Are…
eclipses mentioned in the Bible

Normal solar eclipses do not appear to be mentioned in Scripture, and there is no Hebrew word for “eclipse.” All of the sun-darkening events in Scripture appear to be miraculous, not based on the regular movement of Earth and Moon.

The darkening of the Sun in the following verses probably does not refer to a solar eclipse, at least not a normal one. God’s anger is on display. Generally, the darkness is not localized, and the Moon and stars also darken.

Miraculous signs

Preceding the Day of the Lord at the end of the Great Tribulation and beginning of the Millennium

“It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God,
“That I will make the sun go down at noon
And make the earth dark in broad daylight [presumably ALL the Earth]. —Amos 8:9 NASB

…the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness. —Joel 2:10 excerpt

Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be aa unique day which is bknown to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will crise and dremain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the fCorner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. —Zechariah 14:5-10 NASB excerpt

Who commands the sun not to shine,
And sets a seal upon the stars; —Job 9:7 NASB

Christ’s death

The darkness at the crucifixion has been ascribed to an eclipse (Matthew 27:45); but on the other hand it is argued that the great intensity of darkness caused by an eclipse never lasts for more than six minutes, and this darkness lasted for three hours.

Moreover, at the time of the Passover the moon was full, and therefore there could not be an eclipse of the sun, which is caused by an interposition of the moon between the sun and the Earth.

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Article Version: July 19, 2021