אֲפֵלָה aphelah
Hebrew word for “darkness” · Strong’s H653 · used 10 times in 10 verses
Meaning
1) darkness, gloominess, calamity; 2) wickedness (fig.)
How it is translated
Glosses given for aphelah in context, with how often each is used:
- darkness 4
- gloom 4
- like darkness 1
- glooms 1
Where it is used
| Book | Uses | Per 1,000 words | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah | 3 | 0.2 | |
| Proverbs | 2 | 0.3 | |
| Exodus | 1 | 0.1 | |
| Deuteronomy | 1 | 0.1 | |
| Jeremiah | 1 | 0.0 | |
| Joel | 1 | 1.0 | |
| Zephaniah | 1 | 1.3 |
Chapters where it is used most
Exodus 10 (1), Deuteronomy 28 (1), Proverbs 4 (1), Proverbs 7 (1), Isaiah 8 (1), Isaiah 58 (1), Isaiah 59 (1), Jeremiah 23 (1), Joel 2 (1), Zephaniah 1 (1)
Forms
- ואפלה 4
- באפלה 2
- אפלה 1
- כאפלה 1
- ואפלתך 1
- באפלות 1
Words used with it
Words that share verses with aphelah more often than their overall frequency would suggest:
- חֹשֶׁךְ choshekh “darkness” 5
- עֲרָפֶל araphel “cloud” 2
- צֹהַר tsohar “midday” 2
- צָרָה tsarah “distress” 2
- עָנָן anan “cloud” 2
- דֶּרֶךְ derekh “way” 3
- אוֹר or “light” 2
- שָׁנָה shaneh “year” 2
- כֵּן ken “so” 2
- הִנֵּה hinneh “behold” 2
- מִן־ min “from” 2
Key verses
The verses using aphelah that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):
- Exodus 10:22 — And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
- Deuteronomy 28:29 — And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled…
- Proverbs 4:19 — The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
- Proverbs 7:9 — In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
- Isaiah 8:22 — And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
- Isaiah 58:10 — And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
- Isaiah 59:9 — Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
- Jeremiah 23:12 — Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the…
- Joel 2:2 — A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath…
- Zephaniah 1:15 — That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick…
See all 10 verses in the Word Atlas
Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.