English · KJV

Isaiah 9:2

“Light Dawns in Galilee”Isaiah 9:1–7
King James Version
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.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
The people H5971 that walked H1980 in darkness H2822 have seen H7200 a great H1419 light H216: they that dwell H3427 in the land H776 of the shadow of death H6757, upon them hath the light H216 shined H5050.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
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.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
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.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
The people that walked in darkenes haue seene a great light: they that dwelled in the land of the shadowe of death, vpon them hath the light shined.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
The people who are walking in darkness Have seen a great light, Dwellers in a land of death-shade, Light hath shone upon them.

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
12 Hebrew words
  1. הָעָםha·'Amthe peopleH5971Art ¦ N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absoluteהָtheעָםpeople
  2. הַהֹלְכִיםha·ho·le·Khimwhich walkH1980Art ¦ V-Qal-Prtcpl-mpVerb Qal Participle Plural Masculine Absoluteהַwhichהֹלְכִיםwalk
  3. בַּחֹשֶׁךְba·Cho·shekhin the darknessH2822Prep-b ¦ N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absoluteבַּin theחֹשֶׁךְdarkness
  4. רָאוּra·'Uthey will seeH7200V-Qal-Perf-3cpVerb Qal Perfect 3rd Plural common gender
  5. אוֹר'ora lightH216N-fsNoun Singular Feminine Absolute
  6. גָּדוֹלga·DolgreatH1419Adj-msAdjective Singular Masculine Absolute
  7. יֹשְׁבֵיyo·she·Vei[those who] dwellH3427V-Qal-Prtcpl-mpVerb Qal Participle Plural Masculine Construct
  8. בְּאֶרֶץbe·'E·retzin a land ofH776Prep-b ¦ N-fscNoun Singular Feminine Constructבְּinאֶרֶץa land of
  9. צַלְמָוֶתtzal·Ma·vetdeep darknessH6757N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absolute
  10. אוֹר'ora lightH216N-fsNoun Singular Feminine Absolute
  11. נָגַהּna·Gahit will shineH5050V-Qal-Perf-3msVerb Qal Perfect 3rd Singular Masculine
  12. עֲלֵיהֶם'a·lei·Hemon themH5921Prep ¦ 3mpPrepositionעֲלֵיonהֶםthem
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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In the KJVVerse 17,832 of 31,102 · 57.3%

Study this verse

Written with AI assistance. Always check it against Scripture.

This verse

The people who lived in darkness and the shadow of death see a great light shine on them, a promise Matthew saw fulfilled when Jesus began his ministry in Galilee.

“The people that walked in darkness”

Darkness was their whole way of life, the path they walked day after day.

“have seen a great light:”

The turning point of the prophecy, a light far greater than any passing relief.

“they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,”

The same people, described more darkly, as settled in the land of death’s shadow.

“upon them hath the light shined.”

The light comes to them and falls directly on them. Its source is God, who brings it to those who sat in darkness.

A Great Light and the Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:1–7

Summary

Isaiah spoke these words while Assyria was overrunning the north of Israel, where the land of Zebulun and Naphtali had suffered first. Into that gloom God promises a great light. He will multiply his people and give them joy like the joy of harvest, break the yoke of their oppressor as he did in the day of Midian, and give the noise and blood of battle over to the fire. At the centre of it all is a child, born to us and given to us, who carries the government on his shoulder and is called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. He will reign on David’s throne with judgment and with justice for ever, and the zeal of the LORD of hosts will see it done. Matthew tells us that this light rose over Galilee when Jesus made his home in Capernaum and began to preach. The child of verse 6 is Jesus Christ, God come in the flesh.

The darkness this promise answers

Isaiah 7 and 8 come from the eighth century BC, most likely the reign of King Ahaz of Judah (735–715 BC). Chapter 7 gives the sign of Immanuel (Isaiah 7) and chapter 8 the sign of Maher-shalal-hash-baz and the warning of an Assyrian invasion (Isaiah 8). Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel had joined forces against Judah, and Ahaz turned to Assyria for help when he should have trusted the LORD, a choice that brought heavy consequences on Judah. Assyria was spreading its power, and its king Tiglath-Pileser III struck the northern lands in campaigns in 734 BC and, far more heavily, in 732 BC. Scripture records that he took Galilee, “all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29). Zebulun and Naphtali lay on Israel’s exposed northern edge and bore the brunt of it, with towns destroyed, people deported and heavy tribute laid on those who remained.

Chapter 8 ends in that darkness. The people are “hardly bestead and hungry” (Isaiah 8:21), and when they look to the earth they behold “trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish” (Isaiah 8:22). Then chapter 9 opens with “Nevertheless”. With that one word God turns from judgment to a promise of light, and the dimness and anguish of chapter 8 are the very things he answers in 9:1. The promise carries on to the end of verse 7, and each step is tied to the next by “For”: the joy comes because the yoke is broken, the yoke is broken because war is ended, and all of it comes because a child is born.

