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.
Parallel translations
- WEB the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned.”
- BSB 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.”
- NKJV The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”
- NASB The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.”
- NLT the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death have seen a great light. It announces that Jesus is the dawning light of salvation.
Overview
Completing the Isaiah quotation, Matthew presents Jesus as the great light breaking upon a people in spiritual darkness and under the sentence of death. The imagery captures humanity's lost condition and the hope that arrives in Christ. He is the light of the world whose coming dispels the gloom of sin and brings life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 9:2The 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.
- Isa 42:6–7I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
- Luke 1:78–79Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
- Isa 60:1–3Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
- Mic 7:8Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
- Ps 107:10–14Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
- Luke 2:32A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
- Amos 5:8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
- Job 34:22There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
- Jer 13:16Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
- Job 10:22A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
- Job 3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
- Ps 44:19Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 4:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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