Isaiah 9:2
in Isaiah 9The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
KJV
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
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This verse in Isaiah 9
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The people that walked in darkness - The inhabitants of the region of Galilee. They were represented as walking in darkness, because they were far from the capital, and from the temple; they had few religious privileges; they were intermingled with the pagan, and were comparatively rude and uncultivated in their manners and in their language. Allusion to this is several times made in the New Testament; Joh 1:46: ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Joh 7:52: ‘Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet;’ Mat 26:69; Mar 14:
This site's exposition
Galilee of the nations
on Isaiah 9:1-2
The gloom that ends chapter 8 is answered: Zebulun and Naphtali, struck first by Assyria, are named with "the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations" as the first honored. There "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light," and Matthew 4:15-16 quotes the passage of Jesus beginning His ministry in Galilee. The district hit earliest by judgment is honored earliest by grace.
This site's exposition
have seen a great light
Matthew 4:15-16 quotes verses 1 and 2 when Jesus settles at Capernaum, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. Barnes explained the darkness of Galilee as distance from the temple and a people mixed with the nations. The light dawns first where Assyria struck first.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
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.
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13:134 · Written before 253.
proposed
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."
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."
The Medieval Church1 voice
300. Third, Sennacherib came and took the cities of Judah and besieged Jerusalem, as is said in 2 Kings 18:13, 17. And the prophet speaks here of this third persecution saying, the people, and he promises salvation to the Jews. Hence he does two things: …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The people - Israel and Judah. Darkness - The expression is general and so may well comprehend both calamity and ignorance, idolatry and profaneness, in which those parts were eminently involved. Have seen - Shall see at the coming of the Messiah.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And the Old-Testament prophets, as they were witnesses to him, so they were types of him. When he came and dwelt in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, then this prophecy is said to have been fulfilled, Matt. iv.
4 ), Let the nations be glad, and sin for joy. (1.) It is holy joy: They joy before thee; they rejoice in spirit (as Christ did, Luke x. 21 ), and that is before God.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
The people that walked in darkness,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
As in this case the Revised Version is much to be preferred, we will now read it— "But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish. In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time has He made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness ha ve seen a great light: they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined." Isaiah 9:1,2.
As in this case the Revised Version is much to be preferred, we will now read it— "But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish. In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time has He made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness ha ve seen a great light: they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined." Isaiah 9:1,2. When Judah was in sore distress, the sign that she should be delivered was Immanuel. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isa. 7:14). When no other ray of comfort could be found, light came from the promise of the wondrous birth of Him whose name is "God with us." God alone would be the Deliverer of Judah when overmatched by her two enemies. God would be with them and He gave them as a pledge a vision of that time when, in very deed, God would dwell among men and wear their Nature in the Person of The Virgin-Born. It is noteworthy that the clearest promises of the Messiah have been given in the darkest hours of history. If the Prophets had been silent upon the Coming One before, they always speak out in the cloudy and dark days, for well the Spirit made them know that the coming of God in human flesh is the lone star of the world's night. It was so in the beginning, when our first parents had sinned and were doomed to quit the Paradise of delights.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The people who walked in darkness The inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were darkened by their concern [of falling into the hands] of Sennacherib. Comp. with what Hezekiah said (infra:3), “This day is a day of distress, debate, and blasphemy.”
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The people, the house of Israel, which walked in Egypt as in the darkness, went forth to see a great light. They that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַהֹלְכִ֣ים | haholekhim | which walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְ | bachoshekh | in the darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| רָא֖וּ | rau | they will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| א֣וֹר | ʾor | a light | H216 → | 121 times |
| גָּד֑וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| יֹשְׁבֵי֙ | yoshevei | [those who] dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּאֶ֣רֶץ | beeretz | in a land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| צַלְמָ֔וֶת | tzalmavet | deep darkness | H6757 → | |
| א֖וֹר | ʾor | a light | H216 → | 121 times |
| נָגַ֥הּ | nagah | it will shine | H5050 → | |
| עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַהֹלְכִ֣יםwhich walk
haholekhimH1980 →1546 times
בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְin the darkness
bachoshekhH2822 →80 times
רָא֖וּthey will see
rauH7200 →1300 times
א֣וֹרa light
ʾorH216 →121 times
גָּד֑וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
יֹשְׁבֵי֙[those who] dwell
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
בְּאֶ֣רֶץin a land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
צַלְמָ֔וֶתdeep darkness
tzalmavetH6757 →
א֖וֹרa light
ʾorH216 →121 times
נָגַ֥הּit will shine
nagahH5050 →
עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃on them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 8:12Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
it leads to
- John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 9:5
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…
- Matthew 5:14
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
- Job 33:28
He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’
- John 12:46
Through
Ephesians 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
it leads to
- John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- John 8:12
Through
John 12:46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
it leads to
- Psalms 36:9
For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
- Psalms 36:9
Where this verse is studied
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About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Ambrose of Milan, On Paradise 5.29; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2163: “Immanuel—The Light of Life” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Leo the Great, SERMON 25:3; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13:134 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.