חֹ֫שֶׁךְ
darkness
‘darkness’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H2822 appears in the Book of Psalms — 11 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Psalms
- Psalms 18:11 חֹ֨שֶׁךְ n c ms He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion around him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
- Psalms 18:28 חָשְׁכִּֽ/י n c ms cs + sfx pers 1cs For you will light my lamp, Yahweh. My God will light up my darkness.
- Psalms 35:6 חֹ֥שֶׁךְ n c ms Let their way be dark and slippery, Yahweh's angel pursuing them.
- Psalms 88:12 בַּ/חֹ֣שֶׁךְ prep det + n c ms Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
- Psalms 104:20 חֹ֭שֶׁךְ n c ms You make darkness, and it is night, In which all the animals of the forest prowl.
- Psalms 105:28 חֹ֭שֶׁךְ n c ms He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn't rebel against his words.
- Psalms 107:10 חֹ֣שֶׁךְ n c ms Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Being bound in affliction and iron,
- Psalms 107:14 מֵ/חֹ֣שֶׁךְ prep + n c ms He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their bonds in sunder.
- Psalms 112:4 בַּ/חֹ֣שֶׁךְ prep det + n c ms Light dawns in the darkness for the upright, Gracious, merciful, and righteous.
- Psalms 139:11 חֹ֣שֶׁךְ n c ms If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; The light around me will be night;"
- Psalms 139:12 חֹשֶׁךְ֮ n c ms Even the darkness doesn't hide from you, But the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“darkness” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun חשך (chôshek). Scripture first uses it in Genesis 1:2. With 77 verses in 18 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. It concentrates in Job, which alone accounts for 30% of its uses. Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2822 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 77
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 77 distinct verses.
- 18 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 18 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #501
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 501 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 77 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 77 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 42 verses · 55%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 26 verses · 34%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 9 verses · 12%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Darkness 53×, Dark 5×, Be darkness 2×
- American Standard Version: Darkness 55×, Dark 4×, Be darkness 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Darkness 70×, Dark 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Darkness 72×, Dark 5×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2822 across 80 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 20 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H2822 across 80 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 19 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H2822 across 80 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2822 across 80 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
10 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 10 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. darkness (opp. אוֹר) lit. Gn 1:2, 4 (P), Is 45:7 Jb 26:10 Ec 2:13, cf. in imprecation Jb 3:4, 5 (ח׳ וצלמות = לילה Gn 1:5, 18 (P), cf. Jos 2:5 (JE), Is 45:19 Jb 17:12; 24:16; 38:19 ψ 104:20; darkness in mines Jb 28:3; of extraordinary darkness, in Egypt Ex 10:21(×2) (E); ח׳־אֲפֵלָה Ex 10:22 (E), ψ 105:28, from pillar of cloud Ex 14:20 (J); at Mt. Sinai Dt 4:11; 5:20; of clouds of theophany 2 S 22:12 = ψ 18:12; of darkness in death, or Sheʾôl, 1 S 2:9 Jb 10:21 (אֶרֶץ ח׳ וצלמות), 17:13; 18:18 ψ 88:13 Pr 20:20 (אִישׁוֹן ח׳ = extreme of darkness). e.g. Genesis 1:2
- 2. = secret place(s) Id 45:3 Jb 12:22 (‖ צלמות); = hiding-place Jb 34:22 (‖ id.), cf. ψ 139:11, 12;—on Ez 8:12, v. supr. e.g. Isaiah 45:3
- 3. fig.,
- a. = distress Is 5:30; 9:1; 29:18 (fig. of blindness), 42:7; 49:9; 58:10; 59:9; 60:2 La 3:2 Mi 7:8 ψ 18:29 = 2 S 22:29, Jb 15:22, 23, 30; 20:26; 22:11; 23:17; 29:3 ψ 107:10, 14 (in both ‖ צלמות), 112:4 Ec 5:16; 11:8. e.g. Isaiah 5:30
- b. = dread, terror, symbol. of judgment Am 5:18, 20 Zp 1:15 Na 1:8 Ez 32:8 Jo 2:4; 3:4. e.g. Amos 5:18
- c. = mourning Is 47:5. e.g. Isaiah 47:5
- d. = perplexity Jb 5:14; 12:25; 19:8; confusion ψ 35:6. e.g. Job 5:14
- e. = ignorance Jb 37:19 Ec 2:14. e.g. Job 37:19
- f. = evil, sin Is 5:20(×2) Pr 2:13. e.g. Isaiah 5:20
- g. = obscurity Ec 6:4(×2). e.g. Ecclesiastes 6:4
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.m. Ex 10:21 darkness, obscurity;—abs. חֹשֶׁךְ Gn 1:2 + 75 times (+ Ex 8:12 del. Co A B etc.); cstr. id. Ex 10:22; sf. חָשְׁכִּי ψ 18:29 = 2 S 22:29;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from חשך (châshak) (H2821) — to be dark.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
חָשַׂךְ
- , v. חָסַךְ
חֲשַׂךְ
- (v. חָסַךְ) to spare, withhold. Targ. Prov. XIII, 24 חָשֵׂךְ, חָשֵׂיךְ (part.). Ib. XVII, 27.
