Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 27:45

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour." — Matthew 27:45 (ASV)

From the sixth hour —The first three Gospels agree on the time and the event. Assuming they follow the usual Jewish method of reckoning time (Acts 3:1; Acts 10:3; Acts 10:9), the sixth hour would be noon. The crucifixion itself took place at the third hour, or 9:00 a.m. (Mark 15:25), and the darkness lasted until 3:00 p.m. John, however, names the “sixth hour” as the time of our Lord’s final condemnation by Pilate, apparently following the Roman (or modern) method of reckoning from midnight to noon (see the note on John 19:14 and also on John 4:6).

Looking at the facts, it is probable that our Lord was taken to the high priest’s palace around 3:00 a.m., the time of the “cock-crow” (Mark 13:35). This was followed by the first hearing before Annas (John 18:13), the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, and then the formal meeting that passed the sentence. These events would likely have concluded by 6:00 a.m. We can allow another three hours for the trials before Pilate and Herod. After the trial, there would naturally be an interval for the soldiers to eat their morning meal. This, followed by the slow procession to Golgotha—delayed, we may well believe, by our Lord falling one or more times beneath the cross—brings us to 9:00 a.m. for His arrival at the place of crucifixion.

Darkness over all the land —This phrasing is a better translation than “earth,” as found in the King James Version of Luke 23:44. The degree and nature of the darkness are not defined. Since the moon was full, it could not have been a solar eclipse. The event is not mentioned by John, nor is it recorded by Josephus, Tacitus, or any other contemporary secular writer.

On the other hand, the fact that this event appears in the records of the three Synoptic Gospels—which are in many respects independent of each other—places it on a firm historical basis. Furthermore, early Christian writers, such as Tertullian (Apology 21) and Origen (Against Celsus 2.33), appealed to this event as something attested to by non-Christian writers.

The narrative does not necessarily describe more than an indescribable and oppressive gloom that seemed to shroud the whole sky in mourning . This phenomenon, which is not uncommon during earthquakes, may have been connected with the earthquake described in Matthew 27:51. As an indirect confirmation of this, there is an obvious change in the crowd’s behavior around this time. A pause and a lull occur; the gibes and taunts cease. The life of the Crucified One ends in a silence broken only by His own bitter cry.