Matthew 4 · Verse 16

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.

Matthew 4:16, King James Version

Matthew 4:16 in other translations

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.”
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.”
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.
YLT	the people that is sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in a region and shadow of death--light arose to them.'
DARBY	— the people sitting in darkness has seen a great light, and to those sitting in the country and shadow of death, to them has light sprung up.
BBE	The people who were in the dark saw a great light, and to those in the land of the shade of death did the dawn come up.
Webster	The people who sat in darkness, saw great light; and to them who sat in the region and shades of death, light hath arisen.

What does Matthew 4:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

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--The prophetic strain to which these words belong commences with the seventh chapter of Isaiah, to which the sixth chapter is introductory, and goes down to the end of the twelfth chapter, which hymns the spirit of that whole strain of prophecy. It belongs to the reign of Ahaz and turns upon the combined efforts of the two neighboring kingdoms of Syria and Israel to crush Judah. In these critical circumstances Judah and her king were, by their ungodliness, provoking the Lord to sell them into the hands of their enemies. What, then, is the burden of this prophetic strain, on to the passage here quoted? First, Judah shall not, cannot perish, because Immanuel, the Virgin's Son, is to come forth from his loins. Next, one of the invaders shall soon perish, and the kingdoms of neither be enlarged. Further, while the Lord will be the Sanctuary of such as confide in these promises and await their fulfilment, He will drive to confusion, darkness, and despair the vast multitude of the nation who despised His oracles, and, in their anxiety and distress, betook themselves to the lying oracles of the heathen. This carries us down to the end of the eighth chapter. At the opening of the ninth chapter a sudden light is seen breaking in upon one particular part of the country, the part which was to suffer most in these wars and devastations--"the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee and the Gentiles." The rest of the prophecy stretches over both the Assyrian and the Chaldean captivities and terminates in the glorious Messianic prophecy of the eleventh chapter and the choral hymn of the twelfth chapter. Well, this is the point seized on by our Evangelist. By Messiah's taking up His abode in those very regions of Galilee, and shedding His glorious light upon them, this prediction, He says, of the Evangelical prophet was now fulfilled; and if it was not thus fulfilled, we may confidently affirm it was not fulfilled in any age of the Jewish ceremony, and has received no fulfilment at all. Even the most rationalistic critics have difficulty in explaining it in any other way.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 16. The people which sat in darkness. This is an expression denoting great ignorance. As in darkness or night we can see nothing, and know not where to go, so those who are ignorant of God, and their duty, are said to be in darkness. The instruction which removes this ignorance is called light. See Jn 3:19, 1Pet 2:9, 1Jn 1:6; 1Jn 2:8. As ignorance is often connected with crime and vice, so darkness is sometimes used to denote sin, 1Thes 5:5, Eph 5:11, Lk 22:53.

The region and shadow of death. This is a forcible and beautiful image, designed also to denote ignorance and sin. It is often used in the Bible, and is very expressive. A shadow is caused by an object coming between us and the sun. So the Hebrews imaged death as standing between us and the sun, and casting a long, dark, and baleful shadow abroad on the face of the nations, denoting their great ignorance, sin, and woe. It denotes a dismal, gloomy, and dreadful shade, where death and sin reign, like the chill damps, and horrors of the dwelling-place of the dead. See Job 10:21, 16:16; 34:22, Ps 23:4, Jer 2:6. These expressions denote that the country of Galilee was peculiarly ignorant and blind. We know that the people were proverbially so. They were distinguished for a coarse, outlandish manner of speech, (Mk 14:70) and are represented as having been distinguished by a general profligacy of morals and manners. It shows the great compassion of the Saviour, that he went to preach to such poor and despised sinners.

