or names visible illumination, especially that which marks day and dispels darkness, and also figures guidance, justice, and restoration.

The noun most often denotes visible illumination: created light, daylight, the light of heavenly bodies, or illumination set against darkness. It also marks the arrival of morning and is used in figurative clauses for a condition of guidance, justice, restoration, or blessing contrasted with darkness.

1. Visible illumination and brightness · dominant

   Absolute singular uses name the illumination created and separated from darkness in Genesis 1:3 and Genesis 1:4; the APB renders the clause "Let there be light," followed by "there was light." The same concrete contrast appears where Israel has illumination in its dwellings in Exodus 10:23, and where the sun, moon, and stars are said not to give it in Isaiah 13:10.

   Genesis 1:3Genesis 1:4Exodus 10:23Isaiah 13:10Ecclesiastes 11:7Jeremiah 31:35
2. Morning light marking the end of night · common

   In construct singular forms, the noun marks the morning boundary for actions carried out through the night: Saul proposes pursuit "until the light of morning" in 1 Samuel 14:36, while David's group crosses the Jordan "until the light of the morning" in 2 Samuel 17:22. The APB likewise renders waiting until morning in 1 Samuel 25:36 and 2 Kings 7:9.

   1 Samuel 14:361 Samuel 25:341 Samuel 25:362 Samuel 17:222 Kings 7:92 Samuel 23:4
3. Guidance and public benefit pictured as light · common

   The noun is used in clauses of movement and commission rather than of a physical source: in Isaiah 2:5 the APB renders, "let us walk in the light of the LORD," and in Isaiah 42:16 it renders darkness before the blind becoming "light." In Isaiah 42:6 and Isaiah 49:6, the construct phrase "a light of nations" accompanies a covenantal and saving mission to the nations.

   Isaiah 2:5Isaiah 42:16Isaiah 42:6Isaiah 49:6Isaiah 60:3Isaiah 60:19
4. Justice, recovery, or favorable reversal contrasted with darkness · occasional

   The noun frames a desired or promised reversal from darkness: in Isaiah 58:8 the APB renders, "your light will break forth like the dawn," alongside healing and righteousness, and in Isaiah 58:10 it says that light will rise in darkness after care for the hungry and afflicted. Isaiah 59:9 instead depicts people awaiting light while walking in darkness, and Hosea 6:5 compares judgments coming forth to light.

   Isaiah 58:8Isaiah 58:10Isaiah 59:9Hosea 6:5Isaiah 51:4Job 12:22

In the Anselm Paraphrase: Across the cited verses, the APB commonly uses "light" in creation, celestial, morning, and darkness-contrast clauses, while also preserving figurative expressions such as "walk in the light of the LORD" and "a light to the nations." Because the paraphrase is not word-aligned, its wording confirms the clauses' overall imagery rather than fixing a distinct English rendering for every occurrence.