Complete textual-variant dossier
Adverse entailment established
Sections distinguish readings, edition history, evidence, theological consequences, and the Research Center's evaluation. CBGM is an analytical tool; editorial committees—not the software—make textual decisions.
1Passage and issue
Passage
Issue
The received text says “the sun was darkened.” The critical text uses a participial form of ἐκλείπω, “the sun failing,” which can be translated “eclipsed” but need not describe an ordinary astronomical eclipse.
Variant class
Substitution or composite variation
2Textus Receptus
Greek reading
“The sun was darkened.”
Authorized Version
“And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” — Luke 23:45
Edition note
The Research Center uses the received Greek text underlying the Authorized Version as its baseline; edition-specific differences are recorded when the variation unit requires them.
Historical annotation witness
Erasmus’s Annotationes
Erasmus’s printed Greek text, his Latin annotation, and the Research Center’s evaluation are distinct evidence. Each edition remains separately identified because Erasmus revised the Annotationes across his five editions.
Not yet assessed. No inference about Erasmus’s silence has been made. A Latin annotation and translation will appear here only after an edition and exact locus have been verified.
The Erasmus annotation audit has not yet been completed for this locus. Do not infer from this status that Erasmus was silent.
Westminster and Dutch annotation witnesses
Westminster Annotations
Not yet assessed. No inference from silence is made.
Dutch Annotations
Not yet assessed. No inference from silence is made.
3NA28 baseline and critical-text rationale
NA28 baseline reading
“The sun’s light failed,” often rendered “the sun was eclipsed.”
Translation or explanation
“The sun’s light failed,” often rendered “the sun was eclipsed.”
Metzger’s report of the UBS committee
Metzger reports the UBS4 committee's treatment of the variation unit. The note grounds the relevant decision in the balance of external and internal evidence described in the entry; the printed confidence rating represented here is {B}. This is a controlled synopsis rather than a quotation.
Locator: Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., note on Luke 23:45
ECM / CBGM evidence and editors
No passage-specific ECM/CBGM editorial explanation is attached to this record. Official method sources describe the CBGM as a set of coherence procedures, not a decision-maker: editors define variation units and local stemmata and evaluate pre-genealogical, genealogical, and stemmatic coherence together with transcriptional, intrinsic, and other philological evidence.
4UBS6 and intended NA29 revision
UBS6 retains the NA28 / UBS5 Greek main-text wording in Luke, so no main-text change is shown for this passage. The separate project ledger covers Acts, Mark, and Revelation.
No change row is attached to this passage.
UBS6 is published, and the German Bible Society identifies its Greek main text as identical to the intended NA29 main text. The complete NA29 volume and its apparatus remain forthcoming. Project-ledger rows retain their source and verification statements until they are checked against the published UBS6 text and, when available, the NA29 apparatus.
5Doctrinal and four-point analysis
Effect class
Exegetical or interpretive consequence
Exact proposition affected
No single doctrinal proposition is directly changed; the principal consequence is exegetical, historical, or cumulative.
Doctrinal analysis
Exegetical or interpretive consequence. The record does not establish that the variant by itself removes an entire Christian doctrine; explicit wording, exegesis, and cumulative testimony must be distinguished.
Controlled source-list matches
Doctrinal significance and Westminster use
This passage is listed in one or both controlling research files. Their claims are reported with exact source identity and confessional use; list membership does not by itself establish the original reading or the Research Center’s final entailment.
Doctrinally significant variant listLuke 23.45
Doctrinally Significant Variants Itemised
Anonymous compilation — supplied source file pp. 21–22
Doctrine or doctrinal consequence identified by the source
It is true that the Greek word for 'having an eclipse' can also be read 'its light failed'. Accordingly, one cannot argue that the wording of the Alexandrian Text is necessarily in error, scientifically speaking (though it certainly can be taken in a way that is plainly contrary to science). However, one can most definitely argue that the wording of the Byzantine Text is more accurate, and accordingly, the more accurate wording of this verse in the Byzantine Text points once again to the superior accuracy and reliability of that manuscript tradition over the Alexandrian Text.
Source-reported readings and witness argument
Received reading reported
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. (Luke 23:45 Authorised Version)
Critical reading reported
while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:45 New Revised Standard) (COMMENT: The Greek word which the Alexandrian Text uses for 'failed' is also the standard Greek nomenclature for 'eclipsed'. Accordingly, the Greek of the Alexandrian Text (as Julius Africanus points out) can also be read 'and the sun had an eclipse'.
Manuscript and patristic support reported by the source
The 'sun was having an eclipse' reading of the Alexandrian Text is supported by Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Ephraemi, and by the Alexandrian manuscripts in general. The reading 'the sun was darkened' is the universal reading of the Byzantine Text going back to Codex Alexandrinus. As we have pointed out in the endnote above (footnote 115), with an extensive citation in that endnote of his comments, Julius Africanus rightly objected to the 'eclipse' reading, pointing out that the Passover always occurs during a full moon, and that it is impossible for an eclipse to occur during a full moon. Endnote 114 also presents evidence from the famed Bauer-Arndt-Danker-Gingrich Greek lexicon that the Greek word used here in Luke 22.45 is indeed the standard Greek terminology for a solar eclipse.
Editorial qualification: The compilation’s doctrinal inferences and witness claims are reported as its argument, not silently adopted as verified fact. Exact entailment is retained: weakening an explicit statement is not automatically a formal denial of the doctrine.
Bahnsen four-point examination
Arbitrariness
At Luke 23:45, the critical choice avoids arbitrariness only to the extent that it states public manuscript, transcriptional, and intrinsic grounds. Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending. The critical form says, literally, “the sun failing” or “the sun’s light having failed.” If the critical verb is forced into a technical astronomical meaning, Luke appears to describe an impossibility.
Inconsistency
The criteria used at Luke 23:45 must be applied to comparable readings as well. A principle such as age, difficulty, brevity, or coherence cannot be decisive here and quietly reversed elsewhere merely to escape a historical, grammatical, or theological difficulty.
Consequences
Exegetical or interpretive consequence: No single doctrinal proposition is directly changed; the principal consequence is exegetical, historical, or cumulative.
Preconditions of intelligibility
The argument presupposes stable authorship, meaningful language, objective logical norms, transmissible evidence, and a coherent account of how Scripture can be received and identified by the church. The analysis tests whether the method can make those conditions intelligible without reducing the text to an indefinitely revisable editorial construct.
This framework examines an argument and its conditions; it does not claim to read an editor's private motives.
6Argument for the received reading
External and historical evidence
The Authorized Version’s “the sun was darkened” is both textually received and interpretively sound.
Internal and transcriptional evidence
If the critical verb is forced into a technical astronomical meaning, Luke appears to describe an impossibility. “The sun’s light failed” can describe supernatural darkness. A scribe could replace the more unusual “failed” construction to avoid misunderstanding or to align Luke with the other Gospels’ language.
Reception and ecclesiastical use
The received text explains, “the sun was darkened.” It states exactly what the narrative requires without inviting a false natural mechanism and is supported by a wide textual tradition.
Providential-preservation analysis
Providential preservation is not used as a substitute for evidence at Luke 23:45. It supplies the confessional context in which manuscript transmission, broad reception, and the church's actual possession of Scripture are evaluated together.
Canonical coherence with the rest of Scripture
Canonical coherence remains an explicit test: a proposed reading must make grammatical and theological sense within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. No conflict is asserted merely because two editions differ; the claimed incoherence must be demonstrated at this passage.
Canonical-coherence verdict
The Authorized Version is retained where its representation of the TR forms a coherent reading within the immediate context and the rest of Scripture. Any competing form must demonstrate an equal or better canonical fit rather than merely invoke an edition or method label.
Response to the principal critical argument
Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending. The critical form says, literally, “the sun failing” or “the sun’s light having failed.” If the critical verb is forced into a technical astronomical meaning, Luke appears to describe an impossibility.
Passage-specific evidence from consulted works
Core 0.6.3 supplied-source audit complete: 1 passage-specific note attached. Incidental citations and global-method sources are retained in the audit report rather than presented as local textual evidence.
Doctrinally Significant Variants ItemisedAttributed doctrinal and canonical-coherence argument
Anonymous compilation — supplied PDF pp. 21–22
Luke 23.45: It sets “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. (Luke 23:45 Authorised Version)” against “while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:45 New Revised Standard) (COMMENT: The Greek word which the Alexandrian Text uses for 'failed' is also the standard Greek nomenclature for 'eclipsed'.ci Accordingly, the Greek of the Alexandrian….” Its stated doctrinal argument is that It is true that the Greek word for 'having an eclipse' can also be read 'its light failed'. Accordingly, one cannot argue that the wording of the Alexandrian Text is necessarily in error, scientifically speaking (though it certainly can be taken in a way that is plainly contrary to science). However, one can most definitely argue that the wording of the Byzantine Text is more accurate, and accordingly, the more accurate wording of this verse in the Byzantine Text points once again to the superior accuracy and reliability of that manuscript tradition over the Alexandrian Text. The compilation appeals to The 'sun was having an eclipse' reading of the Alexandrian Text is supported by Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Ephraemi, and by the Alexandrian manuscripts in general. The reading 'the sun was darkened' is the universal reading of the Byzantine Text going back to Codex Alexandrinus.…
Editorial use: The compilation’s doctrinal inferences and witness claims are reported as its argument, not silently adopted as verified fact. Exact entailment is retained: weakening an explicit statement is not automatically a formal denial of the doctrine.
Conclusion
No interpreter needs to choose between a purely natural eclipse and myth. Luke describes an extraordinary sign. Textual criticism should not prefer or reject a word merely to make the event fit a natural cycle.
The Authorized Version’s “the sun was darkened” is both textually received and interpretively sound. The rival can mean substantially the same event, but “eclipsed” should carry a note lest modern readers import a mechanism the Greek sentence does not demand.
Logical entailment
The Authorized Version serves as the faithful English representation. The preservation claim applies immediately to the authentic Hebrew and Greek texts—not to an English translation as though it were the inspired source.
Canonical-status rule: Physical printing is not canonical inclusion. If an edition prints a passage in double brackets while judging it secondary or non-original, it disagrees with the received text concerning the identity and extent of inspired Scripture.
Status: Established
Immediate textual or doctrinal consequence
At Luke 23:45, the received text reads “The sun was darkened.” and its Authorized Version representation reads “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” — Luke 23:45”. The assessed critical reading is “The sun’s light failed,” often rendered “the sun was eclipsed.”. The immediate consequence is that the critical text no longer states the received wording at this locus. The immediate local effect is exegetical or interpretive; this argument does not claim that a distinct Christian doctrine disappears from the verse.
Necessary reasoning chain
- At Luke 23:45, the received Hebrew/Greek form is “The sun was darkened.”; the Authorized Version represents it as “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” — Luke 23:45”. The assessed critical form is “The sun’s light failed,” often rendered “the sun was eclipsed.”.
- The received and critical forms are not the same at this locus. Therefore, if the competing critical form is original, the received form is secondary rather than the authentic wording at this place. The immediate consequence is: At Luke 23:45, the received text reads “The sun was darkened.” and its Authorized Version representation reads “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” — Luke 23:45”. The assessed critical reading is “The sun’s light failed,” often rendered “the sun was eclipsed.”. The immediate consequence is that the critical text no longer states the received wording at this locus. The immediate local effect is exegetical or interpretive; this argument does not claim that a distinct Christian doctrine disappears from the verse.
- If the received form at this place is secondary rather than original, then the authentic Hebrew/Greek text was not kept pure at this place in the received textual tradition; therefore the unqualified confessional preservation claim must be denied or redefined.
Ultimate preservation consequence
If the competing reading is original and the received reading is secondary, then God did not preserve and keep pure the authentic text at this place in the received textual tradition. The unqualified confessional claim that Scripture was kept pure in all ages must therefore be denied or redefined.
