Hebrew word · H653

אֲפֵלָה

'afelah

darkness

Deep, thick darkness, gloom. It is a rare, intense word, stronger than the ordinary word for darkness (choshekh). It often comes with images of calamity, judgment or helpless groping.

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) darkness, gloominess, calamity

2) wickedness (fig.)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Proverbs 4:19

Range of meaning

Deep, thick darkness, gloom. It is a rare, intense word, stronger than the ordinary word for darkness (choshekh). It often comes with images of calamity, judgment or helpless groping.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/NASB 'darkness' is accurate but flat. 'Deep darkness' (NIV, ESV), 'darkest gloom' (BSB) and 'total darkness' (NLT) keep more of the intensity.

Used elsewhere in the period

About ten occurrences in the Hebrew Bible. Exod 10:22 (the darkness over Egypt, 'choshekh-'afelah'); Deut 28:29 (the cursed will 'grope at noon as the blind gropes in darkness'); Isa 8:22; 58:10; 59:9 ('we hope for brightness, but walk in gloom'); Jer 23:12 (the false prophets' way is 'like slippery paths in the darkness'); Joel 2:2, Amos 5:20 and Zeph 1:15 (the Day of the LORD). The LXX here renders the idea with skoteinai, 'dark.'

From the study of Isaiah 8:22

Range of meaning

Thick darkness, deep gloom. It is often paired with ḥōšek (darkness) to mean total blackness, and is used both literally and of disaster.

Against the English

BSB 'utter darkness', WEB/ESV 'thick darkness', KJV plain 'darkness'. The intensified renderings are justified. KJV's 'darkness' does not separate it from the earlier ḥăšēkâ.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 10:22, ḥōšek-ʾăpēlâ, the plague of darkness over Egypt. Deut 28:29, the covenant curse: 'you will grope at noon as the blind grope in ʾăpēlâ'. Joel 2:2 and Zeph 1:15, 'a day of darkness and gloom' for the Day of the LORD. Amos 5:20 uses the related ʾāp̄ēl.

From the study of Jeremiah 23:12

Range of meaning

Thick darkness, deep gloom. A stronger word than the ordinary ḥōšek. It is often used for darkness as disaster or helplessness.

Against the English

'Darkness' is accurate. 'Gloom' or 'pitch dark' gets closer to how dense it is.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 28:29 (one of the covenant curses): 'you will grope at noon as the blind gropes in darkness (bāʾăpēlâ).' Isa 8:22: 'thrust into thick darkness (wăʾăpēlâ mənuddāḥ)', which also pairs darkness with being driven. Isa 59:9: 'we hope for light… we walk in gloom.' Jer 2:31 has the related 'land of thick darkness'.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 10:22 אֲפֵלָ֛ה darkness

    So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 28:29 בָּאֲפֵלָ֔ה in the darkness

    and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.

    Here: Deep gloom, a strong word for darkness also used for the plague of darkness in Egypt (Exod 10:22). Saying a blind man is 'in darkness' doubles the helplessness: no sight, and no one around who can see him.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 4:19 כָּֽאֲפֵלָ֑ה [is] like <the> darkness

    But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.

    Here: Ke- ('like') plus 'afelah, a strong word for darkness: pitch-black, the kind you cannot see your hand in. The same word describes the plague of darkness in Egypt (Exod 10:22). It answers the brightening dawn of v.18 with total blackness.

  2. Proverbs 7:9 וַאֲפֵלָֽה׃ and darkness

    at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 8:22 וַאֲפֵלָ֖ה and gloom

    Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

    Here: Deep, total darkness. This is the word for the plague of darkness on Egypt (Exod 10:22), for the covenant curse of groping like the blind (Deut 28:29), and for the Day of the LORD (Joel 2:2; Zeph 1:15).

  2. Isaiah 58:10 וַאֲפֵלָתְךָ֖ and gloom your

    and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

    Here: 'And your thick gloom.' A heavy, total darkness, the word used for the plague of darkness in Egypt (Exod 10:22) and for the covenant curse of groping in darkness (Deut 28:29).

  3. Isaiah 59:9 בָּאֲפֵל֥וֹת in <the> gloom<s>

    Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 23:12 בָּֽאֲפֵלָ֔ה in the darkness

    “Therefore their path will become slick; they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it. For I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.

    Here: Deep gloom, darkness you cannot see through. Slick ground is bad enough, but in pitch dark you cannot even see where to step.

Joel · 1

  1. Joel 2:2 וַאֲפֵלָ֗ה and gloom

    a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.

    Here: A rarer, more intense word for darkness. Here it is physical blackness, not a mood. Paired with ḥōšek, it piles darkness on darkness.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 1:15 וַאֲפֵלָ֔ה and gloom

    That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.