H0652 H0652
Deep darkness, thick gloom; a poetic term for cosmic, existential, or calamitous obscurity.
A poetic noun evoking a profound, impenetrable darkness that transcends ordinary nightfall. Used exclusively in elevated literary contexts—Job and the Psalms—it describes the primordial darkness that seizes a cursed night (Job 3:6), the suffocating gloom of Sheol (Job 10:22), and the spiritual blindness from which God delivers (Isa 29:18). It frequently appears alongside חֹשֶׁךְ (darkness) and צַלְמָוֶת (shadow of death), forming a layered vocabulary of obscurity. Spanish 'tinieblas' and French 'obscurité' capture its heavy, foreboding quality.
Senses
1. darkness, gloom — Thick, impenetrable darkness or gloom, used in poetic and wisdom literature to express dread, hiddenness, or calamity. In Job 3:6, darkness personified 'seizes' the night of Job's birth; in Job 10:22, it describes the underworld as a land of deep gloom; in Job 28:3, miners penetrate 'the stone of darkness' deep in the earth; and in Psalm 91:6, it denotes the terror that stalks at noonday's opposite. The figurative extension to calamity appears in Job 23:17 and 30:26, where expected light yields only gloom. French 'obscurité' and Spanish 'oscuridad/tinieblas' both convey the oppressive, layered quality of this darkness. 9×
AR["الدُّجى", "العَتمَةِ", "العَتَمَةُ", "ظَلامٌ", "ظُلْمَةِ", "فِي-الظَّلَامِ", "وَ-مِنَ-الظُّلْمَةِ"]·ben["অন্ধকার", "অন্ধকারে", "আর-এসেছে", "ও-অন্ধকার-থেকে", "ঘন-অন্ধকার", "ঘন-অন্ধকারের", "সেই-অন্ধকারে"]·DE["Dunkel", "Finsternis", "[ומאפל]", "in-der-Finsternis"]·EN["and-out-of-gloom", "darkness", "gloom", "in-the-darkness", "thick-darkness"]·FR["[ומאפל]", "dans-obscurité", "obscurité"]·heb["אופל", "ב-אופל", "ו-מ-אופל"]·HI["अंधकार", "अंधकार-में", "अंधेरा", "अंधेरे", "और-से-अंधेरे", "घोर-अंधकार", "घोर-अंधकार-का"]·ID["dalam-kegelapan", "dan-dari-kegelapan", "kegelapan", "kegelapan-pekat"]·IT["[ומאפל]", "oscurita'", "oscurità"]·jav["ing-pepeteng", "lan-saking-peteng", "pepeteng", "peteng"]·KO["그리고-에서-어둠과", "어둠", "어둠-속-에서", "어둠이", "칠흙", "칠흙의", "칠흙이", "침침함이"]·PT["de-escuridão", "e-de-escuridão", "escuridão", "escuridão.", "que-anda-na", "trevas"]·RU["во-тьме", "и-из-мрака", "мрак", "мрака", "тьма", "тьме"]·ES["en-oscuridad", "las-tinieblas.", "oscuridad", "tiniebla", "tiniebla,", "tiniebla.", "y-de-oscuridad"]·SW["giza", "giza-nene", "giza-totoro", "katika-giza", "la-giza", "na-kutoka-giza", "weusi"]·TR["karanlık", "karanlıkta", "ve-karanliktan", "zifir", "zifiri-karanlık", "zıfiri-karanlık"]·urd["اندھیرا", "اندھیرے", "اندھیرے-میں", "اندھیرے-کا", "اور-اندھیرے-سے", "تاریکی"]
Related Senses
H4325 1. water, waters (582×)H6965b 1. Qal: to rise, arise, get up (432×)H2091 1. gold (the metal) (389×)H0068 1. stone, rock (material/object) (267×)H5178a 1. bronze/copper as metal (131×)H6083 1. dust, dry earth, soil (108×)H8313 1. burn, set fire to (94×)H2734 1. anger was kindled (82×)G5204 1. water (80×)H2822 1. darkness, absence of light (80×)G5457 1. light (illumination) (71×)G0450 1. rise, stand up (physical) (69×)H6965b 2. Qal: to stand firm, endure, be valid (50×)H6999a 2. burn sacrifice on altar (Hifil) (45×)H5553 1. rock, cliff (physical feature) (43×)H6965b 4. Hifil: to establish, confirm (covenant/kingdom/word) (40×)H1197a 1. burn, be on fire (39×)H4306 1. rain, showers (38×)H1653 1. rain, precipitation (34×)G4655 1. darkness (30×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אֹ֫פֶל n.m. Jb 3:6 darkness, gloom (only poet.)—א׳ always abs.— 1. darkness, of night ψ 91:6 (opp. צָֽהֳרָֽיִם); deep in the earth, אֶבֶן א׳ Jb 28:3 (‖ חֹשֶׁךְ, צַלְמָוֶת); darkness, gloom of underworld Jb 10:22(×2) (‖ אֶרֶץ חֹשֶׁךְ, א׳ עֵיפָפָה, צַלְמָוֶת); personif. Jb 3:6 that night—let darkness take it יִקָּחֵהוּ א׳; fig. of spiritual darkness Is 29:18 (‖ חֹשֶׁךְ); of secrecy, treachery ψ 11:2. 2. especially fig. of calamity Jb 23:17 (‖ חשׁך q.v.), 30:26 (opp. אוֹר).