The dark ; hence (literally) darkness ; figuratively, misery , destruction , death , ignorance , sorrow , wickedness
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H2822 names darkness, beginning with the absence or concealment of light and extending by context into gloom, distress, ignorance, death, judgment, or moral disorder. Scripture does not give the word one fixed emotional meaning.
Reader summary
Full entry for חֹשֶׁךְ (H2822) · Open the biblical lexicon
H2822 names darkness, beginning with the absence or concealment of light and extending by context into gloom, distress, ignorance, death, judgment, or moral disorder. Scripture does not give the word one fixed emotional meaning.
The BSB source-word alignment has 80 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include darkness (21), in darkness (11), of darkness (10), the darkness (8), in the darkness (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 1:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Job (23), Isaiah (14), Psalms (11), Ecclesiastes (6).
H2822 names darkness, beginning with the absence or concealment of light and extending by context into gloom, distress, ignorance, death, judgment, or moral disorder. Scripture does not give the word one fixed emotional meaning. Darkness can surround Sinai as a sign of divine presence and awe, cover Egypt in judgment, describe the wicked person’s end, or become a picture of the misery and confusion that accompany human sin.
David can also say that the Lord lights his darkness, making the word a setting in which divine illumination and rescue are recognized. The prophets warn that people may long for the Day of the Lord while failing to understand that the day can expose rather than flatter them. Ecclesiastes uses darkness to face the limits of wisdom and mortality without pretending that every question is resolved quickly.
H2822 therefore helps teachers resist two errors: treating darkness as proof that God is absent, or treating every difficult season as a simple symbol with one predetermined explanation. Read the word with the passage’s narrative, covenant, poetic, or prophetic frame, and let the text distinguish mystery, judgment, sorrow, evil, and hope.
H2822 moves from created and covenant darkness into judgment, human limitation, moral danger, and the Lord’s illuminating rescue. The word can describe what conceals, exposes, threatens, or humbles, so the surrounding passage must govern whether darkness is mystery, misery, or warning.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”
The darkness over Egypt is a tangible judgment, showing that the image is not merely private emotion but can describe God’s public confrontation with oppression.
You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
At Sinai, darkness accompanies terrifying revelation, reminding readers that God’s holiness can exceed human control without meaning that He is absent.
For You, O Lord, are my lamp; the Lord lights up my darkness.
David names personal darkness without denying it and confesses the Lord as the One who illuminates and guides him through it.
Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord! What will the Day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
Amos confronts presumptuous religious expectation, warning that the Day of the Lord will expose injustice rather than automatically confirm the audience’s confidence.
And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
Ecclesiastes acknowledges wisdom’s real advantage through the light and darkness comparison while leaving mortality as a limit on human mastery.
He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
Hannah’s song contrasts God’s guarded faithful with the wicked’s darkness and denies that human strength can secure a final victory.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Darkness as cosmic domain of chaos, death, and moral evil; God's light overcomes it
Darkness as cosmic domain of chaos, death, and moral evil; God's light overcomes it
the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness BDB: darkness Usage: dark(-ness), night, obscurity.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 80 lexical occurrence verses.
חֹשֶׁךְ is built from this root:
Darkness depicts the spiritual and societal consequences of rejecting divine revelation.Isaiah 8:16-22
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H2822 teaches readers to let context interpret darkness. At Sinai, deep darkness surrounds fire and revelation, so the word can mark holy mystery that humbles human confidence. In Egypt, darkness becomes a plague and a public judgment against a ruler who refuses to release the oppressed. Amos warns that people who long for the Day of the Lord may discover darkness rather than the vindication they expect, because divine judgment does not flatter unjust worship.
Ecclesiastes uses the image to face limits, sorrow, and mortality, while Hannah’s song places the wicked’s darkness under God’s sovereign judgment. David offers a different but related confession: his darkness is real, yet the Lord is his lamp. These passages prevent simplistic application. Darkness is not proof that God has abandoned a person, but neither should teachers use mystery language to hide evil, injustice, or the consequences of false worship.
H2822 gives language for uncertainty and suffering while keeping open the possibility of judgment, guidance, rescue, and hope. Faithful teaching names what the passage knows, refuses invented explanations, and points to God’s revealed character as the light by which darkness is discerned.
2Sam.22.29
H2822 functions as a noun for literal darkness and for figurative conditions of gloom, danger, ignorance, death, or judgment. The verbs and images around it determine whether the emphasis is concealment, revelation, suffering, moral disorder, or the need for divine light.
The New Testament continues the biblical contrast between darkness and light through judgment, repentance, Christ’s illumination, and the hope of a city where night no longer rules. The gospel does not deny sorrow or mystery, but it places both under God’s revealing and redeeming light.