- to deduct. Y. Pes. IV, end, 31ᶜ מַחְשַׂכְנָא (not מחשב׳), v. גּוֹדְלָנָא.
חָשַׁךְ
- [to be pressed, thick,] to be dark. Sabb. 34ᵃ; 51ᵃ משחָשְׁכָה; ib. IV, 2 משתֶּחְשַׁךְ when it darkens (at nightfall, v. חֲשֵׁיכָה). Snh. 22ᵃ עולם ח׳ בעדו the world around him is dark; Ab. Zar. 8ᵃ (some ed. חָשׁוּךְ). Ber. 16ᵇ אל יֶחְשְׁכוּ וכ׳ let not our eyes be obscured; a. fr. V. חָשׁוּךְ.
- 1. to be overtaken by (the Sabbath) nightfall. Sabb. XXIV, 1 מי שה׳ בדרך he who is on the road at nightfall (on Friday).
- 2. to wait for the nightfall, to make preparations to be ready for work on the exit of the Sabbath, v. חֲשִׁיכָה. Ib. XXIII, 3 אין מַחְשִׁיכִין על וכ׳ you must not, during the day, walk to the extreme end of the Sabbath limit to await the night there for the purpose of hiring workmen etc.; אבל מַחְשִׁיךְ הוא וכ׳ but one may do so for the purpose of going at nightfall to watch his field, and then he may also take his fruits home. Ib. להַחְשִׁיךְ עליו to await the night at the Sabbath limit for the purpose of doing it. Ib. 4; a. fr.
- 3. to darken, obscure. Cant. R. to I, 1 (ref. to חשכים, Prov. XXII, 29) that is Potifar שה׳ הקב"ה וכ׳ whose eyes the Lord darkened etc. Ex. R. s. 51 (ref. to חשכה, Gen. XV, 12) that is Media שהֶחְשִׁיכָה וכ׳ who made Israel’s eyes dim (with tears) by her decrees. Pesik. R. s. 47 (ref. to Job XXXVIII, 2) הֶחְשַׁכְתָּ וכ׳ (not החשב׳) thou hast obscured the council which I held in heavens (when the Lord vouched for Job’s integrity); a. fr. e.g. Proverbs 22:29
- 4. to become dark. Midr. Till. to Ps. XVIII, 12 (ref. to the versions חשכת, Ps. l. c., and חשרת II Sam. XXII, 12) when the clouds are laden with the waters, הן מַחְשִׁיכִין מן המים וכ׳ they receive a dark color from the waters, and afterwards they drop them as through a sieve. e.g. 2 Samuel 22:12
חֲשַׁךְ
- Targ. Job. XVIII, 6. Targ. Ex. X, 15; a. fr.—Taan. 10ᵃ חֲשׁוּךְ ענני וכ׳ when the clouds are dark, they contain much water.
- 1. to darken, obscure. Targ. Ps. CV, 28; a. e.
- 2. to do something at night, to be late. Tam. 27ᵇ חַשֵּׁיךְ תקין נפשך וכ׳ at bed-time attend to thy body, and in the morning etc. Ber. 8ᵃ מקדמי ומְחַשְּׁכֵי וכ׳ they go to Synagogue early and late. Ib. קדימו וחַשִּׁיכוּ ועיילו וכ׳ (Ms. M. ואַחְשִׁיכוּ, Af., v. Rabb. D. S. a. l.) go ye early and late to etc. Targ. Y. Deut. XXVIII, 65, v. מַחַשְׁכָן.
- 1. to obscure. Targ. Job XXXVIII, 2; a. e.
- 2. to do something late. Targ. I Sam. XVII, 16.—Ber. l. c., v. supra.
- to grow dark. Targ. Ps. LXIX, 24; a. e.—Snh. 96ᵃ עד דאתא איח׳ by the time he came it had grown dark.
חֲשַׁךְ ²
- (cmp. חסך) to be reduced, lean. Targ. Ps. XXXI, 11 (h. text עששו, v. Rashi a. l.)
- same. Targ. Job XXXIII, 21 Ms. (ed. שפיין).
חשֶׁךְ
- darkness. Ex. R. s. 14. Ḥag. 12ᵃ; a. v. fr.—הָרֵי ח׳ Dark Mountains, behind which the Amazons live (Amazonici Mountes, v. Sm. Class. Dict. s. v.). Lev. R. s. 27; Pesik. Shor, p. 74ᵃ; Tam. 32ᵃ. [The Jewish legend relating the meeting of Alexander the Great with the Amazons seems to point to Africa, v. קרטגינא).
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 35 distinct written forms H2822 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2822, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- חשוך chăshôwk H2816 darkness
- חשך châshôk H2823 obscure
- חשכה cheshkâh H2824 darkness
- חשכה chăshêkâh H2825 darkness
- מחשך machshâk H4285 darkness
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 75 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 77 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 1:2
- Exodus 10:21
- Deuteronomy 4:11
- Joshua 2:5
- 1 Samuel 2:9
- 2 Samuel 22:12
- Job 3:4
- Psalms 18:11
- Proverbs 2:13
- Ecclesiastes 2:13
- Isaiah 5:20
- Lamentations 3:2
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
