Luke 23:45

And the sun was darkened Instead of these words some MSS. (א, B, C, &c.) read "the sun eclipsing," or "failing."The reading seems only to be an attempt, and that a very unsuccessful one, to account for the darkness. That it could not have been due to an eclipse is certain, for the Paschal moon was at the full.

the vail of the temple was rent in the midst The veil intended must be what was called the Parocheth, or inner veil, which hung between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. It was very heavy, and splendid with embroidery. It is alluded to in Hebrews 6:19; Hebrews 9:3; Hebrews 10:19-20. The obvious significance of the portent was the departure of the Shechinah or Presence of God from His now-deserted Temple. This particular event is (naturally) not mentioned by the Jews, but we may have a reference to it in the various omens of coming wrath which they say occurred "forty years" before the destruction of the Temple, and in which Jochanan Ben Zakkai saw the fulfilment of Zechariah 11:1. For a fuller account of these events see Matthew 27:51-53; Mark 15:33. Jerome on Matthew 27:51 says that a great lintel over the gate of the Temple fell and was shattered.