Jeremiah 4:23

4:23 “I looked at the land and saw ¹  that it was an empty wasteland. ² 

I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.

Ecclesiastes 11:8

11:8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all,

but let him remember that the days of darkness ³  will be many – all that is about to come is obscure. ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 12:1-2

Fear God Now Because Old Age and Death Come Quickly

12:1 So remember ⁵  your Creator in the days of your youth –

before ⁶  the difficult ⁷  days come,

and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

12:2 before the sun and the light ⁸  of the moon and the stars grow dark,

and the clouds disappear ⁹  after the rain;

Isaiah 5:30

5:30 At that time ¹⁰  they will growl over their prey, ¹¹ 

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ¹² 

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness. ¹³ 

Isaiah 8:22

8:22 When one looks out over the land, he sees ¹⁴  distress and darkness, gloom ¹⁵  and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 59:9

Israel Confesses its Sin

59:9 For this reason deliverance ¹⁷  is far from us ¹⁸ 

and salvation does not reach us.

We wait for light, ¹⁹  but see only darkness; ²⁰ 

we wait for ²¹  a bright light, ²²  but live ²³  in deep darkness. ²⁴ 

Amos 8:9-10

8:9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon,

and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. ²⁵ 

8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, ²⁶ 

and all your songs into funeral dirges.

I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ²⁷ 

and cause every head to be shaved bald. ²⁸ 

I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ²⁹ 

when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ³⁰ 

John 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ³¹  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ³²  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ³³  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

[4:23]  ¹ tn Heb “I looked at the land and behold...” This indicates the visionary character of Jeremiah’s description of the future condition of the land of Israel.

[4:23]  ² tn Heb “formless and empty.” This is a case of hendiadys (two nouns joined by “and” both describe the same thing): one noun retains its full nominal force, the other functions as an adjective. The words תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) allude to Gen 1:2, hyperbolically picturing a reversal of creation and return to the original precreation chaos.

[11:8]  ³ tn The phrase “the days of darkness” refers to the onset of old age (Eccl 12:1-5) and the inevitable experience of death (Eccl 11:7-8; 12:6-7). Elsewhere, “darkness” is a figure of speech (metonymy of association) for death (Job 10:21-22; 17:13; 18:18).

[11:8]  ⁴ tn The term הֶבֶל (hevel) here means “obscure,” that is, unknown. This sense is derived from the literal concept of breath, vapor or wind that cannot be seen; thus, the idea of “obscure; dark; difficult to understand; enigmatic” (see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הֶבֶל). It is used in this sense in reference to enigmas in life (6:2; 8:10, 14) and the future which is obscure (11:8).

[12:1]  ⁵ tn The imperative זְכֹר (zekhor, “Remember!”) is a figurative expression (metonymy of association) for obeying God and acknowledging his lordship over one’s life (e.g., Num 15:40; Deut 8:18; Pss 42:6-7; 63:6-8; 78:42; 103:18; 106:7; 119:52, 55; Jer 51:50; Ezek 20:43; Jonah 2:7; Mal 4:4). The exhortation to fear God and obey his commands in 12:13-14 spells out what it means to “remember” God.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn The temporal adjective עַד (’ad, “before”) appears three times in 12:1-7 (vv. 1b, 2a, 6a). Likewise, the temporal preposition בְּ (bet, “when”) is repeated (vv. 3a, 4b). These seven verses comprise one long sentence in Hebrew: The main clause is 12:1a (“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth”), while 12:1b-7 consists of five subordinate temporal clauses (“before…before…when…when…before…”).

[12:1]  ⁷ tn The adjective רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) does not refer here to ethical evil, but to physical difficulty, injury, pain, deprivation and suffering (e.g., Deut 31:17, 21; 32:23; 1 Sam 10:19; Neh 1:3; 2:17; Pss 34:20; 40:13; 88:4; 107:26; Eccl 11:10; Jer 2:27; Lam 3:38); see HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4.b; BDB 949 s.v. רָעָה 2.

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the light and the moon and the stars.” The phrase “the light and the moon” is a hendiadys (two separate terms denoting one idea) or perhaps even a hendiatris (three separate terms denoting one idea) for “the light of the moon and stars” (e.g., Gen 1:14).

[12:2]  ⁹ tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) here denotes “to desist” (HALOT 1430 s.v. שׁוּב 3). It pictures the disappearance of the clouds as a result of the precipitation of their contents.

[5:30]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[5:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:30]  ¹² tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”

[5:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”

[8:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[8:22]  ¹⁵ tn The precise meaning of מְעוּף (mÿ’uf) is uncertain; the word occurs only here. See BDB 734 s.v. מָעוּף.

[8:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “ and darkness, pushed.” The word מְנֻדָּח (mÿnudakh) appears to be a Pual participle from נדח (“push”), but the Piel is unattested for this verb and the Pual occurs only here.

[59:9]  ¹⁷ tn מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), which refers to “justice” in the earlier verses, here refers to “justice from God,” or “vindication.” Because the people are unjust, God refuses to vindicate them before their enemies. See v. 11.

[59:9]  ¹⁸ sn The prophet speaks on behalf of the sinful nation and confesses its sins.

[59:9]  ¹⁹ sn Light here symbolizes prosperity and blessing.

[59:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “but, look, darkness”; NIV “but all is darkness.”

[59:9]  ²¹ tn The words “we wait for” are supplied in the translation; the verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[59:9]  ²² tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.

[59:9]  ²³ tn Or “walk about”; NCV “all we have is darkness.”

[59:9]  ²⁴ tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.

[8:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in a day of light.”

[8:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “mourning.”

[8:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”

[8:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).

[8:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”

[8:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.

[12:35]  ³¹ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ³² tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ³³ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.