Zabulon (i.e. Zebulon) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a place
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
land
γῆgē
G1093
soil · noun — nominative singular feminine
Nephthalim
Νεφθαλίμ,Nephthalim
G3508
Nephthaleim (i.e. Naphthali) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a place
way
ὁδὸνhodon
G3598
a road · noun — accusative singular feminine
sea
θαλάσσηςthalassēs
G2281
the sea (genitive case or specially) · noun — genitive singular feminine
beyond
πέρανperan
G4008
through (as adverb or preposition) · preposition
Jordan
Ἰορδάνου,Iordanou
G2446
the Jordanes (i.e. Jarden) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a place
Galilee
ΓαλιλαίαGalilaia
G1056
Galilæa (i.e. the heathen circle) · noun — nominative singular feminine, a place
Gentiles
ἐθνῶν,ethnōn
G1484
a race (as of the same habit) · noun — genitive plural neuter
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
Isaiah 9:1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land o…
Joshua 21:32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammoth-dor with her suburb…
2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and…
Joshua 20:7 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of…
1 Kings 9:11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then kin…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:12-17
We have here an account of Christ's preaching in the synagogues of Galilee, for he came into the world to be a Preacher; the great salvation which he wrought out, he himself began to publish (Heb 2:3) to show how much his heart was upon it, and ours should be.
Several passages in the other gospels, especially in that of St. John, are supposed, in the order of the story of Christ's life, to intervene between his temptation and his preaching in Galilee. His first appearance after his temptation, was when John Baptist pointed to him, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, Joh 1:29. After that, he went up to Jerusalem, to the passover (Jn. 2), discoursed with Nicodemus (Jn. 3), with the woman of Samari…
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea--the coast skirting the Sea of Galilee westward--beyond Jordan--a phrase commonly meaning eastward of Jordan; but here and in several places it means westward of the Jordan. The word seems to have got the general meaning of "the other side"; the nature of the case determining which side that was.
Galilee of the Gentiles--so called from its position, which made it the frontier between the Holy Land and the external world. While Ephraim and Judah, as STANLEY says, were separated from the world by the Jordan valley on one side and the hostile Philistines on another, the northern tribes were in the direct highway of all the…
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken,.... Christ's dwelling in Capernaum accomplished a prophecy of the prophet Isaiah 9:1 and he went and dwelt there, that it might be fulfilled which he had spoken: the meaning of which prophecy is (x), that as those parts of the land of Israel, there mentioned, had suffered much by Tiglathpileser, who had carried them captive, 2 Kings 15:29 and is "the vexation" referred to; so they should be honoured, and made very glorious, by the presence and conversation of the Messiah among them, and which now had its literal fulfilment: for Christ now came and dwelt in Capernaum, which lay between the lands and upon the borders both of Zabulon and Nephthalim;…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 15, 16.) The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. These were the first to hear the Lord preaching, that where the first captivity had occurred by the Assyrians, there the proclamation of the Redeemer would be born.
(ubi sup.) Or we must read, beyond Jordan, of Galilee of the Gentiles; so, I mean, that the people who either sat, or walked in darkness, have seen light and that not a faint light, as the light of the Prophets, but a great light, as of Him who in the Gospel speaks thus, I am the light, of the world. Between death and the shadow of death I suppose this difference; death is said of such as have gone down to the grave with the works of death; the shadow of such as live in sin, and have not yet departed from this world; these may, if they will, yet turn to repentance.
But mark, I pray thee, how in every case when He is about to depart unto the Gentiles, He hath the occasion given Him by Jews. For so in this instance, by plotting against His forerunner, and casting him into prison, they thrust out Christ into the Galilee of the Gentiles. For to show that He neither speaks of the Jewish nation by a part of it, nor signifies obscurely all the tribes; mark how the Prophet distinguishes that place, saying "The land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness, saw great light:" by darkness here not meaning that which is sensible, but men's errors and ungodliness. Wherefore he also added, "They which sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light is sprung up." For that thou mightest learn that neither the light nor the darkness which he speaks of are sensible, in discoursing of the light, he called it not merely light, but "a great light" which elsewhere he expresses by the word, True: and in describing the darkness, he termed it, "a shadow of death." Then implying that they did not of themselves seek and find, but that God showed Himself to them from above, he saith to them, "Light is sprung up;" that is, the light of itself sprang up and shone forth: it was not that they first ran to the light. For in truth the condition of men was at the worst before Christ's coming. Since they more than "walked in darkness;" they "sat in darkness;" a kind of sign that they did not even hope to be delivered. For as persons not even knowing where to put a step forward, so they sat, overtaken by the darkness, not being able so much as to stand any more.
Dictionary and topics
Capernaum — Nahum’s town, a Galilean city frequently mentioned in the history of our Lord. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. After our Lord’s expulsion from Nazareth (Matt. 4:13-16; Luke 4:16-31),…
Galilee — Circuit. Solomon rewarded Hiram for certain services rendered him by the gift of an upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali. Hiram was dissatisfied with the gift, and called it “the land of…
John — (1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John (Acts 4:6). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He…
Naphtali, Tribe of — On this tribe Jacob pronounced the patriarchal blessing, “Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words” (Gen. 49:21). It was intended thus to set forth under poetic imagery the future…
Nephthalim — A form of the name Naphtali. (Job 7:3; Matthew 4:13,15; Revelation 7:6)
Quotations — From the Old Testament in the New, which are very numerous, are not made according to any uniform method. When the New Testament was written, the Old was not divided, as it now is, into chapters and…
Zabulon — (Matt. 4:13, 15; Rev. 7:8). See ZEBULUN.
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…
Matthew 4:13-16
Matthew 4:13-16
13. And having left Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is a town on the sea-coast in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14. That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, near the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16. The people who sat [330] in darkness have seen a great light: and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death light hath arisen.
13. And having left Nazareth I have thought it proper to introduce this passage of Matthew, immediately after Luke's narrative, which we have just examined; because we may gather from the context…
Capernaum was in Galilee, a district viewed negatively by the religious establishment in Judea and Jerusalem (see John 1:46; 7:41-42, 52). Many Judeans considered Galileans to be uncultured, with a lazy command of the language (cp. Matt 26:73), a factor sometimes thought to affect the accuracy of their teachings. Galilee also had a proportionately larger Gentile population than Judea did.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Quotations And Allusions · IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT — IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT
Zebulun · .Jesus lived in the land of — .Jesus lived in the land of
Zebulun, The Tribe Of · Country of, blessed with the presence and instruction of Christ — Country of, blessed with the presence and instruction of Christ
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).
