Matthew 27:45

 Matthew 27:45 

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

a. NASB 1995: Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. [NASB95 New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. YLT: And from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land unto the ninth hour,  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (three o’clock).  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Peshitta Eastern Text: Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land, until the ninth hour.  [HOLY BIBLE FROM THE ANCIENT EASTERN TEXT. Copyright  Ⓒ 1933 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1968 by A.J. Holmon Co.; All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.]

e. ESV: Now from the sixth hour[fn] there was darkness over all the land[fn] until the ninth hour. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”

a. Now [Strong: 1161 dé, deh; a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and, etc.:—also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).]

b. from [Strong: 575 apó, apo'; a primary particle; "off," i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative):—(X here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with.]

c. [the] sixth [Strong: 1623 héktos, hek'-tos; ordinal from G1803; sixth:—sixth.]

d. hour [Strong: 5610 hṓra, ho'-rah; apparently a primary word; an "hour" (literally or figuratively):—day, hour, instant, season, × short, (even-)tide, (high) time.]

e. [there] was [Strong: 1096 gínomai, ghin'-om-ahee; a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be ("gen"-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.):—arise, be assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be) come (to pass), continue, be divided, draw, be ended, fall, be finished, follow, be found, be fulfilled, + God forbid, grow, happen, have, be kept, be made, be married, be ordained to be, partake, pass, be performed, be published, require, seem, be showed, × soon as it was, sound, be taken, be turned, use, wax, will, would, be wrought.]

f. darkness [Strong: 4655 skótos, skot'-os; from the base of G4639; shadiness, i.e. obscurity (literally or figuratively):—darkness.]

g. over [Strong: 1909 epí, ep-ee'; a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution (with the genitive case), i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative case) at, on, etc.; of direction (with the accusative case) towards, upon, etc.:—about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as (touching), at, beside, × have charge of, (be-, (where-))fore, in (a place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-)on (behalf of), over, (by, for) the space of, through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), with.]

h. all [Strong: 3956 pâs, pas; including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole:—all (manner of, means), alway(-s), any (one), × daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no(-thing), X thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.]

i. the [Strong: 3588. [tēn] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [tēn] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

j. land [Strong: 1093 gē, ghay; contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (including the occupants in each application):—country, earth(-ly), ground, land, world.]

k. unto [Strong: 2193 héōs, heh'-oce; of uncertain affinity; a conjunction, preposition and adverb of continuance, until (of time and place):—even (until, unto), (as) far (as), how long, (un-)til(-l), (hither-, un-, up) to, while(-s).]

l. [the] ninth [Strong: 1766 énnatos, en'-nat-os; ordinal from G1767; ninth:—ninth.]

m. hour [Strong: 5610 hṓra, ho'-rah; apparently a primary word; an "hour" (literally or figuratively):—day, hour, instant, season, × short, (even-)tide, (high) time.]

1). Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: 45. from the sixth hour … unto the ninth hour] From 12 to 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the hours of the Paschal sacrifice there was darkness over all the land] Not the darkness of an eclipse, for it was the time of the Paschal full moon, but a miraculous darkness symbolic of that solemn hour and veiling the agonies of the Son of Man, when human soul and body alike were enduring the extremity of anguish and suffering for sin.

2).  Benson Commentary: Matthew 27:45. Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour — From mid-day till three in the afternoon with us, (see note on Matthew 20:1,) there was darkness over all the land — Or, over all the earth, as the original expression, επι πασαν την γην, is more literally rendered in the Vulgate, and understood by many learned men; “the sun being darkened,” says Grotius, “as Luke informs us, not by the interposition of the moon, which was then full, nor by a cloud spread over the face of the sky, but in some way unknown to mankind.” It is true, the same expression sometimes evidently signifies only all the land, as Luke 4:25, where it is so translated. It seems, however, highly probable, if the darkness did not extend to the whole earth, or, to speak more properly, to the whole hemisphere, (it being night in the opposite one,) it extended to all the neighbouring countries. “This extraordinary alteration in the face of nature was peculiarly proper,” says Dr. Macknight, “while the Sun of righteousness was withdrawing his beams from the land of Israel, and from the world, not only because it was a miraculous testimony borne by God himself to his innocence, but also because it was a fit emblem of his departure, and its effects, at least till his light shone out anew with additional splendour, in the ministry of the apostles. The darkness which now covered Judea, together with the neighbouring countries, beginning about noon and continuing till Jesus expired, was not the effect of an ordinary eclipse of the sun; for that can never happen except when the moon is about the change, whereas now it was full moon; not to mention that total darknesses occasioned by eclipses of the sun never continue above twelve or fifteen minutes. Wherefore it must have been produced by the divine power, in a manner we are not able to explain.”