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From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
Matthew 27:45 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
  • KJV Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
  • NKJV Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
  • NASB Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
  • NLT At noon, 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

Darkness covers the land from noon until three o'clock. A supernatural gloom marks Jesus' suffering.

Overview

From the sixth to the ninth hour an unnatural darkness falls over the land as Jesus hangs on the cross. The darkness signals divine judgment and the awesome significance of the moment, recalling prophetic images of the day of the Lord. Creation itself seems to mourn as the Son bears the weight of sin in the hours of deepest anguish.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Amos 8:9And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
  • Mark 15:33–34From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
  • Isa 50:3I clothe the heavens in black and make sackcloth their covering.”
  • Luke 23:44–45It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
  • Rev 9:2The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
  • Mark 15:25It was the third hour when they crucified Him.
  • Rev 8:12Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck. A third of the stars were darkened, a third of the day was without light, and a third of the night as well.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 27:45YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 27:45 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.