Did the darkness when Jesus was crucified cover the whole earth or only the land?
Darkness covered the whole land at Jesus' crucifixion, and it may have covered the whole earth as well. Because the population was centered in the Middle East and Roman Empire, the exact extent of the darkness cannot be known from the text.
Les teaches that darkness covered the whole land during the three hours before Jesus cried out at the ninth hour, and he thinks it probably covered the whole earth, though he acknowledges we cannot know for certain because the population was centered in the Middle East and Roman Empire. He emphasizes this three-hour period as a silent time that he ties to an act on the Day of Atonement. Then Jesus yielded up His spirit, and the veil of the temple was rent, the earth quaked, and rocks rent.