And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Parallel translations
- WEB It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- BSB It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
- NKJV Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
- NASB It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until the ninth hour,
- NLT By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.
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
From noon to three, darkness covered the land. The cosmos itself marked the gravity of the Son of God's death.
Overview
Luke records a supernatural darkness during the hours of Jesus' suffering. This darkness signals divine judgment and the weight of sin being borne, recalling the plague of darkness in Egypt and prophetic images of the day of the LORD. Creation veils itself as its Maker bears the wrath due to sinners on the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 27:45Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
- Mark 15:33–34And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- Amos 8:9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
- Acts 2:20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
- Matt 27:52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
- John 19:14And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
- Amos 5:18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
- Mark 15:39And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
- Exod 10:21–23And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
- Ps 105:28He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.
- Hab 3:8–11Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
- Joel 2:31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 23:44 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.