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According to the Christian synoptic gospels, on the day Jesus was crucified there was a period of darkness in the afternoon for three hours. Although ancient and medieval writers treated this as a miracle, modern writers tend to view it either as a literary invention or a natural phenomenon, such as a solar eclipse. Some writers, interpreting it as an eclipse, have sought to use it as a way of establishing the date of Jesus' crucifixion.

Biblical account

See also Chronology of Jesus

The original biblical reference is in the Gospel of Mark, usually dated around the year 70 AD. In its account of the death of Jesus, on the eve of Passover, it says that after Jesus was crucified at nine in the morning, darkness fell over all the land, or all the world (Template:Lang-grc-gre can mean either) from around noon ("the sixth hour") until 3 o'clock ("the ninth hour"):

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

— Mark 15:33

The account adds a detail that follows immediately on the death of Jesus:

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

— Mark 15:38

The Gospel of Matthew, written around the year 85 or 90 AD, and using Mark as a source, has an almost identical wording:

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

— Matthew 27:45

The Matthew account adds some dramatic details, including an earthquake and the raising of the dead, which were stock motifs from Jewish apocalyptic literature:

(…) At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

— 27:51–54

The Gospel of Luke, written around the year 90 AD and also using Mark as a source, has none of the details added in the Matthew version, moves the tearing of the temple veil to before the death of Jesus and includes an explanation that the sun was darkened, appearing to explain it as an eclipse:

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed ; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

— Luke 23:44–45

The account given in the Gospel of John is different: it takes place on the day of Passover, the crucifixion does not take place until after noon, and there is no mention of darkness, the tearing of the veil, or the raising of the dead.

Later versions

Apocryphal writers

Events in the
Life of Jesus according to the canonical gospels
Early life Annunciation Visitation Joseph's dreams Nativity Virgin birth Annunciation to the Shepherds Adoration of the Shepherds Circumcision Adoration of the Magi Flight into Egypt Massacre of the Innocents Presentation Return to Nazareth Finding in the Temple
Ministry Baptism Temptation Commissioning the Twelve Apostles Sermon on the Mount / Plain Beatitudes Lord's Prayer Miracles Parables Prayer Rejection Transfiguration
Passion Triumphal entry into Jerusalem Temple cleansing Second coming prophecy Anointing Last Supper Farewell Discourse Paraclete promised Agony in the Garden Kiss of Judas Arrest Sanhedrin trial Mocking Herod's court Pilate's court Flagellation Crown of Thorns Via Dolorosa Crucifixion Descent from the Cross Entombment Harrowing of Hell
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A number of accounts in apocryphal literature build on the synoptic accounts. In the Gospel of Peter, from the second century AD, as one writer puts it, "accompanying miracles become more fabulous and the apocalyptic portents are more vivid". In this version the darkness which covers the whole of Judaea leads people to go about with lamps believing it to be night. The fourth century Gospel of Nicodemus describes how Pilate and his wife are disturbed by a report of what had happened, and the Judeans he has summoned tell him it was an ordinary solar eclipse. Another text from the fourth century, the purported Report of Pontius Pilate to Tiberius claimed the darkness had started at the sixth hour, covered the whole world and, during the subsequent evening, the full moon resembled blood for the entire night. In a fifth- or sixth-century text by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, the author claims to have observed a solar eclipse from Heliopolis at the time of the crucifixion.

Ancient historians

There are no original references to this darkness outside of the New Testament; the only possible contemporary reference may have existed in a work by the chronicler Thallus. In the ninth century AD, the Byzantine historian George Syncellus quoted from the third-century Christian historian Sextus Julius Africanus, who remarked that "Thallos dismisses this darkness as a solar eclipse". It is not known when Thallus lived, and it is unclear whether he himself made any reference to the crucifixion. Tertullian, in his Apologeticus, told the story of the crucifixion darkness and suggested that the evidence must still be held in the Roman archives.

