a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
walked
הַהֹלְכִ֣יםha.ho.le.Khim
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
darkness
בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְba.Cho.shekh
H2822
the dark · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
seen
רָא֖וּra.'U
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
great
גָּד֑וֹלga.Dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
light
א֣וֹר'or
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · noun, common feminine singular absolute
dwell
יֹשְׁבֵי֙yo.she.Vei
H3427
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
land
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
death
צַלְמָ֔וֶתtzal.Ma.vet
H6757
shade of death · noun, common masculine singular absolute
light
א֖וֹר'or
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · noun, common feminine singular absolute
shined
נָגַ֥הּna.Gah
H5050
to glitter · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the l…
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Luke 1:78-79 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath…
1 John 1:5-7 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Isaiah 60:1-3 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 9:1-7
The first words of this chapter plainly refer to the close of the foregoing chapter, where every thing looked black and melancholy: Behold, trouble, and darkness, and dimness - very bad, yet not so bad but that to the upright there shall arise light in the darkness (Psa 112:4) and at evening time it shall be light, Zac 14:7. Nevertheless it shall not be such dimness (either not such for kind or not such for degree) as sometimes there has been. Note, In the worst of times God's people have a nevertheless to comfort themselves with, something to allay and balance their troubles; they are persecuted, but not forsaken (Co2 4:9), sorrowful yet always rejoicing, Co2 6:10. And it is matter of comfo…
the people--the whole nation, Judah and Israel.
shadow of death--the darkest misery of captivity.
John Gill on Isaiah 9:2
The people that walked in darkness,.... Meaning not the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, in the times of Hezekiah, when Sennacherib besieged them, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; and much less the people of Israel in Egypt, as the Targum paraphrases it; but the inhabitants of Galilee in the times of Christ; see Matthew 4:16, John 1:48 and is a true character of all the people of God before conversion, who are in a state of darkness, under the power of sin, shut up in unbelief; are in gross ignorance of themselves, and their condition; of sin, and the danger they are exposed to by it; of divine and spiritual things; of the grace of God; of the way of peace, life, and salvation by Christ…
The people walking in darkness hath seen a great light. He speaks of future events in the past tense, and thus brings them before the immediate view of the people, that in the destruction of the city, in their captivity, and in what appeared to be their utter destruction, they may behold the light of God. It may therefore be summed up in this manner: "Even in darkness, nay, in death itself, there is nevertheless good ground of hope; for the power of God is sufficient to restore life to his people, when they appear to be already dead." Matthew, who quotes this passage, appears to torture it to a different meaning; for he says that this prediction was fulfilled when Christ preached along the s…
The Church Fathers
Although he filled all things with his invisible majesty, [Christ] came, nevertheless, to those who had not known him, as if from a very remote and deep seclusion. At that time, he took away the blindness of ignorance, as it has been written: "For those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, a light has risen."
Now the expression darkness will likewise be used to refer to two corresponding concepts. The statement "And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night" is an example of the more common meaning. An example of the spiritual meaning occurs in the statement "The people who sat in darkness … and in the shadow of death, light has dawned on them."
Therefore, he had the pledge of immortality: but being placed in the shadow of life, he could not see and grasp the hidden life with Christ in God by some common touch and sight. And if not yet a sinner, certainly not of an incorruptible and inviolable nature; for he who has fallen into sin is not yet a sinner. Indeed, he was in the shadow of life; but those who are sinners are in the shadow of death. For the people of sinners, as Isaiah teaches (Isaiah 9:2), sat in the shadow of death, until the light arose through the grace of God, not through their own merit. Therefore, there is no distinction between the breath of God and the food of the tree of life. No man can claim to possess more than what has been bestowed upon him by divine generosity.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Darkness — The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Ex. 10:21) is described as darkness “which may be felt.” It covered “all the land of Egypt,” so that “they saw not one another.” It did not extend to the…
Zebulun, Lot of — In Galilee, to the north of Issachar and south of Asher and Naphtali (Josh. 19:10-16), and between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean. According to ancient prophecy this part of Galilee enjoyed…
Naphtali, The Tribe Of · Specially favoured by our Lord’s ministry — Specially favoured by our Lord’s ministry
Prophecies Respecting Christ · His ministry commencing in Galilee — His ministry commencing in Galilee
Quotations And Allusions · IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT — IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The range of vision is first widened in Isa 9:2.: "The people that walk about in darkness see a great light; they who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light shines." The range of vision is here extended; not to the Gentiles, however, but to all Israel. Salvation would not break forth till it had become utterly dark along the horizon of Israel, according to the description in Isa 5:30, i.e., till the land of Jehovah had become a land of the shadow of death on account of the apostasy of its inhabitants from Jehovah (zalmâveth is modified, after the manner of a composite noun, from zalmūth, according to the form kadrūth, and is derived from צלם, Aeth. salema, Arab. zalim…
Beyond destruction there is hope. In the Messiah’s kingdom, the darkness would give way to great light, which was to dawn in Galilee and reach the whole nation, and then the whole world. The Messiah’s rule would be marked by the vindication of the oppressed and the end of all oppression. He would bring justice and righteousness forever in a kingdom of peace.
9:1 Zebulun and Naphtali were northern tribes in Israel (Judg 6:35). They were humbled by the Assyrian invaders under Tiglath-pileser III in 734 and 732 BC. In Jesus’ lifetime, this prophecy was connected with his coming out of Galilee (Matt 4:14-16). • Galilee of the Gentiles was the region of Israel between the Sea of Galilee and the…
You have aggrandized this nation They have become aggrandized to all who hear of them, when the nations heard the miracles that were performed for them.
You have magnified the joy for them Heb. לוֹ, [lit. for him.] And not for his enemies. It is written לֹא, [spelled ‘lammed aleph,’ meaning ‘not,’] since Hezekiah’s joy was incomplete, because, at that time it was said to him (infra 39:6), everything in your palace...will be carried off to Babylonia.”
like the joy of harvest Jonathan renders: like the joy of the victors of a battle, which is similar to the harvest; those who slay men cut throats. Scripture deviated from being explicit [lit. changed its language] to expound that the miracle…
