cho.shekh denotes dark conditions, from the absence of light to contexts of calamity, concealment, and death.

The dominant use names the absence or covering of light, whether over the primordial deep, Egypt, a mountain, or the land. In other clauses it frames calamity and judgment, hidden or sightless settings, and scenes associated with death or Sheol.

1. Darkness as absence or covering of light · dominant

   The noun occurs where light is distinguished from or displaced by dark conditions: in Genesis 1:4 the APB renders God separating light from “darkness,” and in Genesis 1:5 it renders the darkness as Night. Exodus 10:21 and Exodus 10:22 portray darkness coming over Egypt and describe “a thick darkness,” while Deuteronomy 4:11 places it with cloud around the burning mountain.

   Genesis 1:4Genesis 1:5Exodus 10:21Exodus 10:22Deuteronomy 4:11Job 12:25
2. Darkness framing calamity or judgment · common

   In Amos 5:18 and Amos 5:20, the noun characterizes the day of the LORD in contrast to light and brightness. Isaiah 59:9 places it in a complaint that justice has turned away and that people await light but encounter darkness; Isaiah 60:2 depicts it covering the land and peoples.

   Amos 5:18Amos 5:20Isaiah 59:9Isaiah 60:2Isaiah 5:30Ezekiel 32:8
3. Darkness as concealment or inability to see · occasional

   The noun marks settings of hiddenness or impaired sight: Ezekiel 8:12 describes elders acting “in the darkness,” and Isaiah 45:3 speaks of “treasures of darkness” alongside hidden riches. Job 22:11 joins darkness with inability to see, while Job 24:16 describes housebreaking “in the dark.”

   Ezekiel 8:12Isaiah 45:3Job 22:11Job 24:16Job 12:22Isaiah 29:18
4. Darkness in death-associated scenes · occasional

   Job 10:21 calls the destination from which Job will not return “a land of darkness and shadow,” and Job 17:13 places a bed in darkness when Sheol is imagined as a house. Ecclesiastes 11:8 similarly tells the reader to remember the many “days of darkness.”

   Job 10:21Job 17:13Ecclesiastes 11:8Ecclesiastes 6:4Job 18:18

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the noun with “darkness,” including “a thick darkness” in Exodus 10:22. It also uses surrounding contrasts such as light, brightness, gloom, hidden riches, and shadow; Those surrounding expressions do not independently define the term.