Section 23:44–49

Jesus died

While Jesus was on the cross, it became dark. The curtain in the temple ripped into two pieces. Jesus gave his spirit up to God his Father and died. One of the Roman soldiers saw and heard all that happened. As a result, he believed that Jesus was a righteous man. When the people saw that, they were sorry that Jesus was crucified. The way Jesus lived and the way he died showed many people that he was an innocent man. Examples of other headings for this section are:

The Death of Jesus (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus died

Parallel passages for this section are in Matthew 27:45–56, Mark 15:33–41, and John 19:28–30.

Paragraph 23:44–49

23:44a

It was now: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as It was now is literally, “And it was already.” It implies that some time had gone by. It also introduces a phrase that indicates the time when the events in this paragraph began. Introduce that phrase in a natural way in your language. Some ways to introduce it in English are:

By now it was (Revised English Bible)
-or-
By this time it was (New Living Translation (2004))

the sixth hour: The first hour of daylight was about six o’clock in the morning, so the sixth hour would be about noon (twelve o’clock midday). Do not translate this literally unless the people you are writing for would understand that the sixth hour means midday. Instead, use the time reference that is natural in your language. Some other ways to translate this are:

midday
-or-
the sun was high in the sky
-or-
Around noon (God’s Word)

23:44b

darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour: This clause indicates that from noon until about three o’clock, it was dark. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

darkness came over the entire land and lasted until three in the afternoon (God’s Word)
-or-
the entire country became dark until three o’clock

all the land: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as land can refer to a region, a country, or to the whole earth. In this context it probably refers to the land or country where Jesus was dying on the cross. No one knows exactly how much land was affected by the darkness. It is not clear if the entire land of Israel became dark, or if other countries were also affected. It is good to use a general term in your language.

until the ninth hour: The phrase the ninth hour refers to about three o’clock in the afternoon. It is the time about halfway between noon and sunset. Many languages have idiomatic ways to refer to different times of day. Refer to this time in a natural way in your language. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:

until the middle of the afternoon (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
until about three hours before sunset
-or-
until three o’clock in the afternoon

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