Bible Dictionary Definitions

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Translation	Verse	Text
Strong Concordance	Mt 4:16	The people [2992] which [3588] sat [2521] in [1722] darkness [4655] saw [1492] great [3173] light [5457]; and [2532] to them which [3588] sat [2521] in [1722] the region [5561] and [2532] shadow [4639] of death [2288] light [5457] is sprung up [393] [846].

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

DARKNESS

The absence of natural light, Ge 1:2, and hence figuratively a state of misery and adversity, Job 18:6 Ps 107:10 Isa 8:22 9:1; also the absence of the sun and stars, and hence the fall of chief men and national convulsions, Isa 13:10 Ac 2:20. "Works of darkness," are the impure mysteries practiced in heathen worship, Eph 5:11. "Outer darkness" illustrates the gloom of those on whom the gates of heaven are closed, Mt 8:12. The darkness in Egypt, Ex 10:21-23, was miraculous; also that which covered all Judea with sympathetic gloom at the crucifixion of Christ, Lu 23:43. This could not have been caused by an eclipse of the sun; for at Passover the moon was full, and on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

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).

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

DEATH

Is taken in Scripture, first, for the separation of body and soul, the first death, Ge 25:11; secondly, for alienation from God, and exposure to his wrath, 1Jo 3:14, etc.; thirdly, for the second death, that of eternal damnation. Death was the penalty affixed to Adam's transgression, Ge 2:17 3:19; and all his posterity are transgressors, and share the curse inflicted upon him. CHRIST is "our life." All believers share his life, spiritually and eternally; and though sin and bodily is taken away, and in the resurrection the last enemy shall be trampled under foot, Ro 5:12-21 1Co 15:1-58.

Natural death is described as a yielding up of the breath, or spirit, expiring, Ps 104:29; as a return to our original dust, Ge 3:19 Ec 12:7; as the soul's laying off the body, its clothing, 2Co 5:3,4, or the tent in which it has dwelt, 2Co 5:1 2Pe 1:13,14. The death of the believer is a departure, a going home, a falling asleep in Jesus, Php 1:23 Mt 26:24 Joh 11:11.

The term death is also sometimes used for any great calamity, or imminent danger threatening life, as persecution, 2Co 1:10. "The gates of death," Job 38:17, signify the unseen world occupied by departed spirits. Death is also figuratively used to denote the insensibility of Christians to the temptations of a sinful world, Col 3:3.

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

DEATH

may be simply defined as the termination of life. It is represented under a variety of aspects in Scripture: (1.) "The dust shall return to the earth as it was" (Eccl. 12:7).

(2.) "Thou takest away their breath, they die" (Ps. 104:29).

(3.) It is the dissolution of "our earthly house of this tabernacle" (2 Cor. 5:1); the "putting off this tabernacle" (2 Pet. 1:13, 14).

(4.) Being "unclothed" (2 Cor. 5:3, 4).

(5.) "Falling on sleep" (Ps. 76:5; Jer. 51:39; Acts 13:36; 2 Pet. 3:9.

(6.) "I go whence I shall not return" (Job 10:21); "Make me to know mine end" (Ps. 39:4); "to depart" (Phil. 1:23).

The grave is represented as "the gates of death" (Job 38:17; Ps. 9:13; 107:18). The gloomy silence of the grave is spoken of under the figure of the "shadow of death" (Jer. 2:6).

Death is the effect of sin (Heb. 2:14), and not a "debt of nature." It is but once (9:27), universal (Gen. 3:19), necessary (Luke 2:28-30). Jesus has by his own death taken away its sting for all his followers (1 Cor. 15:55-57).

There is a spiritual death in trespasses and sins, i.e., the death of the soul under the power of sin (Rom. 8:6; Eph. 2:1, 3; Col. 2:13).

The "second death" (Rev. 2:11) is the everlasting perdition of the wicked (Rev. 21:8), and "second" in respect to natural or temporal death.

THE DEATH OF CHRIST is the procuring cause incidentally of all the blessings men enjoy on earth. But specially it is the procuring cause of the actual salvation of all his people, together with all the means that lead thereto. It does not make their salvation merely possible, but certain (Matt. 18:11; Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 1:4; 3:13; Eph. 1:7; 2:16; Rom. 8:32-35).

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Word

American Tract Society - Definition

LIGHT

One of the most wonderful, cheering, and useful of all the works of God; called into being on the first of the six days of creation, by his voice: "Let there be light;" and there was light. No object better illustrates whatever is pure, glorious, spiritual, joyful, and beneficent. Hence the beauty and force of the expressions, "God is light," 1Jo 1:5, and "the Father of lights," Jas 1:17; Christ is the "Sun of righteousness," and "the light of the world," Joh 1:9 8:12. So also the word of God is "a light," Ps 119:105; truth and Christians are lights, Joh 3:19 12:36; prosperity is "light," Es 8:16; and heaven is full of light, Re 21:23-25. The opposite of all these is "darkness."

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Word

Easton Dictionary - Definition

LIGHT

the offspring of the divine command (Gen. 1:3). "All the more joyous emotions of the mind, all the pleasing sensations of the frame, all the happy hours of domestic intercourse were habitually described among the Hebrews under imagery derived from light" (1 Kings 11:36; Isa. 58:8; Esther 8:16; Ps. 97:11). Light came also naturally to typify true religion and the felicity it imparts (Ps. 119:105; Isa. 8:20; Matt. 4:16, etc.), and the glorious inheritance of the redeemed (Col. 1:12; Rev. 21:23-25). God is said to dwell in light inaccessible (1 Tim. 6:16). It frequently signifies instruction (Matt. 5:16; John 5:35). In its highest sense it is applied to Christ as the "Sun of righteousness" (Mal. 4:2; Luke 2:32; John 1:7-9). God is styled "the Father of lights" (James 1:17). It is used of angels (2 Cor. 11:14), and of John the Baptist, who was a "burning and a shining light" (John 5:35), and of all true disciples, who are styled "the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14).

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Word	American Tract Society - Definition
SHADOW	Sometimes denotes intense darkness and gloom, Ps 23:4, and sometimes a cool retreat, Isa 33:2, or perfect protection, Ps 17:8 Isa 49:2 Da 4:12. The long shadows cast by the declining sun are alluded to in Job 7:2 Jer 6:4. The swift, never ceasing motion of a shadow is an emblem of human life, 1Ch 29:15 Ps 102:11.

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Word	Easton Dictionary - Definition
SHADOW	used in Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1 to denote the typical relation of the Jewish to the Christian dispensation.

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