Light for the land that suffered most

The dimness and the vexation

Verse 1 promises that “the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation”. The darkness still to come would be lighter and briefer than the distress the land had already known, and relief was on its way. The word for dimness, mûwʻâph, comes from a root meaning to cover. It describes something covered over and dark, and so obscurity and distress. The gloom it names reached past the eyes to the whole life of the people: oppression, confusion and the loss of hope and of national identity under foreign rule. Vexation, mûwtsaq, means narrowness or straitness, and so anguish. It is the feeling of being hemmed in with nowhere to escape, and that is how Zebulun and Naphtali lived with Assyria pressing on them.

The lighter and the heavier affliction

“He” in this verse is God. Isaiah speaks of even these afflictions as God’s work (“he lightly afflicted ... did more grievously afflict”), so the suffering of the north was in his hand and served his purpose. “At the first” the affliction was light, most likely the early raids, the demands for tribute and the smaller losses of land. “Afterward” it grew heavy, most likely the later and far more destructive Assyrian campaigns around 732 BC, with widespread ruin, great loss of life and mass exile. The verb behind “more grievously afflict”, kâbad, means to be heavy. In a bad sense it means burdensome or severe, and in a good sense numerous, rich or honourable. Here it is the crushing weight that settled on the land.

The way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations

Isaiah names the afflicted places precisely. “The way of the sea” is the Via Maris, an international trade route that ran through these northern lands and made them a prize for every invader. “Beyond Jordan” takes in the lands east of the river, which fell victim too. “Galilee of the nations”, in Hebrew G’lil ha-Goyim, is the Galilee of the Gentiles. Lying at a crossroads, it had close dealings with the peoples around it, and invasion and deportation mixed its population further, until Israelites and Gentiles lived side by side. People in Judah to the south tended to look down on it as less pure.

That is the land God chose to see the light first. He turns a place counted as weak and on the margins into the scene of his salvation, and the region “of the nations” points ahead to a Messiah who comes for Jew and Gentile alike. Later in Isaiah, God says he will give his Servant “for a light of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6). Scripture shows the same pattern again and again, from the calling of Abraham to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem: God begins his greatest work in unlikely and overlooked places.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light

“The people that walked in darkness” and “they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death” are one people, described twice so that we feel how deep their need was. The light they “have seen” is the light that “hath ... shined” upon them, and the second line of each pair presses the point harder than the first.

Darkness, chôshek, is literal darkness, and in Scripture it also stands for misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow and wickedness. All of that lay over these people: oppression, despair and moral blindness, a life lived away from God’s presence and guidance. They “walked” in it, and the verb hâlak describes a settled way of life, like people stumbling on with nothing to guide them. They “dwell” there too, and yâshab speaks of a settled home, so the place of peril had become where they lived.

The shadow of death, tsalmâveth, joins the words for shadow (tsel) and death (maveth). It is the deepest gloom, a place of mortal danger close to the grave, and it is the shadow the psalmist walks through in “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4).

Into this the light comes. Light, ʼôwr, is brightness or a source of light, and figuratively happiness, life and the revelation of God. This light is “great”, gâdôwl, far beyond any ordinary or passing relief. The people “have seen” it, and râʼâh is the word for seeing and also for experiencing something, so this is a real meeting with what God has done. The light has “shined” upon them, and nâgahh is a word for light that radiates outward and falls directly on those who were deep in the gloom. The darkness is real, the light is greater, and God is the one who brings it.

Jesus, the great light in Galilee

Matthew tells us how this was fulfilled. After John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus withdrew into Galilee and made his home in Capernaum, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali (Matthew 4:12–17). Matthew says this happened to fulfil what Isaiah had spoken, and he quotes these two verses, the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, and the people who sat in darkness seeing a great light (Matthew 4:15–16). From there Jesus began to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14–15). Galilee of the nations, the place of the deepest darkness, became the place where the Light of the world first shone, and from there his light went out to all peoples.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). John writes of the Word, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). He adds, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5). By his incarnation, life, death and resurrection Christ scatters the ignorance, sin and power of death that held people captive. God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13), and he has called us “out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Joy like the joy of harvest

“Thou hast multiplied the nation”

In verse 3 Isaiah speaks to God directly. “Thou” is the LORD, and the growth of the nation is his doing. The verb, râbâh, means to increase in any respect, to make many or great. A people thinned by war and exile grows again in number and strength, a mark of God’s favour and his faithfulness to his covenant. In Christ the nation grows far beyond Israel’s borders, into “a great multitude ... of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” standing before the throne (Revelation 7:9–10).

