It was now about the sixth hour
The "sixth hour" in Jewish timekeeping corresponds to noon, the middle of the day when the sun is at its zenith. This time reference is significant because it marks the beginning of an extraordinary event. In the context of the crucifixion, this moment underscores the gravity of the situation. The sixth hour, a time usually associated with light and clarity, becomes a moment of profound darkness, symbolizing the weight of sin and the judgment being borne by Christ. The Greek word for "hour" (ὥρα, hōra) can also imply a divinely appointed time, suggesting that this was a moment foreordained by God in His redemptive plan.

and darkness came over all the land
The "darkness" that envelops the land is a supernatural event, not merely a natural eclipse or weather phenomenon. In the Bible, darkness often symbolizes judgment or the presence of God in a profound way, as seen in the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 10:21-23) and the prophetic writings (Amos 8:9). The Greek word for "darkness" (σκότος, skotos) conveys a deep obscurity, both physical and spiritual. This darkness signifies the judgment of God upon sin, as Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God, takes upon Himself the sins of the world. It also reflects the spiritual blindness of those who reject Christ, highlighting the contrast between the Light of the World and the darkness of sin.

until the ninth hour
The "ninth hour" corresponds to 3 PM, marking a three-hour period of darkness. This duration is significant, as it encompasses the time of Jesus' greatest suffering on the cross. The ninth hour is traditionally the time of the evening sacrifice in the Temple, drawing a parallel between Jesus' sacrifice and the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant. The Greek word for "ninth" (ἔνατος, enatos) emphasizes completion, as this period concludes with Jesus' declaration, "It is finished" (John 19:30). This moment signifies the fulfillment of prophecy and the completion of the atoning work of Christ, offering redemption and reconciliation to humanity.

(44-46) And it was about the sixth hour.--See Notes on Matthew 27:45-50; Mark 15:33-37. We can only conjecturally account for the omission of the "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI," so prominent in the other two reports; but it is at least conceivable, assuming the same sources of information as before, that the women who stood by the cross may have shrunk from repeating words so terrible, and have loved to dwell rather on those which seemed to them to speak, not of abandonment, but of an absolute and unshaken trust. It is remarkable that this, like the cry of apparent despair, is a quotation from the Psalms (Psalm 31:6).

Verse 44. - The time of the Crucifixion. And it was about the sixth hour. We have before given (see note on Luke 22:47) the approximate hours of the several acts of the last night and day. This verse gives us the time of the duration of the "darkness" - from the sixth to the ninth hour; that is in our reckoning, from 12 noon to 3 p.m. With this date the other two synoptists agree (comp. Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33). Our Lord had then been on the cross three hours (see Mark 15:25, where it is stated that he was crucified in the third hour, i.e. 9 a.m.). But while the three synoptists are in perfect harmony, we are met with a grave difficulty in St. John's account, for in John 19:14: of his Gospel we read how the final condemnation of our Lord by Pilate took place about the sixth hour. At first sight, to attempt here to harmonize St. John with the three synoptists would seem a hopeless task, as St. John apparently gives the hour of the final condemnation by Pilate, which the three give as the hour when the darkness began, i.e. when the Sufferer had already hung on the cross for three hours. Various explanations have been suggested; among these the most satisfying and probable is the supposition that, while the three synop-tists followed the usual Jewish mode of reckoning time, St. John, writing some half a century later in quite another country, possibly twenty years after Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed, and the Jewish polity had disappeared, adopted another mode of reckoning the hours, thus following, probably, a practice of the province in which he was living, and for which he was especially writing. Dr. Westcott, in an additional note on John 19:14, examines the four occasions on which St. John mentions a definite hour of the day; and comes to the conclusion that the fourth evangelist generally reckoned his hours from midnight. The Romans reckoned their civil days from midnight, and there are also traces of reckoning the hours kern midnight in Asia Minor. "About the sixth hour" would then be about six a.m. Before touching upon the strange darkness which at the sixth hour seems to have hung over the land like a black pall, we note that somewhere in the first three hours, possibly after the words spoken to the dying penitent, must be placed the incident of the entrusting the virgin-mother to St. John (John 19:25, etc.). There is no doubt that on the surface of this, his third word from the cross, lay a loving desire to spare his mother the sight of his last awful suffering. Hence his command to John to watch over from henceforth the mother of his Lord. We may assume, then, that, in obedience to his Master's word, John led Mary away before the sixth hour. So Bengel, who comments here, "Great is the faith of Mary to be present at the cross; great was her submission to go away before his death." And there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. St. Matthew gives us additional particulars respecting this phenomenon. He says that besides this darkness there was also an earthquake, and that several graves were opened, and the dead during those hours of solemn gloom appeared to many in the holy city. Early Christian writers of high authority, such as Tertullian ('Apol.,' ch. 21) and Origen ('Contra Cels.,' 2:33), appeal to this strange phenomenon as if attested by heathen writers. It was evidently no slight or imaginary portent, but one that was well known in the early Christian years. The narrative does not oblige us to think of anything more than an indescribable and oppressive darkness, which like a vast black pall hung over earth and sea. The effect on the scoffing multitude was quickly perceptible. We hear of no more cries of mocking and derision; only just at the end of the three dark hours is the silence broken by the mysterious and awful cry of the Sinless One related by SS. Matthew and Mark, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Godet's comment is remarkable: "The darkness, the rending of the veil of the temple, the earthquake, and the opening of several graves, are explained by the profound connection existing on the one side between Christ and humanity, on the other between humanity and nature. Christ is the Soul of humanity, as humanity is the soul of the external world." The darkness, he suggests, was perhaps connected with the earthquake with which it was accompanied, or it may have resulted from an atmospherical or cosmical cause. The phenomenon need not necessarily have extended over all the earth: it probably was confined to Palestine and the adjacent countries.

Parallel Commentaries ...


It was now
ἦν (ēn)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

about
ὡσεὶ (hōsei)
Adverb
Strong's 5616: As if, as it were, like; with numbers: about. From hos and ei; as if.

[the] sixth
ἕκτη (hektē)
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1623: Sixth. Ordinal from hex; sixth.

hour,
ὥρα (hōra)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5610: Apparently a primary word; an 'hour'.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

darkness
σκότος (skotos)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4655: Darkness, either physical or moral. From the base of skia; shadiness, i.e. Obscurity.

came
ἐγένετο (egeneto)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1096: A prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be, i.e. to become, used with great latitude.

over
ἐφ’ (eph’)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

all
ὅλην (holēn)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3650: All, the whole, entire, complete. A primary word; 'whole' or 'all', i.e. Complete, especially as noun or adverb.

the
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

land
γῆν (gēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1093: Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.

until
ἕως (heōs)
Preposition
Strong's 2193: A conjunction, preposition and adverb of continuance, until.

[the] ninth
ἐνάτης (enatēs)
Adjective - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1766: Ninth. Ordinal from ennea; ninth.

hour.
ὥρας (hōras)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 5610: Apparently a primary word; an 'hour'.


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NT Gospels: Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour (Luke Lu Lk)