{ "entry_id": "TSP-ENT-000180", "slug": "darkness", "url_path": "/types-symbols/darkness/", "canonical_name": "Darkness", "entry_classifications": [ "METAPHOR", "MOTIF" ], "modules": [], "aliases": [], "legacy_present": true, "legacy_raw_wording_public": false, "senses": [ { "sense_id": "TSP-SNS-000112", "label": "Jesus explicitly uses darkness as a moral-spiritual metaphor for evil and rejection of the light in John 3.", "classification": "METAPHOR", "definition": "Jesus explicitly uses darkness as a moral-spiritual metaphor for evil and rejection of the light in John 3.", "not_always": "Darkness has literal and multiple figurative uses; this claim is limited to John 3.", "scope_note": "Darkness has literal and multiple figurative uses; this claim is limited to John 3.", "claims": [ { "claim_id": "TSP-CLM-000112", "statement": "Jesus explicitly uses darkness as a moral-spiritual metaphor for evil and rejection of the light in John 3.", "asserted_classifications": [ "METAPHOR" ], "type_kinds": [], "evidence_grade": 1, "grade_basis": "G1_EXPLICIT_BIBLICAL_INTERPRETATION", "status": "ESTABLISHED", "public_wording_class": "SCRIPTURE_EXPLICITLY_IDENTIFIES", "scope_limitation": "Darkness has literal and multiple figurative uses; this claim is limited to John 3.", "strongest_alternative_explanation": null, "residual_uncertainty": "Full legacy wording remains subject to TSP-S3 unless the S2 statement exactly exhausts it.", "theological_intersections": [ "HAMARTIOLOGY" ], "scripture_references": [ { "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000214", "osis_start": "John.3.19", "osis_end": "John.3.21", "display_label": "John 3:19-21", "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD" } ], "source_citations": [ { "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000091", "author_editor": null, "title": "Canonical Scripture: S2 high-certainty anchor loci, MT/LXX/NA28 with NET/ESV comparison", "publication_data": "Text loci verified for TSP-S2 high-certainty anchor corpus, 2026-09-20", "locator": "https://classic.net.bible.org/", "verification_level": "V4_QUOTATION_VERIFIED", "source_function": [ "CANONICAL_AUTHORITY", "TEXT_ESTABLISHMENT" ], "locator_targets": [ { "kind": "EXTERNAL_URL", "target": "https://classic.net.bible.org/" } ] } ], "s8_wording_provenance": null } ] }, { "sense_id": "TSP-SNS-000437", "label": "Darkness imagery for spiritual blindness and ignorance", "classification": "METAPHOR", "definition": "Johannine and Pauline texts use darkness/darkening language for moral-spiritual blindness, ignorance, and alienation from God.", "not_always": "Literal darkness and other figurative uses remain common; the claim is bounded to spiritual-moral contexts.", "scope_note": "Retain the blindness/ignorance association with textual controls.", "claims": [ { "claim_id": "TSP-CLM-000437", "statement": "Scripture strongly and explicitly associates darkness/darkening imagery with spiritual blindness and ignorance in specified moral-spiritual contexts.", "asserted_classifications": [ "METAPHOR" ], "type_kinds": [], "evidence_grade": 1, "grade_basis": "G1_EXPLICIT_BIBLICAL_INTERPRETATION", "status": "ESTABLISHED", "public_wording_class": "SCRIPTURE_EXPLICITLY_IDENTIFIES", "scope_limitation": "The association is textual and recurrent but not an exhaustive definition of darkness.", "strongest_alternative_explanation": null, "residual_uncertainty": "No material residual uncertainty beyond the stated scope limitation.", "theological_intersections": [ "HAMARTIOLOGY", "ANTHROPOLOGY" ], "scripture_references": [ { "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000688", "osis_start": "1John.2.9", "osis_end": "1John.2.11", "display_label": "1 John 2:9–11", "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD" }, { "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000689", "osis_start": "Eph.4.17", "osis_end": "Eph.4.19", "display_label": "Ephesians 