Hebrew noun (masculine) · H2822
חֹשֶׁךְ
choshekkho-shek'
darkness
80 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: chôshek
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H2822is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 18 of 39Old Testament books
- 36spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H2822
the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness
The King James renders it: dark(-ness), night, obscurity.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
choshek is rendered "darkness". It stands 80 times in the Hebrew text, across eighteen books.
- Twenty-three of the uses stand in Job, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 1:2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
- The Greek text spells it thirty-six different ways.
The first use
Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Genesis 1:2וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
Twenty-three of the word's eighty uses are in Job.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- darkness46
- in the darkness13
- the darkness6
- and darkness2
- and in the darkness2
- darkness my2
- into darkness2
- and from darkness1
- and the darkness1
- and to the darkness1
- at the darkness1
- darkness of1
and 2 more, 80 uses in all
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
| Word | Written | Meaning | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| חֹשֶׁן | choshen | breastpiece | Uses25 |
The words it stands beside
All 80, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
36 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃10
- חֹ֥שֶׁךְ6
- חֹ֣שֶׁךְ6
- בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ5
- חֹ֑שֶׁךְ5
- חֹ֔שֶׁךְ5
- בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְ3
- חֹ֭שֶׁךְ3
- בַּחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙2
- הַחֹ֔שֶׁךְ2
- הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃2
- חֹשֶׁךְ֮2
and 24 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- noun · masculine singular46HNcmsa
- preposition with the article + noun · masculine singular15HRd/Ncmsa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular6HTd/Ncmsa
- conjunction (“and”) + preposition with the article + noun · masculine singular3HC/Rd/Ncmsa
- preposition + noun · masculine singular3HR/Ncmsa
- conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singular2HC/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singular2HNcmsc/Sp1bs
- conjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine singular1HC/R/Ncmsa
- conjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular1HC/Td/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)1HNcmsc
Genesis
four uses
Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
- וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְvechoshekhconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and darkness
And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
- הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃hachoshekhthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the darkness
God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
- וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְvelachoshekhconjunction (“and”) + preposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: and to the darkness
to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
- הַחֹ֑שֶׁךְhachoshekhthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the darkness
Exodus
four uses
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”
- חֹ֖שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ־choshekh-noun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: darkness of
so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.
- וְהַחֹ֔שֶׁךְvehachoshekhconjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and the darkness
Deuteronomy
two uses
You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
- חֹ֖שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,
- הַחֹ֔שֶׁךְhachoshekhthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the darkness
Joshua
one use
At dusk, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I do not know which way they went. Pursue them quickly, and you may catch them!”
- בַּחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙bachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: at the darkness
1 Samuel
one use
He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
2 Samuel
two uses
He made darkness a canopy around Him, a gathering of water and thick clouds.
- חֹ֛שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
For You, O LORD, are my lamp; the LORD lights up my darkness.
- חָשְׁכִּֽי׃chashekinoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: darkness my
Job
twenty-three uses
If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it.
- חֹ֥שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.
- חֹ֣שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
- חֹ֑שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,
- חֹ֣שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.
- חֹ֑שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.
- חֹ֥שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
- חֹ֑שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
- חֹ֗שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,
- בַּ֝חֹ֗שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.
- חֹ֑שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.
- חֹ֣שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
- חֹשֶׁךְ֮choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
- חֹ֥שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.
- חֹ֑שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
- בַּחֹ֗שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.
- לַחֹ֗שֶׁךְlachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: to the darkness
when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.
- חֹ֭שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in darkness.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides,
- וְ֝חֹ֗שֶׁךְvechoshekhconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and darkness
Psalms
eleven uses
He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
- חֹ֨שֶׁךְ׀choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.
- חָשְׁכִּֽי׃chashekinoun · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: darkness my
May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
- חֹ֥שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
- בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl.
- חֹ֭שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
He sent darkness, and it became dark— yet they defied His words.
- חֹ֭שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains,
- חֹ֣שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.
- מֵחֹ֣שֶׁךְmechoshekhpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: from darkness
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright— for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
- בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
- חֹ֣שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
- חֹשֶׁךְ֮choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Proverbs
two uses
from those who leave the straight paths to walk in the ways of darkness,
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Ecclesiastes
six uses
And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
- הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃hachoshekhthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the darkness
The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
- בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
- בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
- וּבַחֹ֣שֶׁךְuvachoshekhconjunction (“and”) + preposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: and in the darkness
- וּבַחֹ֖שֶׁךְuvachoshekhconjunction (“and”) + preposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: and in the darkness
So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.
- הַחֹ֔שֶׁךְhachoshekhthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the darkness
Isaiah
fourteen uses
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
- חֹ֤שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
- לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְlechoshekhpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: into darkness
In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
- חֹ֔שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
- בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
- וּמֵחֹ֔שֶׁךְumechoshekhconjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: and from darkness
to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
- חֹ֔שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- חֹ֔שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.
- חֹ֔שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
“Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of Chaldea. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
- בַחֹ֖שֶׁךְvachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.
- בַּחֹ֖שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
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.
- בַּחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙bachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
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.
- חֹ֔שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you.
- הַחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙hachoshekhthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the darkness
Lamentations
one use
He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.
- חֹ֥שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Ezekiel
two uses
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
- בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you, and I will bring darkness upon your land,’ declares the Lord GOD.
- חֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Joel
two uses
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.
- חֹ֣שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- לְחֹ֔שֶׁךְlechoshekhpreposition + noun · masculine singulartagged: into darkness
Amos
two uses
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
- חֹ֥שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
- חֹ֛שֶׁךְchoshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Micah
one use
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְbachoshekhpreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: in the darkness
Nahum
one use
But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness.
- חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
Zephaniah
one use
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,
- חֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙choshekhnoun · masculine singulartagged: darkness
The letters
Gematria 328· 808 mispar gadol
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.
The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.