Category:Darkness

Dark"ness, n.

1. The absence of light; blackness; obscurity; gloom. And darkness was upon the face of the deep. Genesis 1:2.

2. A state of privacy; secrecy. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light. Matthew 10:27.

3. A state of ignorance or error, especially on moral or religious subjects; hence, wickedness; impurity. Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19. Pursue these sons of darkness: drive them out From all heaven's bounds. Milton.

4. Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity; as, the darkness of a subject, or of a discussion.

5. A state of distress or trouble. A day of clouds and of thick darkness. Joel 2:2. Prince of darkness, the Devil; Satan. "In the power of the Prince of darkness." Locke.

Syn. -- Darkness, Dimness, Obscurity, Gloom. Darkness arises from a total, and dimness from a partial, want of light. A thing is obscure when so overclouded or covered as not to be easily perceived. As tha shade or obscurity increases, it deepens into gloom. What is dark is hidden from view; what is obscure is difficult to perceive or penetrate; the eye becomes dim with age; an impending storm fills the atmosphere with gloom. When taken figuratively, these words have a like use; as, the darkness of ignorance; dimness of discernment; obscurity of reasoning; gloom of superstition.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Darkness - The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Exodus 10:21) is described as darkness "which may be felt." It covered "all the land of Egypt," so that "they saw not one another." It did not extend to the land of Goshen (Exodus 10:23). When Jesus hung upon the Cross (Matthew 27:45; Luke 23:44), from the "sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour." On Mount Sinai, Moses (Exodus 20:21) "drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." This was the "thick cloud upon the mount" in which Jehovah was when He spake unto Moses there. The Lord dwelt in the cloud upon the mercy-seat (1 Kings 8:12), the cloud of glory. When the psalmist (Psalms 97:2) describes the inscrutable nature of God's workings among the sons of men, he says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." God dwells in thick darkness. Darkness (Isaiah 13:9, Isaiah 13:10; Matthew 24:29) also is a symbol of the judgments that attend on the coming of the Lord. It is a symbol of misery and adversity (Job 18:6; Psalms 107:10; Isaiah 8:22; Ezekiel 30:18). The "day of darkness" in Joel 2:2, caused by clouds of locusts, is a symbol of the obscurity which overhangs all divine proceedings. "Works of darkness" are impure actions (Ephesians 5:11). "Outer darkness" refers to the darkness of the streets in the East, which are never lighted up by any public or private lamps after nightfall, in contrast with the blaze of cheerful light in the house. It is also a symbol of ignorance (Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 60:2; Matthew 6:23) and of death (Job 10:21; Job 17:13).