Are There Extra-Biblical Accounts that Describe the Crucifixion Darkness?

The Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record a mysterious darkness that occurred while Jesus was dying on the cross.

Matthew writes: “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour” (Matthew 27:45).

Mark similarly records: “When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mark 15:33).

Luke writes: “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured” (Luke 23:44-45).

Converting these timeframes to contemporary timekeeping practices, the darkness first fell upon the land at 12:00 noon and lasted until 3:00 p.m.

According to Mark’s Gospel, “It was the third hour when they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25). This suggests that Jesus endured the mockery of His adversaries for approximately three hours before the darkness descended. Jesus’s initial three hours on the cross are sometimes called “the wrath of man.”

The subsequent three-hour period Jesus was on the cross is sometimes called “the wrath of God.” This description comes from the enveloping darkness from noon to 3:00 p.m. and Jesus’s desperate outcry at its conclusion: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

The darkness itself was ominous and unsettling. Luke wrote that “the sun was obscured” (Luke 23:45). Normally, an expression like this might describe an eclipse of some sort. However, a normal solar eclipse at the time of Jesus’s death would have been impossible because Passover occurred halfway through the lunar cycle, when the moon was full. The crucifixion darkness, therefore, appears to have been the result of some other cause, perhaps even supernatural.

Matthew writes that “darkness fell upon all the land” (Matthew 27:45). Mark uses similar language: “darkness fell over the whole land” (Mark 15:33). These expressions indicate that the darkness covered the entire surrounding region.

At minimum, the darkness fell upon Jerusalem and all the land in its immediate vicinity. The crucifixion darkness possibly extended over all of Judea and/or significant portions of the wider Roman Empire. Perhaps the crucifixion darkness fell upon the entire earth.

Ancient accounts from Judea, Egypt, Asia Minor, and possibly as far away as China may have chronicled the crucifixion darkness.

Because God’s word is true, there is no need for further evidence to prove or verify the crucifixion darkness as a fact. However, in addition to the Gospel records and the Old Testament prophecies concerning the darkness that fell over the whole land from the sixth to the ninth hour during Jesus’s crucifixion, there may also be extra-biblical observations of this event.

A word of caution must be given before we proceed. Most of the references cited below have one or more complications or compromises that make them less than fully reliable— but just because a witness may be compromised does not mean that they should be disregarded without any consideration.

A POSSIBLE JEWISH ACCOUNT OF THE CRUCIFIXION DARKNESS

1. The Jerusalem Talmud

A possible Jewish record of the crucifixion darkness comes from the Jerusalem Talmud:

“It has been taught: Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the western light went out.”

(Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 6.3.6)

The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. during the Roman siege of Jerusalem. This destruction was itself predicted by Jesus when He told His disciples: “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down” (Matthew 24:2).

Jesus prophesied this destruction approximately forty years before it took place and mere days before His own execution and the crucifixion darkness.

The “western light” which the Jerusalem Talmud most likely refers to is the menorah in the temple—which signified a loss of God’s presence. With a bit of a speculative leap, “western light” could also be interpreted to mean the western (or afternoon) sun. It is also possible that western light could refer to both the menorah and the afternoon sun which “was obscured” during Jesus’s final three hours on the cross (Luke 23:45).

This possible connection is interesting, but it is speculative. The Jerusalem Talmud does not explicitly claim to be describing the crucifixion darkness.

POSSIBLE GRECO-ROMAN ACCOUNTS OF THE CRUCIFIXION DARKNESS

There are various Gentile reports from ancient sources about a strange darkness that occurred around the time of Jesus’s crucifixion.

For what they are worth, most of these reports survive indirectly and are therefore difficult to substantiate and should be accepted with caution. The Greco-Roman references listed below are preserved by Christians who are repeating what non-Christians supposedly observed about the crucifixion darkness.

While this fact does not in itself invalidate the claims, these records would be considered more historically reliable according to modern standards if the original primary-source accounts were still available and if surviving accounts from neutral or hostile witnesses could be directly examined.

Nevertheless, these ancient reports are interesting and may describe the unusual darkness recorded in the Gospels.

1. Dionysius the Areopagite

The first Gentile report is from a Greek scientist named Dionysius who allegedly witnessed the crucifixion darkness personally from the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, whose name means “city of the sun.”

Ironically, Dionysius was reportedly in the city of the sun when the sun was obscured.

According to a letter attributed to Dionysius, he:

“saw the moon approaching the sun, to our surprise (for it was not appointed time for conjunction); and again, from the ninth hour to the evening, supernaturally placed back again into a line opposite the sun.”

(Dionysius the Areopagite, Letter to Polycarp, Section 2)

The authenticity of Dionysius’s Letter to Polycarp is questionable.

Elsewhere, Dionysius is alleged to have commented to a friend when he experienced the darkness: “Either the Deity is suffering, or sympathizing with some sufferer.”

If he said this, Dionysius was correct on both accounts. Jesus, the Son of God, was suffering on the cross during this darkness, and He was sympathizing with the sinners He came to save.

This same Dionysius is believed to be one of Paul’s converts from his discussions with the philosophers on the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, in Athens. Luke writes: “But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite” (Acts 17:34).

