Reference: Darkness
American
The absence of natural light, Ge 1:2, and hence figuratively a state of misery and adversity, Job 18:6; Ps 107:10; Isa 8:22-9:1; also the absence of the sun and stars, and hence the fall of chief men and national convulsions, Isa 13:10; Ac 2:20. "Works of darkness," are the impure mysteries practiced in heathen worship, Eph 5:11. "Outer darkness" illustrates the gloom of those on whom the gates of heaven are closed, Mt 8:12. The darkness in Egypt, Ex 10:21-23, was miraculous; also that which covered all Judea with sympathetic gloom at the crucifixion of Christ, Lu 23:43. This could not have been caused by an eclipse of the sun; for at Passover the moon was full, and on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.
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Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness [was] over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God [was] hovering over the surface of the waters.
And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that [a person can] feel darkness." And Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens, and there was darkness of night in all the land of Egypt [for] three days. read more. No one could see his brother, and {because of it no one could move from where they were} [for] three days, but there was light for the {Israelites} in their dwellings.
The light becomes dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is put out.
[Those who] sat in darkness and gloom, prisoners of misery and iron--
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and [the] moon will not cause its light to shine.
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"
And he said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."
The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose [them].
Easton
The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Ex 10:21) is described as darkness "which may be felt." It covered "all the land of Egypt," so that "they saw not one another." It did not extend to the land of Goshen (ver. Ex 10:23).
When Jesus hung upon the cross (Mt 27:45; Lu 23:44), from the "sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour."
On Mount Sinai, Moses (Ex 20:21) "drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." This was the "thick cloud upon the mount" in which Jehovah was when he spake unto Moses there. The Lord dwelt in the cloud upon the mercy-seat (1Ki 8:12), the cloud of glory. When the psalmist (Ps 97:2) describes the inscrutable nature of God's workings among the sons of men, he says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." God dwells in thick darkness.
Darkness (Isa 13:9-10; Mt 24:29) also is a symbol of the judgments that attend on the coming of the Lord. It is a symbol of misery and adversity (Job 18:6; Ps 107:10; Isa 8:22; Eze 30:18). The "day of darkness" in Joe 2:2, caused by clouds of locusts, is a symbol of the obscurity which overhangs all divine proceedings. "Works of darkness" are impure actions (Eph 5:11). "Outer darkness" refers to the darkness of the streets in the East, which are never lighted up by any public or private lamps after nightfall, in contrast with the blaze of cheerful light in the house. It is also a symbol of ignorance (Isa 9:2; 60:2; Mt 6:23) and of death (Job 10:21; 17:13).
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And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that [a person can] feel darkness."
No one could see his brother, and {because of it no one could move from where they were} [for] three days, but there was light for the {Israelites} in their dwellings.
And the people stood at a distance, and Moses approached the very thick cloud where God was.
Then Solomon said, "Yahweh has said that [he] would dwell in the very thick cloud.
Before I go--and I will not return-- to [the] land of darkness and deep shadow,
The light becomes dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is put out.
Cloud and thick darkness [are] surrounding him; righteousness and justice [are] the foundation of his throne.
[Those who] sat in darkness and gloom, prisoners of misery and iron--
or look to [the] earth. But look! Distress and darkness, [the] gloom of affliction! And [it will be] thrust [into] darkness!
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; light has shined on those who lived in a land of darkness.
Look! The day of Yahweh [is] coming, cruel and wrath and [the] burning [of] anger, to make the earth a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and [the] moon will not cause its light to shine.
For look! darkness shall cover [the] earth, and thick darkness [the] peoples, but Yahweh will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you.
And at Tahpanhes the day will become dark when I break the yoke of Egypt, and in it the majesty of its strength will come to an end. A cloud will cover it, and its daughters will go into captivity.
A day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and thick darkness, like the dawn spreads on the mountains, a great and strong army! There has been nothing like it from old, and after it nothing will be again {for generations to come}.
But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great [is] the darkness!
"And immediately after the tribulation of those days, 'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.'
Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
And by this time it was about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour
And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose [them].
Fausets
The ninth Egyptian plague (Ex 10:21, etc.). Especially calculated to affect the Egyptians who worshipped Ra, the sun god. Its sudden and intense coming when Moses stretched out his hand marked it as supernatural. Its basis was natural, namely, the chamsin or sandstorm (see Septuagint), from the S.W. desert. It produces a darkness denser than the densest fog, so that no man rises from his place; men and beasts hide until it is over, for it penetrates even through well closed windows. This explains the peculiar phrase "darkness which may be felt." What still more marked its judicial character was (compare Isa 13:9-10; Joe 2:31; 3:15; Mt 24:29) "the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."
