lay.lah denotes the nighttime period, whether marking an event, travel, watchfulness, or a day-and-night span.

The term consistently identifies the nighttime period: it locates actions and revelations in the dark hours, forms contrasts with day, and marks continuous spans such as journeys, vigils, or counted days and nights.

1. The nighttime period in events and durations · dominant

   The singular absolute form situates particular actions in nighttime: in 1 Kings 3:20 the APB renders a woman rising “in the middle of the night,” and in 2 Kings 25:4 it renders the soldiers fleeing “by night.” It also marks duration or contrast with day, as 2 Samuel 2:32 describes marching “all night” until day broke and 1 Kings 8:29 pairs it with day in a request that the eyes be open “night and day.” The plural absolute form in 1 Samuel 30:12 occurs in the counted span “three days and three nights.”

   1 Kings 3:202 Kings 25:42 Samuel 2:321 Kings 8:291 Samuel 30:12Exodus 12:42

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the term through phrases such as “that night,” “by night,” “all night,” “tonight,” and “night and day.” These phrases confirm the verses’ temporal setting rather than establishing separate lexical meanings.