What does חֹשֶׁךְ (ḥōshek) mean in the Bible?
חֹשֶׁךְ (ḥōshek): Darkness as cosmic domain of chaos, death, and moral evil; God's light overcomes it
Hebrew · H2822
חֹשֶׁךְ
The dark ; hence (literally) darkness ; figuratively, misery , destruction , death , ignorance , sorrow , wickedness
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חֹשֶׁךְ H2822
Pronunciation ḥōshek
What does חֹשֶׁךְ (ḥōshek) mean in the Bible?
חֹשֶׁךְ (ḥōshek): Darkness as cosmic domain of chaos, death, and moral evil; God's light overcomes it
Full entry for חֹשֶׁךְ (H2822) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2822?
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).
Where does חֹשֶׁךְ (ḥōshek) appear in Scripture?
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).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It darkness 21× Exodus 10:21, Exodus 10:22, Deuteronomy 4:11, 2 Samuel 22:12
in darkness 11× 1 Samuel 2:9, Job 17:13, Psalms 107:10, Ecclesiastes 2:14
of darkness 10× Job 10:21, Job 15:23, Job 17:12, Psalms 107:14
the darkness 8× Genesis 1:4, Genesis 1:18, Deuteronomy 5:23, Job 15:30
in the darkness 5× Job 12:25, Psalms 88:12, Psalms 112:4, Isaiah 58:10
to darkness 3× Job 3:4, Isaiah 5:20, Joel 2:31
and darkness 2× Genesis 1:2, Job 26:10
into darkness 2× Isaiah 47:5, Nahum 1:8
my darkness 2× 2 Samuel 22:29, Psalms 18:28
and the darkness 1× Genesis 1:5
At dusk 1× Joshua 2:5
be darkness 1× Amos 5:20
dark 1× Psalms 35:6
in obscurity 1× Ecclesiastes 6:4
In the dark 1× Job 24:16
is darkness 1× Isaiah 59:9
it is so dark 1× Job 22:11
May darkness 1× Job 3:5
our darkness 1× Job 37:19
so that darkness 1× Exodus 10:21
the deep darkness 1× Isaiah 29:18
there in the darkness 1× Exodus 14:20
through the darkness 1× Job 29:3
to the darkness 1× Job 28:3
with darkness 1× Job 19:8
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 1:2 וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ to and darkness Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:4 הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ to the darkness Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:5 וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ to and the darkness Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:18 הַחֹ֑שֶׁךְ to the darkness Article | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 10:21 חֹ֖שֶׁךְ to so that darkness Noun - masculine singular Exodus 10:21 חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ to darkness Noun - masculine singular Exodus 10:22 חֹֽשֶׁךְ־ to darkness Noun - masculine singular construct Exodus 14:20 וְהַחֹ֔שֶׁךְ to there in the darkness Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 4:11 חֹ֖שֶׁךְ to darkness Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 5:23 הַחֹ֔שֶׁךְ to the darkness Article | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 1:2
Aligned rows 80
Books represented 18
Genesis 4 Exodus 4 Deuteronomy 2 Joshua 1 1 Samuel 1 2 Samuel 2 Job 23 Psalms 11 Proverbs 2 Ecclesiastes 6 Isaiah 14 Lamentations 1 Ezekiel 2 Joel 2 Amos 2 Micah 1 Nahum 1 Zephaniah 1
Source forms
חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ 10x ḥō·šeḵ Exodus 10:21, Job 15:23, Job 17:12, Job 26:10
חֹ֥שֶׁךְ 6x ḥō·šeḵ Job 3:4, Job 12:25, Job 22:11, Psalms 35:6
חֹ֣שֶׁךְ 6x ḥō·šeḵ Job 3:5, Job 10:21, Job 19:8, Psalms 107:10
בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ 5x ba·ḥō·šeḵ 1 Samuel 2:9, Psalms 88:12, Psalms 112:4, Ecclesiastes 2:14
חֹ֑שֶׁךְ 5x ḥō·šeḵ Job 5:14, Job 12:22, Job 15:22, Job 18:18
חֹ֔שֶׁךְ 5x ḥō·šeḵ Isaiah 5:30, Isaiah 45:3, Isaiah 45:7, Isaiah 45:19
בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְ 3x ba·ḥō·šeḵ Isaiah 9:2, Ezekiel 8:12, Micah 7:8
חֹ֭שֶׁךְ 3x ḥō·šeḵ Job 34:22, Psalms 104:20, Psalms 105:28
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 46x Exodus 10:21, Deuteronomy 4:11, 2 Samuel 22:12, Job 3:4
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular 14x Joshua 2:5, 1 Samuel 2:9, Job 17:13, Job 24:16
Article | Noun - masculine singular 6x Genesis 1:4, Genesis 1:18, Deuteronomy 5:23, Ecclesiastes 2:13
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 2x Genesis 1:2, Job 38:19
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Ecclesiastes 6:4
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular 2x 2 Samuel 22:29, Psalms 18:28
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular 2x Isaiah 5:20, Joel 2:31
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular 1x Exodus 14:20
Evidence Summary
Revelation
Hebrew word. Darkness as cosmic domain of chaos, death, and moral evil; God's light overcomes it
Source Gloss
the dark ; hence (literally) darkness ; figuratively, misery , destruction , death , ignorance , sorrow , wickedness
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
Physical or metaphorical darkness symbolizing judgment and despair.
Showing 1 selected witness from 80 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
חֹשֶׁךְ is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Darkness depicts the spiritual and societal consequences of rejecting divine revelation. Isaiah 8:16-22
Canonical Themes
Revelation
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain