Hello Darkness My Old Friend
The 9th plague is mentioned in this weeks parashah as "darkness".
Here's a bit of an overview of that term (lifted from my Hebrew grammar blog):
Grammar
Word: חשך or חושך
Representation: ChoShCh
Transliteration: Kho-shekh (the "kh" is gutteral)
Noun: "darkness" or "a tangible darkness"
Strong Concordance: H2822
Exposition
This word appears more than 100 times in the Tanach. Sometimes it is prefixed with "ה" ("the") and sometimes not, which appears to be more of a stylistic choice than a modifier of the meaning.
In the first place that is appears (Genesis 1:2) it is presents as almost a form of a blanket draped over the waters. And in Genesis 1:4, this physical darkness was mixed with light, and Elohim needed to make a separation between the light and darkness to be used for other things.
The attributes of "darkness" are quite physical:
It can be felt (Ex. 10:21)
It is thick (Ex. 10:22, Ex. 20:18, Deut. 4:11, Deut 5.19, etc.)
As a barrier (Joshua 4:7)
It is deep (Job 24:17)
The use of this Hebrew word has cause a lot of interpretation of Scripture. According to the Ramban, the darkness of Genesis was a black fire, distinguishing it from other darknesses, and that the darkness of Genesis was the darkness that was brought into Egypt that could be felt.
There are Hebrew terms for "dark" (not "darkness"), and those are never physical like חושך.
So sometimes I will use "tangible-darkness" when the context is clear that it has a form.
While it is interesting that other books will use "darkness" in a similar way, let's keep our attention on just three of the book, specifically from the Torah where "darkness" can be found". Specifically, I am speaking of Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy (the authors of Leviticus and Numbers stories never used "darkness"). This reduces our pool to only 15 occurrences, as we see: (actually, 14. See below).
The Genesis 1 grouping is the tactile darkness that was resting upon the vast waters, one that can be separated from the light, and which competes with the light above every day, shifting dominance back and forth by God, which creates the day and night (the sun is but a sign for day, and according to the Genesis narrative, is not the source of day, God is, by moving aside the darkness.
The Genesis 15 account is Abraham having a dream, and the darkness pressing upon him as God describes how his descendants will be going into slavery in Egypt, and how he will bring them out. It's the darkness of that experience, the tactile darkness, that will oppress many in the Exodus story.
The Exodus 10 (this week) is the "darkness which can be felt".
Exodus 14 tells us how a pillar of cloud and a blanked of darkness were barriers to the Egyptians, who could not pursue the Hebrews.
Exodus 20 doesn't use the word "Khoshekh" (or Choshech), but uses the word for a cloud, which the translator in this software that I used translated to "a thick darkness". So ignore that one. I left it in to show that not every "darkness" in your translation is really חושך. This translation is based on the Deuteronomy rewrite of what happened, which does used חושך in the narrative, so the translator reconciled the two.
Now, Deuteronomy is a much later book than the others, by many generations. There are portions that smack of quasi-monotheism, moreso than the other four book that are clearly henotheistic. The authors of Deuteronomy often retell stories, and change them. The best example is to compare the story of the spies in the Book of Numbers to the version mentioned in Deuteronomy.
In chapters 4 and 5, the narrator is using a lot of excessive description about the meeting of the Hebrews with God who resided atop of His mountain. There was a thick blanket of darkness separating God from the people, with a sound and light show to go along with His impressive presence.
Finally, Chapter 28 is Moses warning the people of God's wrath against them is the don't remain His servants, and uses the imagery of the darkness in Egypt.
In the first place that is appears (Genesis 1:2) it is presents as almost a form of a blanket draped over the waters. And in Genesis 1:4, this physical darkness was mixed with light, and Elohim needed to make a separation between the light and darkness to be used for other things.
The attributes of "darkness" are quite physical:
It can be felt (Ex. 10:21)
It is thick (Ex. 10:22, Ex. 20:18, Deut. 4:11, Deut 5.19, etc.)
As a barrier (Joshua 4:7)
It is deep (Job 24:17)
The use of this Hebrew word has cause a lot of interpretation of Scripture. According to the Ramban, the darkness of Genesis was a black fire, distinguishing it from other darknesses, and that the darkness of Genesis was the darkness that was brought into Egypt that could be felt.
There are Hebrew terms for "dark" (not "darkness"), and those are never physical like חושך.
So sometimes I will use "tangible-darkness" when the context is clear that it has a form.
"EVEN DARKNESS WHICH MAY BE FELT (Exodus 10:21). How thick was this darkness? Our Sages conjectured that it was as thick as a denar, for when it says EVEN DARKNESS WHICH MAY BE FELT, it means a darkness which had substance." - Midrash Rabbah Exodus 14:1
While it is interesting that other books will use "darkness" in a similar way, let's keep our attention on just three of the book, specifically from the Torah where "darkness" can be found". Specifically, I am speaking of Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy (the authors of Leviticus and Numbers stories never used "darkness"). This reduces our pool to only 15 occurrences, as we see: (actually, 14. See below).
The Genesis 15 account is Abraham having a dream, and the darkness pressing upon him as God describes how his descendants will be going into slavery in Egypt, and how he will bring them out. It's the darkness of that experience, the tactile darkness, that will oppress many in the Exodus story.
The Exodus 10 (this week) is the "darkness which can be felt".
Exodus 14 tells us how a pillar of cloud and a blanked of darkness were barriers to the Egyptians, who could not pursue the Hebrews.
Exodus 20 doesn't use the word "Khoshekh" (or Choshech), but uses the word for a cloud, which the translator in this software that I used translated to "a thick darkness". So ignore that one. I left it in to show that not every "darkness" in your translation is really חושך. This translation is based on the Deuteronomy rewrite of what happened, which does used חושך in the narrative, so the translator reconciled the two.
Now, Deuteronomy is a much later book than the others, by many generations. There are portions that smack of quasi-monotheism, moreso than the other four book that are clearly henotheistic. The authors of Deuteronomy often retell stories, and change them. The best example is to compare the story of the spies in the Book of Numbers to the version mentioned in Deuteronomy.
In chapters 4 and 5, the narrator is using a lot of excessive description about the meeting of the Hebrews with God who resided atop of His mountain. There was a thick blanket of darkness separating God from the people, with a sound and light show to go along with His impressive presence.
Finally, Chapter 28 is Moses warning the people of God's wrath against them is the don't remain His servants, and uses the imagery of the darkness in Egypt.
Conclusion
"Darkness" in the Torah is an expression of the supernatural that can oppress, halt, and at times, protect humans. That should not be surprising, given that the Torah is a book of supernaturalism. And yet, there will be many who will ignore the supernatural elements (well, except the God parts) and claim that it is all a flowery part of speech, and that the ancient sages were fundamentalists, literalists who did not grasp the Bible like the enlightened modern fan of the Text.
I am going with intent here. The apparent intent is that חושך is not what we call "darkness" today, but was viewed as something supernatural that could affect humans. The Ruach, often translated as "spirit" is another supernatural element that is used to affect humans, and yet, for some reason, having a "spirit" of God causing a peaceful town to kill its friendly neighbors seems more acceptable than "darkness" pushing someone on their back, unable to get up or move.
And THAT is the plague of darkness.
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