Mazmur 105:28

105:28 He made it dark; ¹ 

they did not disobey his orders. ² 

Yesaya 13:10

13:10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations

no longer give out their light; ³ 

the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,

and the moon does not shine. ⁴ 

Yesaya 45:7

45:7 I am ⁵  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ⁶ 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ⁷ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

Yesaya 50:3

50:3 I can clothe the sky in darkness;

I can cover it with sackcloth.”

Yesaya 16:10

16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,

and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;

no one treads out juice in the wine vats ⁸  –

I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. ⁹ 

[105:28]  ¹ tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”

[105:28]  sn He made it dark. The psalmist begins with the ninth plague (see Exod 10:21-29).

[105:28]  ² tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.

[13:10]  ³ tn Heb “do not flash forth their light.”

[13:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “does not shed forth its light.”

[45:7]  ⁵ tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.

[45:7]  ⁶ tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”

[45:7]  ⁷ sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).

[16:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “wine in the vats the treader does not tread.”

[16:10]  ⁹ sn The Lord appears to be the speaker here. See 15:9.