Darkness

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

Over the face of the earth

• Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
• Job 38:9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
• Jeremiah 4:23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.

Called NIGHT

• Genesis 1:5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.

God creates

• Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.

Miraculous

In Egypt

• Exodus 10:21–22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt — a palpable darkness.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.
• Psalm 105:28 He sent darkness, and it became dark— yet they defied His words.

At Mount Sinai

• Exodus 20:21 And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
• Hebrews 12:18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;

At the crucifixion

• Matthew 27:45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
• Mark 15:33 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

Figurative

Of judgments

• Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
• Isaiah 8:22 Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
• Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
• Jeremiah 4:28 Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”
• Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
• Lamentations 3:2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.
• Ezekiel 32:7–8 When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you, and I will bring darkness upon your land,’ declares the Lord GOD.
• Joel 2:2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.
• Joel 2:10 Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
• Amos 4:13 For behold, He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind and reveals His thoughts to man, who turns the dawn to darkness and strides on the heights of the earth— the LORD, the God of Hosts, is His name.”

Outer darkness

• Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
• Matthew 22:13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
• Matthew 25:30 And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Power of darkness

• Luke 22:53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this hour belongs to you and to the power of darkness.”
• Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
• Colossians 1:13 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
• 1 Thessalonians 5:5 For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
• Revelation 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish

Of Spiritual Blindness

• Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
• Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
• Isaiah 50:10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.
• Matthew 4:16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
• Matthew 6:22–23 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
• Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
• Luke 1:79 to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
• John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
• John 3:19–21 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever practices the truth comes into th…
• John 8:12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

See BLINDNESS, SPIRITUAL

The darkness of the Holy of Holies was symbolical of the dwelling place of Jehovah

See MOST HOLY PLACE, under the topic [1222]TABERNACLE

See also the following scriptures

• Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
• 2 Samuel 22:10–12 He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet. He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness a canopy around Him, a gathering of water and thick clouds.
• 1 Kings 8:12 Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
• 2 Chronicles 6:1 Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
• Psalm 18:11 He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
• Psalm 97:2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
• Hebrews 12:18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;