- Joshua 4:21 מָחָר֙ n c ms He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
- Joshua 7:13 לְ/מָחָ֑ר prep + n c ms Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, There is a devoted thing in the midst of you, Israel; you can not stand before your enemies, until you take away the devoted thing from among you.
- Joshua 11:6 מָחָ֞ר n c ms Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.
- Joshua 22:18 וּ/מָחָ֕ר conj + n c ms that you must turn away this day from following Yahweh? and it will be, seeing you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
- Joshua 22:24 מָחָ֗ר n c ms and if we have not [rather] out of carefulness done this, [and] of purpose, saying, In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel?
- Joshua 22:27 מָחָר֙ n c ms but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not tell our children in time to come, You have no portion in Yahweh.
- Joshua 22:28 מָחָ֑ר n c ms Therefore said we, It shall be, when they so tell us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.
Judges 2 verses
- Judges 19:9 מָחָר֙ n c ms When the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young lady's father, said to him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go home.
- Judges 20:28 מָחָ֖ר n c ms and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? Yahweh said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.
1 Samuel 8 verses
- 1 Samuel 9:16 מָחָ֡ר n c ms Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked on my people, because their cry is come to me.
- 1 Samuel 11:9 מָחָ֛ר n c ms They said to the messengers who came, Thus shall you tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance. The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
- 1 Samuel 11:10 מָחָ֖ר n c ms Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you.
- 1 Samuel 19:11 מָחָ֖ר n c ms Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If you don't save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be slain.
- 1 Samuel 20:5 מָחָ֔ר n c ms David said to Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening.
- 1 Samuel 20:12 מָחָר֙ n c ms Jonathan said to David, Yahweh, the God of Israel, [be witness]: when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, [or] the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send to you, and disclose it to you?
- 1 Samuel 20:18 מָחָ֣ר n c ms Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
- 1 Samuel 28:19 וּ/מָחָ֕ר conj + n c ms Moreover Yahweh will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow shall you and your sons be with me: Yahweh will deliver the host of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.
2 Samuel 1 verse
1 Kings 2 verses
- 1 Kings 19:2 מָחָר֙ n c ms Then Jezebel send a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don't make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
- 1 Kings 20:6 מָחָ֗ר n c ms but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.
2 Kings 4 verses
- 2 Kings 6:28 מָחָֽר n c ms The king said to her, What ails you? She answered, This woman said to me, Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.
- 2 Kings 7:1 מָחָר֙ n c ms Elisha said, Hear you the word of Yahweh: thus says Yahweh, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be [sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
- 2 Kings 7:18 מָחָ֔ר n c ms It happened, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;
- 2 Kings 10:6 מָחָ֖ר n c ms Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If you be on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.
2 Chronicles 2 verses
- 2 Chronicles 20:16 מָחָר֙ n c ms Tomorrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
- 2 Chronicles 20:17 מָחָר֙ n c ms You shall not need to fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; don't be afraid, nor be dismayed: tomorrow go out against them: for Yahweh is with you.
Esther 3 verses
- Esther 5:8 וּ/מָחָ֥ר conj + n c ms if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.
- Esther 5:12 לְ/מָחָ֛ר prep + n c ms Haman said moreover, Yes, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow also am I invited by her together with the king.
- Esther 9:13 מָחָ֗ר n c ms Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows.
Proverbs 2 verses
Isaiah 2 verses
- Isaiah 22:13 מָחָ֖ר n c ms and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.
- Isaiah 56:12 מָחָ֔ר n c ms Come you, [say they], I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, [a day] great beyond measure.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“tomorrow” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun מחר (mâchâr). Translators differ — “morrow” in the King James Version, then “tomorrow” (Berean Standard Bible), as the renderings breakdown shows. With 52 verses in 14 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. First canonically at Genesis 30:33, it enters the text early. Its meaning spans more than one sense — see its full sense range. See the sense tree, 52-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4279 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 52
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 52 distinct verses.