The date of Am 8:9 coincides with a total eclipse visible at Jerusalem shortly after noon, Feb. 9th, 784 B.C.; the date of Mic 3:6 with the eclipse June 5th, 716 B.C. (Dionys. Hal., 2:56); the date of Jer 15:9 with the eclipse of Sept. 30th, 610 B.C. (Herodotus, 1:74,103.) The darkness over all the land (Juaea) from the sixth to the ninth hour during Christ's crucifixion (Mt 27:45) cannot have been an eclipse, for it would not last three hours, seldom intensely more than six minutes. The eclipse, darkness and earthquake in Bithynia, noted by Phlegon of Tralles, was probably in the year before. This darkness at Christ's crucifixion was nature's sympathy with her suffering Lord; perhaps partly intended by the prophecy Am 8:9.
As the glory of the Lord shone around the scene of His birth (Lu 2:9), so a pall of darkness was fitly spread over His dying scene. By the paschal reckoning the moon must then have been at its full phase, when the sun could not be eclipsed. Darkness is the image of spiritual ignorance and unbelief (Isa 60:2; Joh 1:5; 3:19; 1Jo 2:8). "Outer darkness" expresses exclusion from the brightness of the heavenly banquet (Mt 8:12). "The works of darkness," i.e. sins (Eph 5:11). God dwells in thick darkness; i.e., we cannot penetrate the awe inspiring mysteries of His person and His dealings. But God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1Jo 1:5; 1Ki 8:12; Ps 97:2).
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And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that [a person can] feel darkness."
And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that [a person can] feel darkness."
Cloud and thick darkness [are] surrounding him; righteousness and justice [are] the foundation of his throne.
Cloud and thick darkness [are] surrounding him; righteousness and justice [are] the foundation of his throne.
Look! The day of Yahweh [is] coming, cruel and wrath and [the] burning [of] anger, to make the earth a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it.
Look! The day of Yahweh [is] coming, cruel and wrath and [the] burning [of] anger, to make the earth a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and [the] moon will not cause its light to shine.
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will keep back when it comes out, and [the] moon will not cause its light to shine.
For look! darkness shall cover [the] earth, and thick darkness [the] peoples, but Yahweh will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you.
For look! darkness shall cover [the] earth, and thick darkness [the] peoples, but Yahweh will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you.
She who gave birth to seven has withered away. She gasps her breath. Her sun {set} while still day. She has been put to shame and disgraced. And the remainder of them I will give to the sword {before} their enemies," {declares} Yahweh.
She who gave birth to seven has withered away. She gasps her breath. Her sun {set} while still day. She has been put to shame and disgraced. And the remainder of them I will give to the sword {before} their enemies," {declares} Yahweh.
The sun will be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.
The sun will be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.
[The] sun and [the] moon grow dark, and [the] stars {have withheld} their splendor.
[The] sun and [the] moon grow dark, and [the] stars {have withheld} their splendor.
And then in that day," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "I will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light.
And then in that day," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "I will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light.
And then in that day," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "I will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light.
And then in that day," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "I will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light.
Therefore [it will be as] night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. And the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them.
Therefore [it will be as] night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. And the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them.
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"
"And immediately after the tribulation of those days, 'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.'
"And immediately after the tribulation of those days, 'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.'
Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
And an angel of the Lord stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and {they were terribly frightened}.
And an angel of the Lord stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and {they were terribly frightened}.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.
And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.
And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose [them].
And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose [them].
And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there [is] no darkness in him at all.
And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there [is] no darkness in him at all.
Hastings
Morish
Used in various significations in scripture.
1. State of the earth before God said, Let there be light. Ge 1:2.
2. Temporary absence of light in the night. Ge 1:5.
3. Extraordinary darkness sent by God. Ex 10:21; 14:20; Mt 27:45.
4. The darkness by which God shrouded His glory. Ex 20:21; Ps 18:9,11; 97:2; Heb 12:18.
5. State of death as compared with natural life. Job 10:21-22.
6. Moral darkness as the consequent state of man fallen. Ps 82:5; Isa 9:2; Mt 4:16; Joh 1:5; 3:19; 2Co 6:14; 1Pe 2:9.
7. It characterises Satan and his agents. Lu 22:53; Eph 6:12; Re 16:10.
8. It is the abode of wicked spirits and will characterise the place of punishment of the wicked. Mt 8:12; 2Pe 2:4; Jude 1:6,13. God is light, and Christ came into the world as the true light: everything shut out from God, or opposed to God and to the Lord Jesus, must partake of moral darkness.
