Matthew 4:16 BSB — MannaFest

Matthew 4:16

the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

The people that sat in darkness Saw a great light, And to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, To them did light spring up.

KJV

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.

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Commentary

4 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Matthew (420)

(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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

Cyril of Alexandria

FRAGMENT 34.15 (444)

And the "great light" is Christ our Lord and the brightness of the gospel preaching. It is not, in fact, the law, which was likened to a lamp. For this reason a lamp always burned in the tabernacle, on account of the shortness of the law's rays, which had strength to extend their light only within the confines of the Jewish territories. Therefore the Gentiles were "in darkness," not having this lamplight.

Jerome

Catena Aurea by Aquinas (420)

(in Esai. c. 9. 1.) They are said at the first time to be lightened from the burden of sin, because in the country of these two tribes, the Saviour first preached the Gospel; at the last time their faith was increased, most of the Jews remaining in error. By the sea here is meant the Lake of Gennesaret, a lake formed by the waters of the Jordan, on its shores are the towns of Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and Corozaim, in which district principally Christ preached.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

The people which sat in darkness - This is quoted from Isa 9:2, where, instead of sitting, the prophet used the word walked. The evangelist might on purpose change the term, to point out the increased misery of the state of these persons. Sitting in darkness expresses a greater degree of intellectual blindness, than walking in darkness does. In the time of Christ’s appearing, the people were in a much worse state than in the time of the prophet, which was nearly 700 years before; as, during all this period, they were growing more ignorant and sinful.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὁ	ho	The	G3588 →
λαὸς	laos	nation	G2992 →
ὁ	ho	the [one]	G3588 →
καθήμενος	kathēmenos	sitting	G2521 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
σκότει	skotei	darkness	G4655 →
φῶς	phōs	light	G5457 →
εἶδεν	eiden	have seen	G1492 →
μέγα,	mega	great,	G3173 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τοῖς	tois	to those	G3588 →
καθημένοις	kathēmenois	sitting	G2521 →
ἐν	en	in [the]	G1722 →
χώρᾳ	chōra	land	G5561 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
σκιᾷ	skia	in a shadow	G4639 →
θανάτου	thanatou	of death	G2288 →
φῶς	phōs	a light	G5457 →
ἀνέτειλεν	aneteilen	has dawned	G393 →
αὐτοῖς.¶	autois	on them.	G846 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Isaiah 9:2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
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 independent paths from here.
- Ephesians 5:8
  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- John 12:46
  I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
- Luke 1:78–79
  because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
- 1 Peter 2:9
  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Through
Micah 7:8
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
leads to
- Psalms 27:1
  The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?
- Isaiah 9:2
  The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
- Psalms 112:4
  Light dawns in the darkness for the upright— for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.