By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.
Parallel translations
- WEB It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- KJV And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth 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,
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 until the ninth hour.
- Mark 15:33–34When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- Amos 8:9It will happen in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh, “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 will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
- Matt 27:52The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
- John 19:14Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
- Amos 5:18“Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.
- Mark 15:39When the centurion, who stood by opposite him, saw that he cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
- Exod 10:21–23Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, 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. They didn’t rebel against his words.
- Hab 3:8–11Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea, that you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation?
- Joel 2:31The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
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.