Why does the KJV say “and not increased the joy”?

Read as it stands, the KJV line “and not increased the joy” sits oddly in a verse full of rejoicing. The KJV gives a literal rendering of the Hebrew, where the word for “increased” is gâdal, to make great. The context leaves no doubt that God has made their joy great, because the very next words compare it to the joy of harvest and of victory. Two explanations are given. One takes the small Hebrew word lo, usually “not”, as emphatic here, giving “and indeed you have greatly increased their joy” or “you have made their joy great”, which is how many modern translations read it. The other hears a question: “Have you not greatly increased their joy?” On either reading the verse says that God has given his people a great increase of joy.

Harvest and spoil

The word for joy, simchâh, comes from sâmêach, glad, and that from the verb sâmach, to rejoice. It means gladness and mirth, the joy of the festivals, and it comes back again in this verse to fill it. They rejoice “before thee”, in God’s own presence, so their gladness is gratitude to him.

The first picture is the harvest, qâtsîyr. In Israel the harvest came at the end of months of hard work and uncertainty, and it was a celebration shared by everyone, a time to thank God for his provision. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy” (Psalm 126:5–6). The second picture is men dividing the spoil, shâlâl, after a battle is won. That joy comes suddenly and overwhelms, because the enemy is beaten, the oppression is over, and what he held is now in the hands of the free. The Song of Deborah pictures the victors dividing the prey after battle (Judges 5:30). The word “rejoice” here, gîyl, means to spin round under strong feeling, and it pictures joy that leaps and dances. So the joy of verse 3 is both kinds at once, the settled gladness of God’s provision and the exultation of his deliverance. As Nehemiah told the people, “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Both pictures are fulfilled in Christ. He is the bread of life (John 6:35), the harvest that feeds the soul. His cross was the decisive victory, where, “having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15). The spoil he shares with his people is the kingdom of God, which is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17).

The yoke broken, as in the day of Midian

Verse 4 gives the reason for the joy: “For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden”. Isaiah names three tools of oppression, and God breaks them all.

The yoke, ʻôl, is the wooden beam laid on the neck of an animal to harness it for work, and so any burden or servitude laid on a people. For Israel it meant forced labour, heavy taxation and subjection to Assyria. The staff of his shoulder is the pole a taskmaster used to prod, drive or beat those carrying loads on their shoulders. The rod belongs to the oppressor, and the word nâgas means to drive an animal, a workman or a debtor, and so to tax, harass and tyrannize. These were everyday tools of farm work and discipline, so everyone who heard Isaiah knew what they meant for a people groaning under foreign rule. The verb “broken”, châthath, means to break down or lay flat, to shatter by force or by confusion and fear. God breaks these tools so thoroughly that they are useless, and the subjection is over for good.

“As in the day of Midian” recalls Gideon. With three hundred men against the vast army of Midian, he saw God give the victory by his own hand (Judges 7, Judges 7:15–22). The comparison tells us that the coming freedom will be God’s work in the same way, won against overwhelming odds and just as complete. His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). He had promised Israel in Egypt, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage” (Exodus 6:6), and a psalm praises him because “he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder” (Psalm 107:14).

Jesus took up this work. He announced that he had been sent to preach deliverance to the captives and to set at liberty them that are bruised (Luke 4:18). Through his cross he broke the yoke of sin and the rod of the oppressor, Satan and death. And he gives us a yoke of his own: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ... For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

The noise and blood of battle given to the fire

“For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood.” The confused noise, raʻash, is vibration, uproar, commotion, quaking and rattling, the shouting, the clash of weapons and the cries of the wounded and dying. The blood, dâm, comes from a root meaning to be still or silent, and it is the blood whose shedding brings death. The people of the north knew all this from Assyria’s campaigns, the din of battle and the clothing soaked in blood.

“But this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.” The word for fuel, maʼăkôleth, means something eaten, and here it is what the fire eats. Some modern translations bring out the sense, with “every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and garments rolled in blood” being “burned as fuel for the fire”. The gear and leftovers of war go into the flames, and the victory is so complete that the means of war is itself consumed. Fire in Scripture also speaks of God’s judgment and of purifying, and this fire brings a final end to the cycle of human conflict, where each battle only prepares the next.

So the verse prepares for the Prince of Peace in verse 6. Isaiah has already seen the day when “they shall beat their swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:4), and Zechariah’s king “shall speak peace unto the heathen” (Zechariah 9:10). Christ won the decisive battle at the cross (Colossians 2:15), against sin, death and the powers of darkness, though it looked like defeat. When he returns as the triumphant King he will overthrow all that opposes God’s peace (Revelation 19:11–21), and in the new heaven and new earth “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (Revelation 21:4).

Unto us a child is born

Verse 6 opens with the third “For”, and it gives the reason behind all the rest. The light, the joy, the broken yoke and the fire that ends war all come because a child is born.

The word for child, yeled, means something born, a boy or offspring, and “born” is yâlad. He is truly a child, born into human life, so the mighty names that follow belong to a real person in history. “Unto us a son is given” adds that God gives him. He comes by God’s will as God’s gift, and “unto us”, said twice, tells us that the gift is for God’s people.

The angel told the shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Jesus, born of a virgin, was truly a human child, and his miraculous conception and his existence before his birth show that he is the Son. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Israel had long looked for a king from David’s line, because God had promised David an heir whose throne would last (2 Samuel 7:12–16), and this child is that King.

The government upon his shoulder

Government, misrâh, means rule or empire. The shoulder is where a burden is carried, a picture of strength and responsibility, and it was where the marks of authority were worn. So the whole weight of ruling rests on him, and he carries and directs his kingdom himself. After his resurrection Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18), and since his ascension he reigns at the right hand of God.

Wonderful, Counsellor

The names tell us who he is. Wonderful, peleʼ, is the word for a miracle or a marvellous thing, something beyond explanation. Joined with Counsellor it describes his wisdom. His counsel is itself a wonder and leads to marvellous ends, and his very person is a wonder that sets him apart from every earthly ruler. In him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

The mighty God

In Hebrew this is El Gibbor, a name used elsewhere of God himself, and it plainly calls this child God. Thomas confessed the same of the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). John says that the Word was God and that all things were made by him (John 1:1–3), and Paul says that it pleased the Father “that in him should all fulness dwell” (Colossians 1:19–20). Here is the mystery of the incarnation: a child is born who is the mighty God.

Does “The everlasting Father” mean the Messiah is God the Father?

The Hebrew Abi-Ad means “Father of Eternity”, and it describes the Son’s own character rather than naming him God the Father. He is eternal, and to his people he is for ever what a good father is, the source of lasting care, protection, guidance and provision. The Father and the Son remain distinct persons, and this name speaks of the Son’s fatherly care for his people through every age. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).

The Prince of Peace

The last name crowns the rest. Peace, shalom, is wholeness, well-being, harmony and flourishing as well as the end of fighting. The Prince of Peace brings that peace and is himself its source: reconciliation with God, reconciliation between people, and in the end the restoration of all creation. Paul writes, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (Ephesians 2:14–16), and he says that Christ made peace through the blood of his cross, to reconcile all things to God (Colossians 1:20).

A kingdom of peace without end on David’s throne

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” The word for government is misrâh again, and both his rule and his peace keep growing, in reach and in depth, for all time. Every human empire rises and declines, Assyria and Babylon among them, and his alone endures. Peace, shâlôwm, means completeness, welfare, health, prosperity and security, a peace that fills every part of life, spiritual, social and personal, far deeper than any treaty can make. Isaiah goes on to speak of this righteous King again as the Branch from Jesse (Isaiah 11).

Upon the throne of David

He reigns “upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom”. This ties him to God’s covenant with David (2 Samuel 7), where God promised, “thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Samuel 7:16). He is David’s rightful heir, and his authority rests on God’s choice and God’s faithfulness to his word. Matthew opens his Gospel by calling Jesus “the son of David” (Matthew 1:1), and the angel Gabriel told Mary, “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32–33). Daniel saw the same: “the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44).

With judgment and with justice

He comes “to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice”. To order, kûwn, is to arrange, set in place and prepare, and to establish, çâʻad, is to support, make firm and uphold. Judgment, mishpâṭ, is right verdicts and the fair administration of law, and justice, tsᵉdâqâh, is righteousness in action, in each person’s conduct and in the life of the whole people. Israel had known corrupt and faithless kings, and the empires around it ruled by oppression. This King rules with perfect equity and truth, and God has ordained him to be “the Judge of quick and dead” (Acts 10:42).

His kingdom began with his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. It is present now in a spiritual form (Luke 17:21) and keeps growing, and it will be fully established in power and glory when he comes again. Then voices in heaven will say, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). “From henceforth even for ever” means that this reign goes on for ever, without decline.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this

The prophecy ends with its guarantee. Zeal, qinʼâh, is the word for jealousy, and when it is used of God it is holy: his fierce, burning determination to guard his honour, keep his covenant and finish what he has begun. The LORD of hosts, Yᵉhôvâh tsâbâʼ, is the commander of the armies of heaven, with all power and authority. So the coming of this kingdom rests on God’s own passion and might, and he will bring it about whatever the nations do. Every promise in these seven verses stands on that.

