---
title: אֹפֶל — darkness · The Tanakh dictionary
description: אֹפֶל (652), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 9 times: darkness. BDB 1906: n.m. darkness, gloom. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# אֹפֶל

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«אֹפֶל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **darkness** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 9 times · **Key:** 652 · **BDB:** אֹ֫פֶל

### Glosses

gloom (8); of.gloom (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

darkness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/652/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. darkness, gloom [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/652/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Jb 3:6 darkness, gloom (only poet.)—א׳ always abs.— darkness, of night ψ 91:6 (opp. צָֽהֳרָֽיִם); deep in the earth, אֶבֶן א׳ Jb 28:3 (‖ חֹשֶׁךְ, צַלְמָוֶת); darkness, gloom of underworld Jb 10:22(×2) (‖ אֶרֶץ חֹשֶׁךְ, א׳ עֵיפָפָה, צַלְמָוֶת); personif. Jb 3:6 that night—let darkness take it יִקָּחֵהוּ א׳; fig. of spiritual darkness Is 29:18 (‖ חֹשֶׁךְ); of secrecy, treachery ψ 11:2. especially fig. of calamity Jb 23:17 (‖ חשׁך q.v.), 30:26 (opp. אוֹר).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 8 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «אֹפֶל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/652/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Psalms 91:6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.91.6/)

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מִ֭דֶּבֶר בָּאֹ֣פֶל יַהֲלֹ֑ךְ מִ֝קֶּ֗טֶב יָשׁ֥וּד צָהֳרָֽיִם׃

*Word for word:* from a.plague \[which\].in the gloom it.will.walk from destruction \[which\].it.will.devastate noon(s)

*JPS 1917:* Of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

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[Job 23:17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.23.17/)

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כִּֽי־לֹ֣א נִ֭צְמַתִּי מִפְּנֵי־חֹ֑שֶׁךְ וּ֝מִפָּנַ֗י כִּסָּה־אֹֽפֶל׃

*Word for word:* (dm) not I.have.been.silenced from before darkness and from before me it.covers gloom

*JPS 1917:* Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did He cover the thick darkness from my face.

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