Black: God's Color of Calamity

James Collazo
1 day ago
4 min read

Updated: 4 hours ago

Dark carved stone bowl with a small handle sits on a textured black background, with pebbles inside and a moody feel. — Courtesy of www.LumoProject.com

Introduction

Color is woven throughout the biblical text. Scripture uses color to describe the created world, human appearance, objects, animals, clothing, and prophetic visions. While some colors develop recognizable associations in particular contexts, the Bible does not necessarily assign every color a single, universal symbolic meaning. Black illustrates this well. It is both an ordinary color and, at times, part of a larger image. The same word can describe physical appearance in one passage and serve as poetic or prophetic imagery in another, so its significance depends on how and where it is used.

Two men in robes talk beside baskets of grain and clay jugs, with a horse and stone village ruins behind them. — FCCF Ministries

Biblical Vocabulary of Black

The Hebrew word for "black" is shachor (H7838), which occurs six times in the Old Testament. Its semantic range centers on black or dark coloration, particularly as a description of visible physical characteristics. The term is primarily descriptive, and its significance depends on context rather than an inherent symbolic meaning. The Greek word for "black" in the New Testament is melas (G3189), which occurs three times in the New Testament. Its semantic range includes black, dark, or having a black appearance.

Curly-haired couple in gold headbands and robes sit together at a desert camp at sunset, gazing into the distance. — FCCF Ministries

Black in the Old Testament

In Leviticus 13, shachor describes black hair. The priest was to examine the affected area and observe changes in the hair. In one case, black hair growing in the affected area showed that the condition had healed (Lev. 13:37). Here, black is simply a physical characteristic used as part of the priest's examination.

In the Song of Songs, the woman declares, "Dark am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon" (Song 1:5). She then pleads, "Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect" (Song 1:6). She describes herself as both dark and beautiful, showing that the two descriptions are not contradictory. The same word appears in the description of her beloved, whose hair is "black as a raven" (Song 5:11c). Here, black again describes physical appearance and contributes to the poetic description of the man's beauty.

A much different use appears in Lamentations, where blackness describes the physical effects of famine. As the writer describes the suffering of Jerusalem after its destruction, he says that the people's appearance has become "black" and that their skin has shriveled because of their extreme deprivation (Lam. 4:8). The following verses connect this condition with those wasting away because they have no food (Lam. 4:9–10). Here, blackness is not a description of someone's natural complexion but of the devastating effects of starvation.

In Zechariah's vision of the four chariots, black horses appear alongside red, white, and dappled horses (Zech. 6:1–6). Zechariah does not explain the color as representing a particular moral or theological concept. Their significance comes from their place within the larger vision, not from a statement that black itself represents evil, judgment, or death.

Hooded rider on black horse holds scales over a crowded village under a solar eclipse, with a dark, ominous sky. — FCCF Ministries

Black in the New Testament

The first occurrence is in Jesus' teaching about oaths. Jesus says, "And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black" (Matt. 5:36). Here, black is simply a description of the natural color of hair. Jesus uses the ordinary distinction between white and black hair to make his point that human beings do not possess control over even something as small as the color of their own hair.

The other two occurrences appear in Revelation. When the Lamb opens the third seal, John writes, "I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand" (Rev. 6:5). The next verse gives the circumstances surrounding the horse: wheat and barley have become extraordinarily expensive, and the rider is told not to damage the oil and wine (Rev. 6:6). The scales and the price of grain connect the scene with famine and economic hardship. Grain is being measured, and the amount available for a day's wages is extremely limited. The black horse appears within an image of severe scarcity rather than as a general symbol of evil.

The final New Testament occurrence appears when the sixth seal is opened. John writes, "The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair" (Rev. 6:12). Here, black describes the appearance of the sun within a series of extraordinary signs accompanying the opening of the sixth seal. The language is highly symbolic and draws upon imagery already found in the Old Testament prophets, but the verse itself uses melas to describe the sun's appearance.

Bibliography

Monographs

Almalech, Mony. "The Cultural Unit Black in the Old Testament." In Discourses on Colour, 27–60. Kielce, Poland: Jan Kochanowski University, 2018.

Brenner, Athalya. Colour Terms in the Old Testament. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 21. Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1982.