Living under the child who reigns

The God who said “Nevertheless” over a land in ruins is the God we trust today. He chose the most overlooked corner of Israel for the first light of his Son’s ministry, so his light reaches the forgotten and the far gone. Afflictions are real and can be heavy, and the last word over them belongs to him. The light we have came to us from outside ourselves, from God, and the people who have seen it carry it on, bringing hope and the message of salvation to those still walking in darkness.

The yokes people carry today are many: injustice, personal sin, fear and anxiety, addiction. Christ breaks the yoke of sin and death, and you can bring every burden to him and take up his yoke, which is easy. The government is on his shoulder, so you can seek his counsel in every decision, rest in his everlasting care, and live as a citizen of his kingdom by pursuing justice and making peace where you are. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this, and so we wait for his return with confidence and joy.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Isaiah 9:1–7. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 7 verses
Passage under commentIsaiah 9:1–7
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

The first words of this chapter plainly refer to the close of the foregoing chapter, where every thing looked black and melancholy: Behold, trouble, and darkness, and dimness - very bad, yet not so bad but that to the upright there shall arise light in the darkness (Psalm 112:4) and at evening time it shall be light, Zechariah 14:7. Nevertheless it shall not be such dimness (either not such for kind or not such for degree) as sometimes there has been. Note, In the worst of times God's people have a nevertheless to comfort themselves with, something to allay and balance their troubles; they are persecuted, but not forsaken (2 Corinthians 4:9), sorrowful yet always rejoicing, 2 Corinthians 6:10. And it is matter of comfort to us, when things are at the darkest, that he who forms the light and creates the darkness (Isaiah 45:7) has appointed to both their bounds and set the one over against the other, Genesis 4:4. He can say, "Hitherto the dimness shall go, so long it shall last, and no further, no longer."

I.Three things are here promised, and they all point ultimately at the grace of the gospel, which the saints then were to comfort themselves with the hopes of in every cloudy and dark day, as we now are to comfort ourselves in time of trouble with the hopes of Christ's second coming, though that be now, as his first coming then was, a thing at a great distance. The mercy likewise which God has in store for his church in the latter days may be a support to those that are mourning with her for her present calamities. We have here the promise,

1.Of a glorious light, which shall so qualify, and by degrees dispel, the dimness, that it shall not be as it sometimes has been: Not such as was in her vexation; there shall not be such dark times as were formerly, when at first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and Naphtali (which lay remote and most exposed to the inroads of the neighbouring enemies), and afterwards he more grievously afflicted the land by the way of the sea and beyond Jordan (Isaiah 9:1), referring probably to those days when God began to cut Israel short and to smite them in all their coasts, 2 Kings 10:32. Note, God tries what less judgments will do with a people before he brings greater; but if a light affliction do not do its work with us, to humble and reform us, we must expect to be afflicted more grievously; for when God judges he will overcome. Well, those were dark times with the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, and there was dimness of anguish in Galilee of the Gentiles, both in respect of ignorance (they did not speak according to the law and the testimony, and then there was no light in them, Isaiah 8:20) and in respect of trouble, and the desperate posture of their outward affairs; we have both together, 2 Chronicles 15:3, 2 Chronicles 15:5. Israel has been without the true God and a teaching priest, and in those times there was no peace. But the dimness threatened (Isaiah 8:22) shall not prevail to such a degree; for (Isaiah 9:2) the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.

(1.)At this time when the prophet lived, there were many prophets in Judah and Israel, whose prophecies were a great light both for direction and comfort to the people of God, who adhered to the law and the testimony. Besides the written word, they had prophecy; there were those that had shown them how long (Psalm 74:9), which was a great satisfaction to them, when in respect of their outward troubles they sat in darkness, and dwelt in the land of the shadow of death.

(2.)This was to have its full accomplishment when our Lord Jesus began to appear as a prophet, and to preach the gospel in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, and in Galilee of the Gentiles. 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, Matthew 4:13-16. Note,

[1.]Those that want the gospel walk in darkness, and know not what they do nor whither they go; and they dwell in the land of the shadow of death, in thick darkness, and in the utmost danger.

[2.]When the gospel comes to any place, to any soul, light comes, a great light, a shining light, which will shine more and more. It should be welcome to us, as light is to those that sit in darkness, and we should readily entertain it, both because if is of such sovereign use to us and because it brings its own evidence with it. Truly this light is sweet.

2.Of a glorious increase, and a universal joy arising from it, (Isaiah 9:3) "Thou, O God! hast multiplied the nation, the Jewish nation which thou hast mercy in store for; though it has been diminished by one sore judgment after another, yet now thou hast begun to multiply it again." The numbers of a nation are its strength and wealth if the numerous be industrious; and it is God that increases nations, Job 12:23. Yet it follows, "Thou hast not increased the joy - the carnal joy and mirth, and those things that are commonly the matter and occasion thereof. But, notwithstanding that, they joy before thee; there is a great deal of serious spiritual joy among them, joy in the presence of God, with an eye to him." This is very applicable to the times of gospel light, spoken of Isaiah 9:2. Then God multiplied the nation, the gospel Israel. "And to him" (so the Masorites read it) "thou hast magnified the joy, to every one that receives the light." The following words favour this reading: "They joy before thee; they come before thee in holy ordinances with great joy'; their mirth is not like that of Israel under their vines and fig-trees (thou hast not increased that joy), but it is in the favour of God and in the tokens of his grace." Note, The gospel, when it comes in its light and power, brings joy along with it, and those who receive it aright do therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice; therefor the conversion of the nations is prophesied of by this (Psalm 67:4), Let the nations be glad, and sin for joy. See Psalm 96:11.

(1.)It is holy joy: They joy before thee; they rejoice in spirit (as Christ did, Luke 10:21), and that is before God. In the eye of the world they are always as sorrowful, and yet, in God's sight, always rejoicing, 2 Corinthians 6:10.

(2.)It is great joy; it is according to the joy in harvest, when those who sowed in tears, and have with long patience waited for the precious fruits of the earth, reap in joy; and as in war men rejoice when, after a hazardous battle, they divide the spoil. The gospel brings with it plenty and victory; but those that would have the joy of it must expect to go through a hard work, as the husbandman before he has the joy of harvest, and a hard conflict, as the soldier before he has the joy of dividing the spoil; but the joy, when it comes, will be an abundant recompence for the toil. See Acts 8:8, Acts 8:39.

3.Of a glorious liberty and enlargement (Isaiah 9:4, Isaiah 9:5): "They shall rejoice before thee, and with good reason, for thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and made him easy, for he shall no longer be in servitude; and thou hast broken the staff of his shoulder and the rod of his oppressor, that rod of the wicked which rested long on the lot of the righteous," as the Midianites' yoke was broken from off the neck of Israel by the agency of Gideon. If God makes former deliverances his patterns in working for us, we ought to make them our encouragements to hope in him and to seek to him, Psalm 83:9. Do unto them as to the Midianites. What temporal deliverance this refers to is not clear, probably the preventing of Sennacherib from making himself master of Jerusalem, which was done, as in the day of Midian, by the immediate hand of God; and, whereas other battles were usually won with a great deal of noise and by the expense of much blood, this shall be done silently and without noise. Under his glory God shall kindle a burning (Isaiah 10:16); a fire not blown shall consume him, Job 20:26. But doubtless it looks further, to the blessed fruits and effects of that great light which should visit those that sat in darkness; it would bring liberty along with it, deliverance to the captives, Luke 4:18.

(1.)The design of the gospel, and the grace of it, is to break the yoke of sin and Satan, to remove the burden of guilt and corruption, and to free us from the rod of those oppressors, that we might be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Christ broke the yoke of the ceremonial law (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1), and delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear, Luke 1:74, Luke 1:75.

(2.)This is done by the Spirit working like fire (Matthew 3:11), not as the battle of the warrior is fought, with confused noise; no, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; but it is done with the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning, Isaiah 4:4. It is done as in the day of Midian, by a work of God upon the hearts of men. Christ is our Gideon; it is his sword that doeth wonders.

II.But who, where, is he that shall undertake and accomplish these great things for the church? The prophet tells us (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 9:7) they shall be done by the Messiah, Immanuel, that son of a virgin whose birth he had foretold (Isaiah 7:14), and now speaks of, in the prophetic style, as a thing already done: the child is born, not only because it was as certain, and he was as certain of it as if it had been done already, but because the church before his incarnation reaped great benefit and advantage by his undertaking in virtue of that first promise concerning the seed of the woman, Genesis 3:15. As he was the Lamb slain, so he was the child born, from the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. All the great things that God did for the Old Testament church were done by him as the eternal Word, and for his sake as the Mediator. He was the Anointed, to whom God had respect (Psalm 84:9), and it was for the Lord's sake, for the Lord Christ's sake, that God caused his face to shine upon his sanctuary, Daniel 9:17. The Jewish nation, and particularly the house of David, were preserved many a time from imminent ruin only because that blessing was in them. What greater security therefore could be given to the church of God then that it should be preserved, and be the special care of the divine Providence, than this, that God had so great a mercy in reserve for it? The Chaldee paraphrast understands it of the man that shall endure for ever, even Christ. And it is an illustrious prophecy of him and of his kingdom, which doubtless those that waited for the consolation of Israel built much upon, often turned to, and read with pleasure.

