how to say “(four) in the morning” in Hebrew
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| by shaymus22 |
Hebrew uses a different expression. To mean, four in the morning, in Hebrew, you’d say, אַרְבַּע לִפְנוֹת בֹּקֶר (AHR-bah leef-NOHT BOH-kehr). This means, literally, four to the turning of the morning – or, as the pioneering Biblical commentator and prolific Hebrew philologist Rashi explains, לְעֵת שֶׁהַבֹּקֶר פּוֹנֶה לָבוֹא (leh-ET sheh-hah-BOH-kehr poh-NEH lah-VOH) – at the time when the morning turns itself to approach.
The expression לפנות בוקר need not be connected to a particular time in those wee hours of the morning. The Israeli musician Ehud Banai uses the term, for instance, in the song of his I wake up to every morning. He opens the song with, נִפְגַּשְׁנוּ לפנות בוקר (neef-GAHSH-noo leef-NOHT BOH-kehr) – we met in the early morning… not mentioning exactly when the two met, but making it clear it was before daybreak.
