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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
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OET (OET-LV) And it_was now about the_ sixth _hour, and darkness became over all the land until the_ ninth _hour.
While Jesus was on the cross, it became dark. The curtain in the temple ripped into two pieces. Jesus gave his spirit up to God his Father and died. One of the Roman soldiers saw and heard all that happened. As a result, he believed that Jesus was a righteous man. When the people saw that, they were sorry that Jesus was crucified. The way Jesus lived and the way he died showed many people that he was an innocent man. Examples of other headings for this section are:
The Death of Jesus (GNT)
Jesus died
Parallel passages for this section are in Matthew 27:45–56, Mark 15:33–41, and John 19:28–30.
It was now about the sixth hour,
¶ By this time it was about noon,
¶ At that time it was midday.
It was now: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as It was now is literally, “And it was already.” It implies that some time had gone by. It also introduces a phrase that indicates the time when the events in this paragraph began. Introduce that phrase in a natural way in your language. Some ways to introduce it in English are:
By now it was (REB)
By this time it was (NLT)
the sixth hour: The first hour of daylight was about six o’clock in the morning, so the sixth hour would be about noon (twelve o’clock midday). Do not translate this literally unless the people you are writing for would understand that the sixth hour means midday. Instead, use the time reference that is natural in your language. Some other ways to translate this are:
midday
the sun was high in the sky
Around noon (GW)
and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
and the whole land became dark until the middle of the afternoon,
The whole country fell into darkness until about three o’clock in the afternoon,
It became dark and for three hours it remained dark all over the land,
darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour: This clause indicates that from noon until about three o’clock, it was dark. Some other ways to translate the clause are:
darkness came over the entire land and lasted until three in the afternoon (GW)
the entire country became dark until three o’clockKankanaey back translation on TW.
all the land: The Greek word that the BSB translates as land can refer to a region, a country, or to the whole earth. In this context it probably refers to the land or country where Jesus was dying on the cross. No one knows exactly how much land was affected by the darkness. It is not clear if the entire land of Israel became dark, or if other countries were also affected. It is good to use a general term in your language.
until the ninth hour: The phrase the ninth hour refers to about three o’clock in the afternoon. It is the time about halfway between noon and sunset. Many languages have idiomatic ways to refer to different times of day. Refer to this time in a natural way in your language. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:
until the middle of the afternoon (CEV)
until about three hours before sunset
until three o’clock in the afternoonYakan back translation on TW.
Note 1 topic: writing-background
καὶ ἦν ἤδη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἦν ἤδη ὡσεί ὥρα ἕκτη καί σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφʼ ὅλην τήν γῆν ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης)
Luke uses this phrase to introduce background information that will help readers understand what happens next. He explains that it was about noon so that readers will appreciate how extraordinary it was that the entire sky became dark. Alternate translation: [Now by this time it was]
ὡσεὶ ὥρα ἕκτη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἦν ἤδη ὡσεί ὥρα ἕκτη καί σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφʼ ὅλην τήν γῆν ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης)
In this culture, people began counting the hours each day beginning around daybreak at six o’clock in the morning. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this in the way the people of your culture reckon time. Alternate translation: [about noon]
Note 2 topic: translate-ordinal
ὡσεὶ ὥρα ἕκτη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἦν ἤδη ὡσεί ὥρα ἕκτη καί σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφʼ ὅλην τήν γῆν ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης)
If you decide to translate this in the way that the biblical culture reckoned time, but your language does not use ordinal numbers, you can use a cardinal number here. Alternate translation: [around hour six]
σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφ’ ὅλην τὴν γῆν
darkness became over all (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἦν ἤδη ὡσεί ὥρα ἕκτη καί σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφʼ ὅλην τήν γῆν ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης)
The term translated as land could refer to: (1) a particular area. Alternate translation, as in UST: [it became dark throughout that whole area] (2) the earth. Alternate translation: [darkness covered the entire earth]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφ’ ὅλην τὴν γῆν
darkness became over all (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἦν ἤδη ὡσεί ὥρα ἕκτη καί σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφʼ ὅλην τήν γῆν ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης)
This could also be a figurative reference to the sky, since it is over the land. Alternate translation: [the entire sky became dark]
ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης
until ˓the˒_hour ninth
This phrase also expresses the way people in this culture began counting the hours each day beginning around daybreak at six o’clock in the morning. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this in the way the people of your culture reckon time. Alternate translation: [until three o’clock in the afternoon]
Note 4 topic: translate-ordinal
ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης
until ˓the˒_hour ninth
If you decide to translate this in the way that the biblical culture reckoned time, but your language does not use ordinal numbers, you can use a cardinal number here. Alternate translation: [until hour nine]
23:44 Darkness symbolizes sorrow as well as God’s judgment (Ps 23:4; Isa 8:22; 9:1-2).
OET (OET-LV) And it_was now about the_ sixth _hour, and darkness became over all the land until the_ ninth _hour.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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