Instead of seeking the rich and the learned, he chose to minister to the needy, the ignorant, and the contemned. His office is to enlighten the ignorant; his delight to guide the wandering, and to raise up those that are in the shadow of death. In doing this, Jesus set an example for all his followers. It is their duty to seek out those who are sitting in the shadow of death, and to send the gospel to them. No small part of the world is still lying in wickedness, as wicked and wretched as was the land of Zebulun and Naphtali in the time of Jesus. The Lord Jesus is able to enlighten them also. And every Christian should conceive it a privilege, as well as a duty, to imitate his Saviour in this, and to be permitted to send to them the light of life. See Mt 28:19.

(k) "saw great light" Isa 42:6,7, Lk 2:32

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 16 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. The region and shadow of death - These words are amazingly descriptive. A region of death - Death's country, where, in a peculiar manner, Death lived, reigned, and triumphed, subjecting all the people to his sway. Shadow of death - Σκια θανατου, used only here and in Luk 1:79, but often in the Old Covenant, where the Hebrew is צל מות tsal maveth, It is not easy to enter fully into the ideal meaning of this term. As in the former clause, death is personified, so here. A shadow is that darkness cast upon a place by a body raised between it and the light or sun. Death is here represented as standing between the land above mentioned, and the light of life, or Sun of righteousness; in consequence of which, all the inhabitants were, involved in a continual cloud of intellectual darkness, misery, and sin. The heavenly sun was continually eclipsed to them, till this glorious time, when Jesus Christ, the true light, shone forth in the beauty of holiness and truth. Christ began his ministry in Galilee, and frequented this uncultivated place more than he did Jerusalem and other parts of Judea: here his preaching was peculiarly needful; and by this was the prophecy fulfilled.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 4:12-17

It is just with God to take the gospel and the means of grace, from those that slight them and thrust them away. Christ will not stay long where he is not welcome. Those who are without Christ, are in the dark. They were sitting in this condition, a contented posture; they chose it rather than light; they were willingly ignorant. When the gospel comes, light comes; when it comes to any place, when it comes to any…

Read the full comment on Matthew 4:12-17 →

Matthew 4:16 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ὁhoTheG3588

λαὸςlaosnationG2992

ὁhothe [one]G3588

καθήμενοςkathēmenossittingG2521

ἐνeninG1722

σκότειskoteidarknessG4655

φῶςphōslightG5457

εἶδενeidenhave seenG1492

μέγα,megagreat,G3173

καὶkaiandG2532

τοῖςtoisto thoseG3588

καθημένοιςkathēmenoissittingG2521

ἐνenin [the]G1722

χώρᾳchōralandG5561

καὶkaiandG2532

σκιᾷskiain a shadowG4639

θανάτουthanatouof deathG2288

φῶςphōsa lightG5457

ἀνέτειλενaneteilenhas dawnedG393

αὐτοῖς.¶autoison them.G846

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 4:16

Isaiah 9:2
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.
Isaiah 42:6-7
I 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; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Luke 1:78-79
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Isaiah 60:1-3
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Micah 7:8
Rejoice 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.
Psalms 107:10-14
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. …
Luke 2:32
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Amos 5:8
Seek 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 34:22
There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
Job 3:5
Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
Jeremiah 13:16
Give 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 10:22
A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

which sat in darkness.
Ps 107:10-14; Isa 42:6,7; 60:1-3; Mic 7:8; Lu 1:78,79; 2:32
shadow.
Job 3:5; 10:22; 34:22; Ps 44:19; Jer 13:16; Am 5:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Matthew 4:15
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
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.
Matthew 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Read all of Matthew 4

Matthew 4:16 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	El pueblo asentado en tinieblas, vió gran luz; y á los sentados en región y sombra de muerte, luz les esclareció.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	le peuple assis dans les ténèbres a vu une grande lumière; et sur ceux qui sont assis dans la région et dans l’ombre de la mort, la lumière s’est levée ».
German Elberfelder 1871	das Volk, das in Finsternis saß, hat ein großes Licht gesehen, und denen, die im Lande und Schatten des Todes saßen, Licht ist ihnen aufgegangen."
Latin Clementine Vulgate	populus, qui sedebat in tenebris, vidit lucem magnam: et sedentibus in regione umbræ mortis, lux orta est eis.