Devine Scripture

Matthew 27:45

What does Matthew 27:45 mean?

A plain-English look at Matthew 27:45 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Matthew 27:45 means

From the sixth hour to the ninth hour there is darkness over the whole land. This three-hour darkness is a cosmic sign accompanying Jesus’ suffering, suggesting creation’s mourning and the weight of judgment being borne. The darkness symbolically represents God’s displeasure, the eclipse of light as the Light of the world suffers, and the somber gravity of the crucifixion hour. It marks the death-dealing moment as not merely human tragedy but a universe-altering event with theological significance.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

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

KJV

King James Version · 1611

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

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

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

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Now from the sixth hour it was dark over all the land till the ninth hour.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

And from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land unto the ninth hour,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Now from [the] sixth hour there was darkness over the whole land until [the] ninth hour;

Context

After the mockery and the taunts (vv. 39–44), the narrative turns to cosmic phenomena at Jesus’ crucifixion. The darkness from noon to three underscores the extraordinary nature of these hours and prepares the reader for Jesus’ cry of abandonment and his eventual yielding of spirit (vv. 46–50) and the miraculous signs that follow (vv. 51–53).

v.44And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach.

v.45This passage

v.46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Luke 23:44

    And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,

  • Isaiah 50:3

    I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

  • Mark 15:33

    And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

  • Revelation 9:2

    And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

  • Amos 8:9

    And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

  • Revelation 8:12

    And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.

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