Until the Enlightenment era, the crucifixion darkness story was often used by Christian apologists, because they believed it was a rare example of the biblical account being supported by non-Christian sources. When the pagan critic Celsus claimed that Jesus could hardly be a God because he had performed no great deeds, the third century AD Christian commentator Origen responded, in Against Celsus, by recounting the darkness, earthquake and opening of tombs. As proof that the incident had happened, he referred to a description by Phlegon of Tralles of an eclipse accompanied by earthquakes during the reign of Tiberius (probably that of 29 AD).

In his Commentary on Matthew, however, Origen offered a different approach. Answering criticisms that there was no mention of this incident in any of the many non-Christian sources, he insisted that it was local to Palestine, and therefore would have gone unnoticed outside. To suggestions that it was merely an eclipse, he pointed out that, since the crucifixion took place at Passover, at the time of the full moon, an eclipse could not have taken place. Instead, and drawing only on the accounts given in Matthew and Mark, which make no mention of the sun, he suggested other explanations, such as heavy clouds.

Explanations

Miracle

Because it was known in ancient and medieval times that a solar eclipse could not take place during Passover (solar eclipses require a new moon while Passover only takes place during a full moon) it was considered a miraculous sign rather than a naturally occurring event. The astronomer Johannes de Sacrobosco wrote, in his The Sphere of the World, "the eclipse was not natural, but, rather, miraculous and contrary to nature".

Literary creation

A common view in modern scholarship is that the account in the synoptic gospels is a literary creation of the gospel writers - Burton Mack describes it as a fabrication by the author of the Gospel of Mark - intended to heighten the importance of what they saw as a theologically significant event:

"It is probable that, without any factual basis, darkness was added in order to wrap the cross in a rich symbol and/or assimilate Jesus to other worthies".

The image of darkness over the land would have been understood by ancient readers as a cosmic sign, a typical element in the description of the death of kings and other major figures by writers such as Philo, Dio Cassius, Virgil, Plutarch and Josephus. Géza Vermes describes the darkness account as "part of the Jewish eschatological imagery of the day of the Lord. It is to be treated as a literary rather than historical phenomenon notwithstanding naive scientists and over-eager television documentary makers, tempted to interpret the account as a datable eclipse of the sun. They would be barking up the wrong tree".

Naturalistic explanations

A solar eclipse could not have occurred on or near the Passover, when Jesus was crucified, because solar eclipses only occur during the new moon phase, and Passover always corresponds to a full moon. Solar eclipses are also too brief to account for the darkness described. The biblical accounts refer to a period of three hours. However, the maximum possible duration of a total solar eclipse is seven minutes and 31.1 seconds. A total eclipse on 24 November 29 AD was visible slightly north of Jerusalem at 11:05 AM. The period of totality in Nazareth and Galilee was one minute and forty-nine seconds, and the level of darkness would have been unnoticeable for people outdoors.

In 1983, Colin Humphreys and W. G. Waddington, who had used astronomical methods to calculate the crucifixion date crucifixion as 3 April 33 AD, argued that the darkness could be accounted for by a partial lunar eclipse that had taken place on that day. Astronomer Bradley E. Schaefer, on the other hand, pointed out that the eclipse would not have been visible during daylight hours. Humphreys and Waddington speculated that the reference in the Luke Gospel to a solar eclipse must have been the result of a scribe wrongly amending the text, a claim historian David Henige describes as 'indefensible'.

Some writers have explained the crucifixion darkness in terms of sunstorms, heavy cloud cover or the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. Another possible natural explanation is a khamsin dust storm that tends to occur from March to May.

Interpretations

Some commentators have noted the part this sequence plays in the gospel's literary narrative. One writer, describing the author of the Mark Gospel as operating here "at the peak of his rhetorical and theological powers", suggests that the darkness is a deliberate inversion of the transfiguration. The gospel's earlier discourse of Jesus about a future tribulation, Mark 13:24 where he speaks of the sun being darkened, can be seen as a foreshadowing of this scene. Striking details such as the darkening of the sky and the tearing of the temple veil may be a way of focusing the reader away from the shame and humiliation of the crucifixion: "it is clear that Jesus is not a humiliated criminal but a man of great significance. His death is therefore not a sign of his weakness but of his power".