- 14 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 14 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #718
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 718 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 52 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 52 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 28 verses · 54%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 17 verses · 33%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 7 verses · 13%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Morrow 33×, Time to come 4×, Behold to morrow 3×
- American Standard Version: To-morrow 27×, Time to come 4×, Behold 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: Tomorrow 42×, Future 6×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Tomorrow 48×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4279 across 52 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4279 across 54 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 16 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4279 across 49 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 3 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4279 across 52 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 4 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. to-morrow (the day following the present day),
- a. as subst. Ex 16:23 שַׁבָּתוֹן שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ לְי׳ מָחָר to-morrow is a sabbath, etc., 1 S 20:5 חֹדֶשׁ מָחָר to-morrow is the new moon, v 18; in יוֹם מָחָר †Gn 30:33 Pr 27:1 Is 56:12; in the idiom. phr. כָּעֵת מָחָר at the like of the time, (being) to-morrow, = about to-morrow (v. כְּ 1 a) †Ex 9:18 1 S 9:16; 20:12 1 K 19:2; 20:6 2 K 7:1, 18; 10:6; and in לְמָחָר †Ex 8:19 לְמָחָר יִהְיֶה הָאֹת הַזֶּה, = for, against, to-morrow, Ex 8:6 Nu 11:18 Jos 7:13 Est 5:12. e.g. Exodus 16:23
- b. as adv. acc. Ex 8:25; 9:5 מָחָר יַעֲשֶׂה י׳ הַדָּבָר הָזֶּה, 10:4 הִנְנִי מֵבִיא מָחָר אַרְבֶּה, 17:9; 32:5 Nu 14:25 1 S 11:9 etc., Jos 11:6 מָחָר כָּעֵת הַזֹּאת; opp. to הַיּוֹם Ex 19:10 הַיּוֹם וּמָחָר Jos 22:18 2 S 11:12a; rhetorically, Is 22:13 כִּי מָחָר נָמוּת. e.g. Exodus 8:25
- 2. = in future time, Ex 13:14 כִּי יִשְׁאָֽלְךָ בִנְךָ מָחָר לֵאמֹר = Dt 6:20, Jos 4:6, 21; 22:24, 27, 28; so בְּיוֹם מָחָר Gn 30:33. e.g. Exodus 13:14
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.m., used often as adv., to-morrow, in time to come (Aramaic מְחַר, ܡܚܰܪ; prob. properly time in front, Köii. 263, cf. √, and Assyrian maḫru, front, often of time, though always of former time, of old, DlHWB 402):—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from אחר (ʼâchar) (H309) — to delay.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
מָחָר
- (b. h.; = מאחר; אָחַר) next day, future day. Mekh. Bo. 18 יש מ׳ עכשיו וכ׳ there is a maḥar which means now (the next day), and there is a maḥar which means some future time; Yalk. Ex. 225.—Ber. 28ᵃ למ׳ אני ואתה וכ׳ to-morrow I and you &c. Sot. 48ᵇ כל מי … מה אוכל למ׳ וכ׳ he who has bread in his basket and says, what shall I have to eat to-morrow? &c.—Y. Gitt. II, 44ᵃ bot. הוא לילה הוא למ׳ וכ׳ it makes no difference whether the same night or the next day or after some time; a. fr.—מָחֳרָת f., constr. מָחֲרַת. Men. 65ᵇ ממ׳ השבת מ׳ יו"ט ‘the morrow of the Sabbath’ (Lev. XXIII, 11) means the day after the first day of the Festival (Passover). Ib. או אינו אלא למ׳ שבת בראשית may it not mean the morrow after the regular weekly Sabbath?; a. e.—מָחֳרָתַיִם day after to-morrow. Midr. Till. to Ps. XII ולמ׳ נלך וכ׳ and the day after to-morrow we shall go &c. e.g. Leviticus 23:11
מְחַר
- Targ. Ex. XVII, 9. Targ. Prov. XXVII, 1 דְּלִמְ׳; a. fr.—Lev. R. s. 34 למ׳ לית היא הכא to-morrow she (the soul) is no more here. Y. Gitt. II, 44ᵇ top מחרא דמחר the day after to-morrow; a. e.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 18 distinct written forms H4279 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| מָחָר֙ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 1 Kings 19:2 | 9 |
| מָחָ֖ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Deuteronomy 6:20 | 7 |
| מָחָ֗ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Esther 9:13 | 7 |
| מָחָ֔ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 9:18 | 6 |
| מָחָ֑ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 8:29 | 4 |
| מָחָֽר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 32:5 | 3 |
| וּ/מָחָ֕ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 1 Samuel 28:19 | 2 |
| וּ/מָחָ֥ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Esther 5:8 | 2 |
| לְ/מָחָ֑ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 8:10 | 2 |
| מָחָ֛ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 10:4 | 2 |
| וּ/מָחָ֑ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 19:10 | 1 |
| וּ/מָחָ֣ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 2 Samuel 11:12 | 1 |
| לְ/מָחָ֛ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Esther 5:12 | 1 |
| לְ/מָחָ֥ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 8:23 | 1 |
| לְ/מָחָר֮ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Numbers 11:18 | 1 |
| מָחָ֞ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Joshua 11:6 | 1 |
| מָחָ֡ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 1 Samuel 9:16 | 1 |
| מָחָ֣ר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 1 Samuel 20:18 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4279, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 50 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 52 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 30:33
- Exodus 8:10
- Numbers 11:18
- Deuteronomy 6:20
- Joshua 3:5
- Judges 19:9
- 1 Samuel 9:16
- 2 Samuel 11:12
- 1 Kings 19:2
- 2 Kings 6:28
- 2 Chronicles 20:16
- Esther 5:8
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.