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According to mainstream science, the moon gets its light from the sun.

The moon shines because its surface reflects light from the sun. And despite the fact that it sometimes seems to shine very brightly, the moon reflects only between 3 and 12 percent of the sunlight that hits it.

But is Jesus saying that the moon has its own light source in these passages?

Mark 13:24 (KJV) But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

Matthew 24:29 (KJV) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

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    When any author writes about something being 'lit by the moon' using any such phrase, they do so to describe the practical outcome of the moon's shine, not the literal mechanics of where the light itself originates. Jesus is not attempting to teach about the mechanics of Physics here - why exactly do you think this would be his intention? – Steve Taylor♦ Feb 6 '17 at 14:21
  • @SteveTaylor The point of the passage is not a physics lesson, but Jesus is briefly discussing the mechanics and physics of the moon when he says, 'the moon will not give her light'. Did he believe the moon gives her own light? – brewpixels Feb 6 '17 at 14:52
  • "Jesus is briefly discussing the mechanics and physics of the moon" - this is an assumption you're bringing to the text, not something self-evident in the text. – Steve Taylor♦ Feb 6 '17 at 15:22
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    Someone should probably bring up the term "phenomenological language" here. In modern English the sun "rises" and "sets". In Biblical Hebrew it "goes out" and "comes in". And yet... – Susan Feb 7 '17 at 6:14
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    The figure of speech in question here is no less accurate than the modern notion of "sunrise". The sun doesn't really rise - it appears to observers on earth to rise because the earth is turning. I wonder if 2K years from now people will question our usage of the term "sunrise". – Hold To The Rod Feb 18 at 21:04
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If we do not infer modern secular cosmology onto the text then yes the moon is a light and not a rock. The sun likewise is a light and not a gaseous star.

“And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1:14-16‬ ‭

God did not say let there be a light and a reflector. In Biblical cosmology the moon is a light and it gives its own light.

It is for this reason that throughout Scripture including the NT that the moon is seen has a light and the possessor of its own light and not a reflector.

“For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭13:10‬ ‭

“Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30:26‬ ‭

“When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.” ‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭32:7‬ ‭

We can rest assured that Jesus being the Creator knew exactly what He had created looked like, how it behaved and it’s properties.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭24:29‬ ‭

Even Jesus says the moon has its own light because from the beginning He created the moon to be a light and not a rock and not a reflector.

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This question is virtually nonsense. It would be almost impossible to analyze the original text to read such an outcome into the author's intent because we have no control case by which to judge a difference. The context is clearly not trying to describe the exact path of the photons so much as the affect as seen by humans. As such, we note that human observers still use much the same expressions in every-day language.

Doing a Google search for light of the moon turns up some 16 million results. The vast majority of these are NEW usage. 2017 films. History books. Romantic poems. Every-day talk. Add "moonlight" in and you get even more.

The point is that you're trying to draw a distinction between the way people talk about the moon knowing exactly how it works and not knowing how exactly it works and there isn't a distinguishable difference in usage. Folks with modern scientific knowledge about how the moon works go on talking about it as if it was a light source because that's the net affect.

Ergo it would be impossible to make a case from this text that there is a scientific error or ignorance at play here. The only reasonable way to read the text is at face value—that there is going to be dark days for men.

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    I'm completely lost at your answer here. What exactly are you trying to say? If you're going to say my question is virtually nonsense, your answer should at least make some sense. – brewpixels Feb 6 '17 at 16:25
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The Greek text makes no distinction between reflected and self-generated light. Given that moonlight is, in fact, reflected from the sun, it follows logically that if the sun is darkened (Mark 13:24, Matthew 24:29), moonlight will also disappear.

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  • This is what I originally thought. Jesus is saying that the moon gets its light from the sun. But I'm wondering why he says that the light belongs to the moon. He says that the moon light is hers, 'her light'. If she gets her light from the sun then it is not her light, it's the sun's. – brewpixels Feb 11 '17 at 16:56
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Let me answer quickly: this verse says that the light used by the moon is the same as the sun.

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light. Mark 13:24

The moon's light in Greek (ancient Greek I think ) φέγγος αὐτῆς, means "its light", the word φέγγος means same , well , the words

φέγγος αὐτῆς could mean , same light .. which means when the sun darkens the moon will lose the same light ... so Yeshua said the moon borrows light , well you can find many translation the Greek lexicon is vast ... I hope this answers

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  • I would add that it should say that "the sun will become shaded" – R. Emery Feb 18 at 23:39
  • @Hares Saade, welcome to BH! Jesus words as recorded does not conflict with His creation as the question seems whispers. Good works! – Sam Feb 22 at 3:20
  • This answer is a bit confused because φέγγος in NT Koine Greek simply means "brightness, light, splendor, radiance." I do not understand this answer at all. The NT is NOT written in classical Greek. – Dottard Feb 25 at 22:23
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According to mainstream science, the moon gets its light from the sun:

The moon shines because its surface reflects light from the sun. And despite the fact that it sometimes seems to shine very brightly, the moon reflects only between 3 and 12 percent of the sunlight that hits it.

This is a judgment by appearances because the moon also reflects light from the earth:

When you look at a crescent moon shortly after sunset or before sunrise, you can sometimes see not only the bright crescent of the moon, but also the rest of the moon as a dark disk. That pale glow on the unlit part of a crescent moon is light reflected from Earth. It’s called earthshine.1

Light reflected by the moon is always a combination of sun light and earthshine. The amount of earthshine may be negligible to modern science, but Jesus who created all things knows the truth about light from the moon and His description correctly makes this distinction because it differentiates that light from the sunlight:

Mark 13:24 (KJV) But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light (φέγγος),

Matthew 24:29 (KJV) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light (φέγγος) and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Revelation 22:5 (KJV) And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun (φωτὸς); for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

The word used for light from the moon, φέγγος is different from φῶς used for light from the sun.

Light from the moon: φέγγος
Light from the sun: φῶς

Jesus is not saying the moon is giving its own light; He is (correctly) stating there is a physical difference between the two types of light.

Note:
1. [Earthshine]

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  • It’s really simple take a rock (not a polished rock but one that mimicked the supposed surface of the moon), find the most powerful light you can, shine it on the rock and try to get it to reflect the light onto another object distanced away from the rock. When you’ve found that rock then you can say the moon reflects anything much less illuminates via reflection – Nihil Sine Deo May 27 at 3:34

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