The absence of natural light, Ge 1:2, and hence figuratively a state of misery and adversity, Job 18:6Ps 107:10Isa 8:22 9:1; also the absence of the sun and stars, and hence the fall of chief men and national convulsions, Isa 13:10Ac 2:20. "Works of darkness," are the impure mysteries practiced in heathen worship, Eph 5:11. "Outer darkness" illustrates the gloom of those on whom the gates of heaven are closed, Mt 8:12. The darkness in Egypt, Ex 10:21-23, was miraculous; also that which covered all Judea with sympathetic gloom at the crucifixion of Christ, Lu 23:43. This could not have been caused by an eclipse of the sun; for at Passover the moon was full, and on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.
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American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
A Dictionary of the Holy Bible, American Tract Society, c. 1859, edited by W. W. Rand.