1.See him in his humiliation. The same that is the mighty God is a child born; the ancient of days becomes an infant of a span long; the everlasting Father is a Son given. Such was his condescension in taking our nature upon him; thus did he humble and empty himself, to exalt and fill us. He is born into our world. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is given, freely given, to be all that to us which our case, in our fallen state, calls for. God so loved the world that he gave him. He is born to us, he is given to us, us men, and not to the angels that sinned. It is spoken with an air of triumph, and the angel seems to refer to these words in the notice he gives to the shepherds of the Messiah's having come (Luke 2:11), Unto you is born, this day, a Saviour. Note, Christ's being born and given to us is the great foundation of our hopes, and fountain of our joys, in times of greatest grief and fear.

2.See him in his exaltation. This child, this son, this Son of God, this Son of man, that is given to us, is in a capacity to do us a great deal of kindness; for he is invested with the highest honour and power, so that we cannot but be happy if he be our friend.

(1.)See the dignity he is advanced to, and the name he has above every name. He shall be called (and therefore we are sure he is and shall be) Wonderful, Counsellor, etc. His people shall know him and worship him by these names; and, as one that fully answers them, they shall submit to him and depend upon him.

[1.]He is wonderful, counsellor. Justly is he called wonderful, for he is both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels and glorified saints; in his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, he was wonderful. A constant series of wonders attended him, and, without controversy, great was the mystery of godliness concerning him. He is the counsellor, for he was intimately acquainted with the counsels of God from eternity, and he gives counsel to the children of men, in which he consults our welfare. It is by him that God has given us counsel, Psalm 16:7; Revelation 3:18. He is the wisdom of the Father, and is made of God to us wisdom. Some join these together: He is the wonderful counsellor, a wonder or miracle of a counsellor; in this, as in other things, he has the pre-eminence; none teaches like him.

[2.]He is the mighty God - God, the mighty One. As he has wisdom, so he has strength, to go through with his undertaking: he is able to save to the utmost; and such is the work of the Mediator that no less a power than that of the mighty God could accomplish it.

[3.]He is the everlasting Father, or the Father of eternity; he is God, one with the Father, who is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the author of everlasting life and happiness to them, and so is the Father of a blessed eternity to them. He is the Father of the world to come (so the Septuagint reads it), the father of the gospel-state, which is put in subjection to him, not to the angels, Hebrews 2:5. He was, from eternity, Father of the great work of redemption: his heart was upon it; it was the product of his wisdom as the counsellor, of his love as the everlasting Father.

[4.]He is the prince of peace. As a King, he preserves the peace, commands peace, nay, he creates peace, in his kingdom. He is our peace, and it is his peace that both keeps the hearts of his people and rules in them. He is not only a peaceable prince, and his reign peaceable, but he is the author and giver of all good, all that peace which is the present and future bliss of his subjects.

(2.)See the dominion he is advanced to, and the throne he has above every throne (Isaiah 9:6): The government shall be upon his shoulder - his only. He shall not only wear the badge of it upon his shoulder (the key of the house of David, Isaiah 22:22), but he shall bear the burden of it. The Father shall devolve it upon him, so that he shall have an incontestable right to govern; and he shall undertake it, so that no doubt can be made of his governing well, for he shall set his shoulder to it, and will never complain, as Moses did, of his being overcharged. I am not able to bear all this people, Numbers 11:11, Numbers 11:14. Glorious things are here spoken of Christ's government, Isaiah 9:7.

[1.]That it shall be an increasing government. It shall be multiplied; the bounds of his kingdom shall be more and more enlarged, and many shall be added to it daily. The lustre of it shall increase, and it shall shine more and more brightly in the world. The monarchies of the earth were each less illustrious than the other, so that what began in gold ended in iron and clay, and every monarchy dwindled by degrees; but the kingdom of Christ is a growing kingdom, and will come to perfection at last.

[2.]That it shall be a peaceable government, agreeable to his character as the prince of peace. He shall rule by love, shall rule in men's hearts; so that wherever his government is there shall be peace, and as his government increases the peace shall increase. The more we are subject to Christ the more easy and safe we are.

[3.]That it shall be a rightful government. He that is the Son of David shall reign upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, which he is entitled to. God shall give him the throne of his father David, Luke 1:32, Luke 1:33. The gospel church, in which Jew and Gentile are incorporated, is the holy hill of Zion, on which Christ reigns, Psalm 2:6.

[4.]That it shall be administered with prudence and equity, and so as to answer the great end of government, which is the establishment of the kingdom: He shall order it, and settle it, with justice and judgment. Every thing is, and shall be, well managed, in the kingdom of Christ, and none of his subjects shall ever have cause to complain.

[5.]That it shall be an everlasting kingdom: There shall be no end of the increase of his government (it shall be still growing), no end of the increase of the peace of it, for the happiness of the subjects of this kingdom shall last to eternity and perhaps shall be progressive in infinitum - for ever. He shall reign henceforth even for ever; not only throughout all generations of time, but, even when the kingdom shall be delivered up to God even the Father, the glory both of the Redeemer and the redeemed shall continue eternally.

[6.]That God himself has undertaken to bring all this about: "The Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hand and all creatures at his beck, shall perform this, shall preserve the throne of David till this prince of peace is settled in it; his zeal shall do it, his jealousy for his own honour, and the truth of his promise, and the good of his church." Note, The heart of God is much upon the advancement of the kingdom of Christ among men, which is very comfortable to all those that wish well to it; the zeal of the Lord of hosts will overcome all opposition.

Historical interpretation

Four Centuries of Reception

5 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

5 quotes · AD 60–461
Ante-NicenePost-Nicene
100200300400

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 60Matthewon 4:12-17Ante-Nicene
Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and 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; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. [Isaiah 9:1-2] From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
d. AD 253Origen of AlexandriaAnte-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13:134
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.”
d. AD 397Ambrose of MilanPost-NiceneSourceOn Paradise 5.29
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. For the people of sinners, as Isaiah teaches (Isaiah 9:2), sat in the shadow of death, until the light arose through the grace of God, not through their own merit. Therefore, there is no distinction between the breath of God and the food of the tree of life. No man can claim to possess more than what has been bestowed upon him by divine generosity.
d. AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceCommentary on Isaiah
(Version 2-4.) You have multiplied the nation, you have not magnified the joy: they shall rejoice before you, as they rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors exulting for the spoils, when they divide the spoils. For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the scepter of their exactor you have overcome, as in the day of Midian. For every violent plunder with tumult: and the garment mingled with blood shall be for burning, and food for the fire. LXX: You have brought down a large portion of the people in your joy, and they shall rejoice in your presence, as they are accustomed to rejoice in the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils: for the yoke that was upon them, and the rod from their neck, has been taken away. For the rod of the oppressors shall be broken, as in the day of Midian. For every garment rolled in blood is for burning, fuel for the fire. We put both editions in dark places so that the diligent reader may recognize how much the Vulgate translation differs from the Hebrew truth and others. To the very light that appeared to the people in darkness, that is, to the Lord the Savior, an apostrophe is made. And it is said to him: You have multiplied the nation, that is, you have filled all nations with the knowledge of you; but you have not magnified the joy. According to which the Apostle says that he has perpetual sorrow for his brothers who are Israelites (Rom. X). And Jonah is grieved that the Ninevites have been saved in such a way that the gourd, or Ciceion, withered (Jonah IV). And the Lord himself speaks in the Gospel: I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. XV, 24). And in his suffering he said, 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me (Mat. XXVI, 39).' This passage means: If it is possible for the multitude of the Gentiles to believe without the destruction of the Jews, I reject suffering. But if they are to be blinded, let all the nations see, let your will be done, Father. So when Christ comes and the people of Christians are gathered from all nations, then the Apostles will rejoice, like harvesters rejoice in the harvest, of whom the Lord spoke: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matth. IX, 37). And as conquerors rejoice, who divide the captured booty. For when a strong one has been captured and bound, his whole house is plundered, and the spoils are divided (Matthew 12). But you, O Lord and Savior, have removed the burden of his yoke, that is the devil, who once rejoiced in the world, who ruled over all nations, who pressed down the necks of all with the heavy yoke of bondage; and you have taken the rod with which he used to strike everyone, and compelled him to pay tribute for his sins, and you have lifted it from their shoulders: and you have made them serve you in freedom without any army and without shedding blood with your hidden hand: just as you once granted victory to the people of Israel over the Midianites under Gideon (Judges 7). For just as a garment, which is stained with human blood, cannot be washed, but when stained with blood, it is burned with fire so that the stains of foul blood may be destroyed along with the garment, in the same way the violent plunder, turmoil, and crowds of the devil, by whom he had subjected the human race to himself, are assigned to the fires of hell. Not all, but only a certain part of the people, are said to have believed, as it is significant; although you have led in joy because of what they said, others have interpreted differently and praised. And when, in the remaining [senses], they hold the same meaning, they gather a stole by deceit, and change garments, adding that he is about to give back, that is, the devil: namely, that he will give back all the souls that he had stripped with the help of God, with their former adornments: not only himself, but also his attendant demons: to whom, if the choice is given, they would rather choose to perish in flames than to lose the spoils.
d. AD 461Leo the GreatPost-NiceneSourceSERMON 25:3
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.”
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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