Another approach has been to consider the theological meaning of the event: for instance, that "the whole universe joins in mourning the cruel death of the Son of God". Others have seen it as a sign of God's judgement on the Jewish people, sometimes connecting it with the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD; or as symbolising shame, fear or the mental suffering of Jesus.

Many writers have adopted an intertextual approach, looking at earlier texts from which the author of the Mark Gospel has probably drawn. In particular, parallels have often been noted between the darkness and the prediction in the Book of Amos of an earthquake in the reign of King Uzziah of Judah: "On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight" (Amos 8:8–9). Particularly in connection with this reference, read as a prophecy of the future, the darkness can be seen as portending the end times.

Another likely literary source is Exodus 10:22, in which Egypt is covered by darkness for three days. It has been suggested that the author of the Matthew Gospel changed the Marcan text slightly to more closely match this source. Commentators have also drawn comparisons with Genesis 1:2, Jeremiah 15:9 and Zechariah 14:6–7.

Notes

1. Witherington (2001), p. 31: 'from 66 to 70, and probably closer to the latter'
2. Hooker (1991), p. 8: 'the Gospel is usually dated between AD 65 and 75.'
3. Harrington (1991), p. 8.
4. Yieh (2004), p. 65.
5. Funk (1998), pp. 129–270, "Matthew".
6. Davies (2004), p. xii.
7. Evans (2011), p. 308.
8. ^ Henige (2005), p. 150.
9. Funk (1998), pp. 267–364, "Luke".
10. Loader (2002), p. 356.
11. Barclay (2001), p. 340.
12. Broadhead (1994), p. 196.
13. Foster (2009), p. 97.
14. Roberts, Donaldson & Coxe (1896), Volume IX, "The Gospel of Peter" 5:15, p. 4.
15. Barnstone (2005), pp. 351, 368, 374, 378–379, 419.
16. Roberts, Donaldson & Coxe (1896), Volume VIII, "The Report of Pontius Pilate", pp. 462-463.
17. Parker (1897), pp. 148–149, 182–183.
18. George Syncellus, Chronography, chapter 391.
19. Alexander (2005), p. 225.
20. Roberts, Donaldson & Coxe (1896), Volume III, "The Apology" chapter 21, pp. 34-36.
21. Roberts, Donaldson & Coxe (1896), Volume IV, "Contra Celsum", Book II, chapter 23 p. 441.
22. Allison (2005), pp. 88–89.
23. Chambers (1899), pp. 129–130.
24. Bartlett (2008), pp. 68–69.
25. Mack (1988), p. 296, 'This is the earliest account there is about the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a Markan fabrication'
26. Davies & Allison (1997), p. 623.
27. Garland (1999), p. 264.
28. Vermes (2005), pp. 108–109.
29. Meeus (2003).
30. Espenak, "Total Solar Eclipse of 0029 Nov 24".
31. Kidger (1999), pp. 68–72.
32. Humphreys & Waddington (1983). sfnp error: no target: CITEREFHumphreysWaddington1983 (help)
33. Humphreys & Waddington (1985).
34. Schaefer (1990).
35. Schaefer (1991). sfnp error: no target: CITEREFSchaefer1991 (help)
36. Brown (1994), p. 1040.
37. Humphreys (2011), p. 84.
38. Black (2005), p. 42.
39. Healy (2008), p. 319.
40. Winn (2008), p. 133.
41. Donahue (2002), pp. 451–452.
42. Allison (2005), pp. 97–102.
43. Allison (2005), pp. 100–101.
44. Allison (2005), pp. 182–83.
45. Allison (2005), pp. 83–84.