If all these things are true, the pagan Dionysius observed and noted the crucifixion darkness when it happened and later came to know its fuller meaning when he believed in Jesus upon meeting Paul in Athens.

2. Phlegon

The early church figure Jerome (347-420 A.D.) quoted Phlegon of Tralles, who wrote a compilation of historical and major natural events stretching back to the time of the first Olympic games called “The Olympiad.”

Phlegon wrote during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 A.D.).

Jerome preserves the following report:

“However in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, an eclipse of the sun happened, greater and more excellent than any that had happened before it; at the sixth hour, day turned into dark night, so that the stars were seen in the sky, and an earthquake in Bithynia toppled many buildings of the city of Nicaea.”

(Jerome, Chronicles, Olympiad 202).

This account is striking because its darkness occurred at “the sixth hour.”

Matthew writes: “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour” (Matthew 27:45). Mark similarly records: “When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mark 15:33).

The church historian Eusebius (260-339 A.D.) also mentioned Phlegon’s reference to the darkness. Phlegon’s original account, however, seems to have been lost to history.

Consequently, Phlegon’s report is interesting, but it survives indirectly through later writers.

3. Thallus

Julius Africanus (160-240 A.D.), another ancient Christian writer, summarized an account by Thallus, a first or second-century historian who apparently discussed how the whole world was pressed under a most fearful darkness from some sort of eclipse.

Julius Africanus wrote:

“On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.”

(Julius Africanus, Extant Fragments of the Chronography, 18).

The reason Julius disparages Thallus for describing this event as an eclipse is because solar eclipses cannot naturally occur during the middle of a lunar cycle.

Jewish months are based on the lunar calendar. Jesus was crucified during Passover, most likely the first day of Unleavened Bread which occurred on Nisan 15—the middle of the month when the moon was full and a natural solar eclipse could not occur.

Thallus’s original work has been lost. Therefore, as with Phlegon, the possible reference to the crucifixion darkness survives indirectly through a later Christian writer.

4. Tertullian’s Appeal to the Roman Archives

Other Christian writers, such as Tertullian (155-220 A.D.), called upon Roman officials to check their own records and verify the crucifixion darkness.

Tertullian wrote:

“In the same hour, too, the light of day was withdrawn, when the sun at the very time was in his meridian blaze. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives.”

(Tertullian, Apology, 21)

As late as two hundred years after the event itself, Tertullian believed the Romans still had ready access to records of the crucifixion darkness in their archives.

Tertullian’s statement is noteworthy because he was publicly challenging Roman authorities to examine records which he claimed were available to them. Nevertheless, the records to which Tertullian appealed are no longer available for us to examine directly.

POSSIBLE CHINESE ACCOUNTS OF THE CRUCIFIXION DARKNESS

There are also possible records from ancient China which have been associated with the crucifixion darkness.

One account says:

“Yin and Yang have mistakenly switched, and the sun and moon were eclipsed. The sins of all the people are now on one man. Pardon is proclaimed to all under heaven.”
(History of Latter Han Dynasty, Chronicles of Emperor Guang Wu, 7th Year).

Another possible Chinese account reads:

“Eclipse on the day of Gui Hai, Man from Heaven died.”
(History of Latter Han, Annals, No. 18, Gui Hai).

If these translations and their proposed dating are accurate, their language is remarkable. The first associates a cosmic disturbance with the sins of the people being placed upon one man and pardon being proclaimed to everyone under heaven. The second associates an eclipse with the death of a “Man from Heaven.”

However, once again, we must be cautious in putting too much stock in these indirect and ancient accounts. Their translation, interpretation, dating, and connection to the crucifixion darkness require caution.

Nevertheless, since Scripture is reliable, we should not be surprised to find possible allusions to such an unusual event in contemporary records.

What Can We Conclude?

The Gospel accounts are clear that a mysterious darkness occurred during Jesus’s crucifixion.

Matthew writes: “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour” (Matthew 27:45).

Mark writes: “When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour” (Mark 15:33).

Luke writes that “darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured” (Luke 23:44-45).

The extra-biblical accounts are more difficult to assess.

The possible Jewish account in the Jerusalem Talmud is ambiguous. The Dionysius account is of questionable authenticity. The reports of Phlegon and Thallus survive indirectly through later Christian writers. Tertullian claimed that corroborating evidence existed in Roman archives which are no longer available. And the possible Chinese records require caution regarding their translation, dating, and interpretation.

These limitations should be acknowledged rather than minimized. But neither should these ancient reports be casually dismissed.

If these accounts are accurate and refer to the same event recorded in the Gospels, then the crucifixion darkness appears to have encompassed large portions of the earth, including Judea, Egypt, Asia Minor, presumably other parts of the Roman Empire, and possibly all the way to China in the Far East.

The crucifixion darkness was a mysterious and profound event, a display of divine wrath and mourning during the cosmic upheaval surrounding the Son of God’s death.

It was predicted in biblical prophecy and recorded in the Gospels. And it may also have been observed and noted by the wider world. This unusual darkness between the sixth and ninth hours of the day heralded the atoning sacrifice of Christ, where divine judgment and divine mercy intersected.