4:17–19", "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD" } ], "source_citations": [ { "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000001", "author_editor": null, "title": "Canonical Scripture: MT/LXX/NA28 with NET/ESV comparison", "publication_data": "Text loci verified for TSP-S0F Batch 1", "locator": null, "verification_level": "V4_QUOTATION_VERIFIED", "source_function": [ "CANONICAL_AUTHORITY", "TEXT_ESTABLISHMENT" ], "locator_targets": [] }, { "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000169", "author_editor": "BibleHub lexical summary", "title": "Greek skotia: darkness", "publication_data": "Accessed/verified 2026-09-20", "locator": "https://biblehub.com/greek/4653.htm", "verification_level": "V3_CLAIM_VERIFIED", "source_function": [ "TEXT_ESTABLISHMENT" ], "locator_targets": [ { "kind": "EXTERNAL_URL", "target": "https://biblehub.com/greek/4653.htm" } ] } ], "s8_wording_provenance": null } ] }, { "sense_id": "TSP-SNS-000438", "label": "Darkness imagery for distress, gloom, sorrow, and judgment", "classification": "MOTIF", "definition": "Prophetic and lament texts repeatedly recruit darkness/gloom imagery for anguish, distress, abandonment, and judgment.", "not_always": "The motif is contextual and poetic; ordinary night/darkness does not itself signify sorrow.", "scope_note": "Retain “sorrow” only as a bounded distress/gloom motif.", "claims": [ { "claim_id": "TSP-CLM-000438", "statement": "Darkness has a strongly supported recurrent poetic-prophetic association with distress, gloom, sorrow, and judgment, but this remains a contextual motif rather than a universal code.", "asserted_classifications": [ "MOTIF" ], "type_kinds": [], "evidence_grade": 4, "grade_basis": "G4_RECURRENT_CANONICAL_MOTIF_OR_STRONG_THEMATIC_PATTERN", "status": "STRONGLY_SUPPORTED", "public_wording_class": "CANONICAL_MOTIF", "scope_limitation": "This claim does not convert literal darkness into sorrow or collapse all negative darkness texts into one sense.", "strongest_alternative_explanation": null, "residual_uncertainty": "No material residual uncertainty beyond the stated scope limitation.", "theological_intersections": [ "ANTHROPOLOGY", "OTHER" ], "scripture_references": [ { "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000690", "osis_start": "Isa.8.20", "osis_end": "Isa.8.22", "display_label": "Isaiah 8:20–22", "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD" }, { "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000691", "osis_start": "Ps.88.3", "osis_end": "Ps.88.6", "display_label": "Psalm 88:3–6", "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD" }, { "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000692", "osis_start": "Ps.88.18", "osis_end": null, "display_label": "Psalm 88:18", "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD" } ], "source_citations": [ { "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000001", "author_editor": null, "title": "Canonical Scripture: MT/LXX/NA28 with NET/ESV comparison", "publication_data": "Text loci verified for TSP-S0F Batch 1", "locator": null, "verification_level": "V4_QUOTATION_VERIFIED", "source_function": [ "CANONICAL_AUTHORITY", "TEXT_ESTABLISHMENT" ], "locator_targets": [] }, { "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000169", "author_editor": "BibleHub lexical summary", "title": "Greek skotia: darkness", "publication_data": "Accessed/verified 2026-09-20", "locator": "https://biblehub.com/greek/4653.htm", "verification_level": "V3_CLAIM_VERIFIED", "source_function": [ "TEXT_ESTABLISHMENT" ], "locator_targets": [ { "kind": "EXTERNAL_URL", "target": "https://biblehub.com/greek/4653.htm" } ] } ], "s8_wording_provenance": null } ] } ], "lexeme_mappings": [ { "lexeme_link_id": "TSP-LEX-000106", "language": "GREEK", "lemma_unicode": "σκοτία", "transliteration": "skotia", "strongs_id": "G4653", "owner_tier": "TSP_MAPPING_ONLY", "semantic_domain_ids": [] } ], "canonical_relationships": [], "negative_guardrails": [] }