darkness
黑暗,冥冥,夜色;罪惡,無知
Dark·ness, n.
1. The absence of light; blackness; obscurity; gloom.
And darkness was upon the face of the deep. --Gen. i. 2.
2. A state of privacy; secrecy.
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light. --Matt. x. 27.
3. A state of ignorance or error, especially on moral or religious subjects; hence, wickedness; impurity.
Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. --John. iii. 19.
Pursue these sons of darkness: drive them out
From all heaven's bounds. --Milton.
4. Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity; as, the darkness of a subject, or of a discussion.
5. A state of distress or trouble.
A day of clouds and of thick darkness. --Joel. ii. 2.
Prince of darkness, the Devil; Satan. “In the power of the Prince of darkness.”
Syn: -- Darkness, Dimness, Obscurity, Gloom.
Usage: Darkness arises from a total, and dimness from a partial, want of light. A thing is obscure when so overclouded or covered as not to be easily perceived. As tha shade or obscurity increases, it deepens into gloom. What is dark is hidden from view; what is obscure is difficult to perceive or penetrate; the eye becomes dim with age; an impending storm fills the atmosphere with gloom. When taken figuratively, these words have a like use; as, the darkness of ignorance; dimness of discernment; obscurity of reasoning; gloom of superstition.
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darkness
n 1: absence of light or illumination [syn: dark] [ant: light]
2: an unilluminated area; "he moved off into the darkness"
[syn: dark, shadow]
3: absence of moral or spiritual values; "the powers of
darkness" [syn: iniquity, wickedness, dark]
4: an unenlightened state; "he was in the dark concerning their
intentions"; "his lectures dispelled the darkness" [syn: dark]
5: having a dark or somber color [ant: lightness]
6: a swarthy complexion [syn: duskiness, swarthiness]
Darkness
The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Ex. 10:21) is
described as darkness "which may be felt." It covered "all the
land of Egypt," so that "they saw not one another." It did not
extend to the land of Goshen (ver. 23).
When Jesus hung upon the cross (Matt. 27:45; Luke 23:44), from
the "sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the
ninth hour."
On Mount Sinai, Moses (Ex. 20:21) "drew near unto the thick
darkness where God was." This was the "thick cloud upon the
mount" in which Jehovah was when he spake unto Moses there. The
Lord dwelt in the cloud upon the mercy-seat (1 Kings 8:12), the
cloud of glory. When the psalmist (Ps. 97:2) describes the
inscrutable nature of God's workings among the sons of men, he
says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." God dwells in
thick darkness.
Darkness (Isa. 13:9, 10; Matt. 24:29) also is a symbol of the
judgments that attend on the coming of the Lord. It is a symbol
of misery and adversity (Job 18:6; Ps. 107:10; Isa. 8:22; Ezek.
30:18). The "day of darkness" in Joel 2:2, caused by clouds of
locusts, is a symbol of the obscurity which overhangs all divine
proceedings. "Works of darkness" are impure actions (Eph. 5:11).
"Outer darkness" refers to the darkness of the streets in the
East, which are never lighted up by any public or private lamps
after nightfall, in contrast with the blaze of cheerful light in
the house. It is also a symbol of ignorance (Isa. 9:2; 60:2;
Matt. 6:23) and of death (Job 10:21; 17:13).