Did an Eclipse Cause Three Hour Darkness at Jesus’ Execution?
There was a mysterious three hour darkness during the time when Jesus was being executed. What caused this three hour darkness?
“It was now about noon and darkness came over the land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun”—Luke 23:44,45 NAB
The way the New American Bible (NAB) renders it,as above, one would think that the cause of the three hour midday total darkness was “an eclipse of the sun.” If the possibility of the supernatural is excluded, an eclipse would naturally be the only possibility. Could this have been an actual eclipse? Let’s examine the gospels very carefully regarding this d event:
