Exodus 20:21

20:21 The people kept ¹  their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness ²  where God was. ³ 

Deuteronomy 4:11

4:11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it ⁴  and yet dark with a thick cloud. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ⁶  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ⁷  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 8:12

8:12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses,

Psalms 97:2

97:2 Dark clouds surround him;

equity and justice are the foundation of his throne. ⁸ 

Psalms 104:3

104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. ⁹ 

He makes the clouds his chariot,

and travels along on the wings of the wind. ¹⁰ 

Matthew 27:45

Jesus’ Death

27:45 Now from noon until three, ¹¹  darkness came over all the land. ¹² 

Luke 23:44-45

23:44 It was now ¹³  about noon, ¹⁴  and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ¹⁵  23:45 because the sun’s light failed. ¹⁶  The temple curtain ¹⁷  was torn in two.

[20:21]  ¹ tn Heb “and they stood”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:21]  ² sn The word עֲרָפֶל (’arafel) is used in poetry in Ps 18:9 and 1 Kgs 8:12; and it is used in Deut 4:11, 5:22 [19].

[20:21]  ³ sn It will not be hard to expound the passage on the Ten Commandments once their place in scripture has been determined. They, for the most part, are reiterated in the NT, in one way or another, usually with a much higher standard that requires attention to the spirit of the laws. Thus, these laws reveal God’s standard of righteousness by revealing sin. No wonder the Israelites were afraid when they saw the manifestation of God and heard his laws. When the whole covenant is considered, preamble and all, then it becomes clear that the motivation for obeying the commands is the person and the work of the covenant God – the one who redeemed his people. Obedience then becomes a response of devotion and adoration to the Redeemer who set them free. It becomes loyal service, not enslavement to laws. The point could be worded this way: God requires that his covenant people, whom he has redeemed, and to whom he has revealed himself, give their absolute allegiance and obedience to him. This means they will worship and serve him and safeguard the well-being of each other.

[4:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[4:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”

[4:1]  ⁶ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[97:2]  ⁸ sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.

[104:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.

[104:3]  ¹⁰ sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[27:45]  ¹¹ tn Grk “from the sixth hour to the ninth hour.”

[27:45]  ¹² sn This imagery has parallels to the Day of the Lord: Joel 2:10; Amos 8:9; Zeph 1:15.

[23:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “And it was.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[23:44]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the sixth hour.”

[23:44]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “until the ninth hour.”

[23:45]  ¹⁶ tc The wording “the sun’s light failed” is a translation of τοῦ ἡλίου ἐκλιπόντος/ ἐκλείποντος (tou Jhliou eklipontos/ ekleipontos), a reading found in the earliest and best witnesses (among them Ì⁷⁵ א B C*^vid L 070 579 2542 pc) as well as several ancient versions. The majority of mss (A C³ [D] W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy) have the flatter, less dramatic term, “the sun was darkened” (ἐσκοτίσθη, eskotisqe), a reading that avoids the problem of implying an eclipse (see sn below). This alternative thus looks secondary because it is a more common word and less likely to be misunderstood as referring to a solar eclipse. That it appears in later witnesses rather than the earliest ones adds confirmatory testimony to its inauthentic character.

[23:45]  ¹⁷ tn The referent of this term, καταπέτασμα (katapetasma), is not entirely clear. It could refer to the curtain separating the holy of holies from the holy place (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.5 [5.219]), or it could refer to one at the entrance of the temple court (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.4 [5.212]). Many argue that the inner curtain is meant because another term, κάλυμμα (kalumma), is also used for the outer curtain. Others see a reference to the outer curtain as more likely because of the public nature of this sign. Either way, the symbolism means that access to God has been opened up. It also pictures a judgment that includes the sacrifices.