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Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness [was] over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God [was] hovering over the surface of the waters.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, [the] first day.
And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that [a person can] feel darkness."
[so that] it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. And {it was a dark cloud}, but it gave light [to] the night, [so that] {neither approached the other} all night.
And the people stood at a distance, and Moses approached the very thick cloud where God was.
Before I go--and I will not return-- to [the] land of darkness and deep shadow, to [the] land of darkness, like [the] darkness of a deep shadow and {chaos}, so that it shines forth like darkness.'"
So he bowed [the] heavens and came down with a thick cloud under his feet.
He made darkness his hiding place; all about him his covering [was] a darkness of waters, {thick clouds}.
They do not know or consider. They go about in the darkness, [so that] all [the] foundations of [the] earth are shaken.
Cloud and thick darkness [are] surrounding him; righteousness and justice [are] the foundation of his throne.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; light has shined on those who lived in a land of darkness.
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and the ones who sit in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned on them."
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"
Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
Every day [when] I was with you in the temple [courts], you did not stretch out [your] hands against me! But this is your hour and the domain of darkness!"
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.
because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places].
For you have not come to something that can be touched, and to a burning fire, and to darkness, and to gloom, and to a whirlwind,
And [the] angels who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling place, he has kept in eternal bonds under deep gloom for the judgment of the great day,
wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shameful deeds, wandering stars, for whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.
And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they began chewing their tongues because of the pain.
Smith
is spoken of as encompassing the actual presence of God, as that out of which he speaks, --the envelope, as it were, of divine glory.
The plague of darkness in Egypt was miraculous. The darkness "over all the land,"
attending the crucifixion has been attributed to an eclipse, but was undoubtedly miraculous, as no eclipse of the sun could have taken place at that time, the moon being at the full at the time of the passover. Darkness is also, as in the expression "land of darkness," used for the state of the dead,
and frequently, figuratively, for ignorance and unbelief, as the privation of spiritual light.
Joh 1:5; 3:19
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And the people stood at a distance, and Moses approached the very thick cloud where God was.
Before I go--and I will not return-- to [the] land of darkness and deep shadow, to [the] land of darkness, like [the] darkness of a deep shadow and {chaos}, so that it shines forth like darkness.'"
Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.
Watsons
DARKNESS, the absence of light. "Darkness was upon the face of the deep," Ge 1:2; that is, the chaos was immersed in thick darkness, because light was withheld from it. The most terrible darkness was that brought on Egypt as a plague; it was so thick as to be, as it were, palpable; so horrible, that no one durst stir out of his place; and so lasting, that it endured three days and three nights, Ex 10:21-22; Wisdom 17:2, 3. The darkness at our Saviour's death began at the sixth hour, or noon, and ended at the third hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon. Thus it lasted almost the whole time he was on the cross; compare Mt 27:45, with Joh 19:14, and Mr 15:25. Origen, Maldonatus, Erasmus, Vatablus, and others, were of opinion that this darkness covered Judea only; which is sometimes called the whole earth; that is, the whole country. Chrysostom, Euthymius, Theophylact, and others, thought it extended over a hemisphere. Origen says it was caused by a thick mist, which precluded the sight of the sun. That it was preternatural is certain, for, the moon being at full, a natural eclipse of the sun was impossible. Darkness is sometimes used metaphorically for death. "The land of darkness" is the grave, Job 10:22; Ps 107:10. It is also used to denote misfortunes and calamities: "A day of darkness" is a day of affliction, Esther 11:8. "Let that day be darkness; let darkness stain it,"
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Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness [was] over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God [was] hovering over the surface of the waters.
And Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that [a person can] feel darkness." And Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens, and there was darkness of night in all the land of Egypt [for] three days.
Let that day become darkness; may God not seek it from above, nor may daylight shine on it. Let darkness and deep shadow claim it; let clouds settle on it; let them terrify it [with the] blackness of day.
to [the] land of darkness, like [the] darkness of a deep shadow and {chaos}, so that it shines forth like darkness.'"
[Those who] sat in darkness and gloom, prisoners of misery and iron--
Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
Now it was the third hour when they crucified him.
(Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, "Behold your king!"