'Thick' in the Bible

When the sun had gone down and a [deep] darkness had come, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch which passed between the [divided] pieces [of the animals].

So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt [no sun, no moon, no stars].

The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may believe and trust in you forever.” Then Moses repeated the words of the people to the Lord.

So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and flashes of lightning, and a thick cloud was on the mountain, and a very loud blast was sounded on a ram’s horn, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

So the people stood at a [safe] distance, but Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.

Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick (leafy) trees, and willows of the brook [and make booths of them]; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the [very] heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom.

“The Lord spoke these words with a great voice to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and He added no more. He wrote these commandments on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

“But Jeshurun (Israel) became fat and kicked [at God].You became fat, thick, sleek, and obstinate!Then he abandoned God who had made him,And scorned the Rock of his salvation.

Now Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a massive tree, and his head was caught in [the thick branches of] the tree; and he was left hanging [in midair] between heaven and earth, while the mule that had been under him kept going.

“He bowed the heavens also, and came downWith thick darkness under His feet.

“He made darkness canopies around Him,A mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

It was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

Then Solomon said,“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness [of the cloud].

Then Solomon said,“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

“As for that night, let darkness seize it;Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;Let it not be counted in the number of the months.

The [sunless] land of utter gloom as darkness itself,[The land] of the shadow of death, without order,And [where] it shines as [thick] darkness.”

“You say, ‘What does God know [about me]?Can He judge through the thick darkness?

‘Thick clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see,And He walks on the vault (circle) of the heavens.’

But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me],Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.

“There is no darkness nor deep shadowWhere the evildoers may hide themselves.

“He loads the thick cloud with moisture;He disperses the cloud of His lightning.

When I made the clouds its garmentAnd thick darkness its swaddling band,

He bowed the heavens also and came down;And thick darkness was under His feet.

He made darkness His hiding place (covering); His pavilion (canopy) around Him,The darkness of the waters, the thick clouds of the skies.

Out of the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,Hailstones and coals of fire.

He sent [thick, oppressive] darkness and made the land dark;And Moses and Aaron did not rebel against His words.

The Lord is God, and He has given us light [illuminating us with His grace and freedom and joy].Bind the festival sacrifices with cords to the horns of the altar.

The Lord is righteous;He has cut in two the [thick] cords of the wicked [which enslaved the people of Israel].

Then they will look to the earth, they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness and overwhelming night.

Now look, the name of the Lord comes from far away,Burning with His anger, and heavy with smoke;His lips are full of indignation,And His tongue is like a consuming fire.

“I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloudAnd your sins like a heavy mist.Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

Give glory to the Lord your God,Before He brings darknessAnd before your feet stumbleOn the dark and shadowy mountains,And while you are longing for lightHe turns it into the shadow of death,And makes it into thick darkness.

Concerning the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits (twenty-seven feet), and a line [an ornamental molding] of twelve cubits (eighteen feet) went around its circumference; it was four fingers thick, and [the pillar was] hollow.

Standing before these [images] were seventy elders of the house of Israel, and among them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan [the scribe], each man with his censer in his hand and a thick and fragrant cloud of incense was rising [as they prayed to these gods].

‘And it had strong branches for the scepters of rulers,And its height was raised above the thick branches and into the cloudsSo that it was seen [easily] in its height with the mass of its branches.

“Heap on wood, kindle the fire,Boil the meat well [done]And mix in the spices,And let the bones be burned.

“She has wearied Me with toil,Yet her great rust has not left her;Her thick rust and filth will not be burned away by fire [no matter how hot the flame].

‘Behold (listen carefully), Assyria was a cedar in LebanonWith beautiful branches and with forest shade,And of high stature,With its top among the clouds.

‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the thick boughs and the clouds, and its heart is proud of its height,

so that none of the trees by the waters may exalt themselves because of their height, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand [arrogantly] in their height. For they have all been handed over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit (the grave).”

As a shepherd cares for his sheep on the day that he is among his scattered flock, so I will care for My sheep; and I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.

Then he went to the gate which faced the east and went up its [seven] steps and measured the threshold of the gate, one rod in width; and the other threshold [of the gate inside the thick wall] was one rod in width.

Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits [thick, to accommodate side chambers]; and the width of every side chamber, four cubits, all around the temple on every side.

The building that was in front of the separate area on the side toward the west was seventy cubits wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.

A day of darkness and gloom,A day of clouds and of thick [dark] mist,Like the dawn spread over the mountains;There is a [pagan, hostile] people numerous and mighty,The like of which has never been beforeNor will be again afterwardEven for years of many generations.

That day is a day of [the outpouring of the] wrath [of God],A day of trouble and distress,A day of destruction and devastation,A day of darkness and gloom,A day of clouds and thick darkness,

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,Because the magnificent trees have been destroyed;Wail, O oaks of Bashan,For the inaccessible forest [on the steep mountainside] has come down.