So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
- KJV And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
- BSB So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.
- NASB So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
- NLT So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and a deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses obeys and thick darkness covers Egypt for three days. God's word brings an oppressive, prolonged darkness.
Overview
The three days of total darkness display God's mastery over light and the heavens. The plague humiliates Egypt's sun worship at its very heart. Such enveloping darkness pictures the judgment and gloom that fall apart from God's presence. It deepens the dread building toward the climactic plague.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 105:28He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn’t rebel against his words.
- Rev 16:10The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain,
- Deut 5:22Yahweh spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me.
- Amos 4:13For, behold, he who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth: Yahweh, the God of Armies, is his name.”
- Exod 20:21The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.
- Joel 2:31The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Joel 2:2A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
- Deut 4:11You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 10:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.