References

Books

• Alexander, Loveday (2005). "The Four among pagans". In Bockmuehl, Markus; Hagner, Donald A. (eds.). The Written Gospel. Cambridge University Press. pp. 222–237. ISBN 9781139445726. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Allison, Dale C. (2005). Studies in Matthew: Interpretation Past and Present. Baker Academic. ISBN 9780801027918. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Barclay, William (2001). The Gospel of John, Volume 1. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664237806. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Barnstone, Willis, ed. (2005). "The Gospel of Nicodemus". The Other Bible. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060815981. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bartlett, Robert (2008). The Natural and the Supernatural in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521878326. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Black, C. Clifton (2005). "The Face is Familiar—I Just Can't Place It". In Gaventa, Beverley Roberts; Miller, Patrick D. (eds.). The Ending of Mark and the Ends of God: Essays in Memory of Donald Harrisville Juel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664227395. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Broadhead, Edwin Keith (1994). Prophet, Son, Messiah: Narrative Form and Function in Mark. Continuum. ISBN 9781850754763. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Brown, Raymond E. (1994). The Death of the Messiah: a Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels. The Anchor Bible Reference Library. Vol. Volume 2: From Gethsemane to the Grave. Doubleday. ISBN 9780385193979. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Chambers, George F. (1899). The Story of Eclipses. George Newnes, Ltd. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Davies, Stevan L. (2004). The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Wisdom. Bardic Press. ISBN 9780974566740. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Davies, William David; Allison, Dale C. (1997). Matthew: Volume 3. Continuum. ISBN 9780567085184. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Donahue, John R. (2002). The Gospel of Mark. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814658048. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Evans, Craig A. (2011). Luke (Understanding the Bible Commentary Series). Baker Books. ISBN 9781441236524. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Foster, Paul (2009). The Apocryphal Gospels: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191578953. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Funk, Robert Walter (1998). The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 9780060629786. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Garland, David E. (1999). Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the First Gospel. Smyth & Helwys Publishing. ISBN 9781573122740. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Harrington, Daniel J. (1991). The Gospel of Matthew. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814658031. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Healy, Mary (2008). The Gospel of Mark. Baker Academic. ISBN 9780801035869. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Henige, David P. (2005). Historical evidence and argument. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-21410-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hooker, Morna (1991). The Gospel According to Saint Mark. Continuum. ISBN 9780826460394. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Humphreys, Colin J. (2011). The Mystery of the Last Supper: Reconstructing the Final Days of Jesus. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139496315. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kidger, Mark (1999). The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomer's View. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691058238. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Loader, William (2002). Jesus' Attitude Towards the Law: A Study of the Gospels. W.B. Eerdmans Pub. ISBN 9780802849038. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mack, Burton L. (1988). A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451404661. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Parker, John (1897). "Letter VII. Section II. To Polycarp--Hierarch. & Letter XI. Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher". The Works of Dionysius the Arepagite. London: James Parker and Co. ISBN 9781440092398. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Roberts, Alexander; Donaldson, James; Coxe, Arthur Cleveland, eds. (1896). The Ante-Nicene Fathers. T&T Clark. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Vermes, Géza (2005). The Passion. Penguin. ISBN 9780141021324. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Winn, Adam (2008). The Purpose of Mark's Gospel: An Early Christian Response to Roman Imperial Propaganda. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 9783161496356. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Witherington, Ben (2001). The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802845030. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Yieh, John Yueh-Han (2004). One Teacher: Jesus' Teaching Role in Matthew's Gospel Report. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110913330. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Journal articles

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• Humphreys, Colin J.; Waddington, W. Graeme (March 1985). "The Date of the Crucifixion". Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation. 37: 2–10. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Meeus, Jean (December 2003). "The maximum possible duration of a total solar eclipse". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 113 (6): 343–348. Retrieved 3 November 2013. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Schaefer, Bradley E. (March 1990). "Lunar Visibility and the Crucifixion". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 31 (1): 53–67. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1086/132865, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1086/132865 instead.

Web sites

• Espenak, Fred. "Total Solar Eclipse of 0029 Nov 24" (PDF). NASA Eclipse Web Site. NASA. Retrieved 3 November 2013. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Christian miracle narrative
• Jesus and history