Sources
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1647)Chapter 1, section 8 — Governing confessional preservation claim
- F. H. A. Scrivener, The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Text followed in the Authorized VersionReceived Greek reading
- German Bible Society — UBS6 publications and relation to NA29Current critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
- Doctrinally Significant Variants Itemisedsupplied PDF pp. 21–22 — Attributed doctrinal and canonical-coherence argument
- German Bible Society — The Sixth Edition of the Greek New TestamentCurrent critical-edition, ECM, or editorial documentation
Read the full research essay and its sources
Passage: Luke 23:45
Received reading: “The sun was darkened.”
Principal competing reading: “The sun’s light failed,” often rendered “the sun was eclipsed.”
Editorial status: Preliminary record accepted for staging; independent review remains pending.
“And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” — Luke 23:45
Darkness covers the land from the sixth to the ninth hour. The received text explains, “the sun was darkened.” The critical form says, literally, “the sun failing” or “the sun’s light having failed.” Some translations use “eclipsed.”
A normal solar eclipse cannot occur at Passover’s full-moon season, and totality lasts minutes rather than three hours. If the critical verb is forced into a technical astronomical meaning, Luke appears to describe an impossibility.
The Greek verb ekleipō has a wider range. It can mean fail, cease, give out, or disappear, and it supplies the history behind the English word “eclipse” without requiring a calculable lunar obstruction in every use. “The sun’s light failed” can describe supernatural darkness.
The received “was darkened” is unambiguous. A scribe could replace the more unusual “failed” construction to avoid misunderstanding or to align Luke with the other Gospels’ language. Conversely, the participial critical form could arise as a literary explanation of how darkness occurred.
The received wording should remain. It states exactly what the narrative requires without inviting a false natural mechanism and is supported by a wide textual tradition. The critical form remains defensible if translated semantically rather than treated as a modern astronomy report.
The darkness is not an accident competing with the crucifixion for attention. It accompanies the death of the righteous king, recalls prophetic day-of-the-Lord imagery, and precedes the tearing of the temple veil. Creation and sanctuary register the judgment and access bound up with Christ’s death.
No interpreter needs to choose between a purely natural eclipse and myth. Luke describes an extraordinary sign. Textual criticism should not prefer or reject a word merely to make the event fit a natural cycle.
The Authorized Version’s “the sun was darkened” is both textually received and interpretively sound. The rival can mean substantially the same event, but “eclipsed” should carry a note lest modern readers import a mechanism the Greek sentence does not demand.
Sources and further reading
- Amos 8:9–10; Matthew 27:45–54; Mark 15:33–39; Luke 23:44–49; Acts 2:20.
- A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, entry ἐκλείπω.
7Related materials
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- Record
- VAR-2125
- Status
- Preliminary
- Version
- 1.1-dossier
- Review
- Level B — Editorial synthesis
- Editor
- Chris Thomas
- Reviewer
- Independent reviewer pending assignment
- First date
- 1st century · Date Range
- Last revised
- 2026-07-22
Evidence and editorial controls
- Verification
- Passage, principal readings, and stated editorial comparison checked against Scrivener’s received Greek text and the SBLGNT text and apparatus; exhaustive manuscript collation remains open. Metzger commentary entries were matched by exact passage where present; ECM/CBGM rationale is passage-specific only when an official editorial explanation is cited. Ledger rows are identified as UBS6 / intended NA29 data but retain their row-level verification caveats pending direct collation. Supplied-source audit completed in Core 0.6.3. Accepted local notes were matched by canonical passage and manually bounded; source claims remain attributed where current apparatus verification is pending.
- Rights and access
- Original editorial synthesis. Biblical readings are short scholarly quotations; cited editions and digital witnesses retain their stated rights and access conditions.
- Known limitations
- Translation “eclipsed” can over-specify the critical verb; the textual form and the proposed astronomical mechanism must be distinguished.
Links from this record
No public outgoing links are recorded.
Records that cite or connect here
No public backlinks are recorded.
Corrections and evidence submissions
No correction submission is presently attached to this record. Submit evidence or read the correction policy.
Chris Thomas, “Luke 23:45 — Was the Sun Darkened or Eclipsed? The Greek behind the Darkness,” VAR-2125, Confessional Bibliology Research Center, version 1.0-staging, last revised 2026-07-22.
Revision history
- — Chris Thomas