Isaiah 9:2 NLT

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-7

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 (Ps. 112:4) and at evening time it shall be light, Zech. 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

The people that walked in darkness ,.... Meaning not the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, in the times of Hezekiah, when Sennacherib besieged them, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; and much less the people of Israel in Egypt, as the Targum paraphrases it; but the inhabitants of Galilee in the times of Christ; see Matthew 4:16 , John 1:48 and is a true character of all the people of God before conversion, who are in a state of darkness, under the power of sin, shut up in unbelief;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-2

Great light in deep darkness. In wrath God remembers mercy; be makes us to "sing of mercy and of judgment." He " will not always chide, nor keep his anger forever." Even unto disobedient and perverse Israel he will manifest his Divine pity, his redeeming power. Respecting this promise we may note— I. ITS HISTORICAL FULFILMENT . This, in the literal and primary sense, is involved in no slight obscurity (see Exposition). The difficulty in determining the period when these regions... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-7

THE TROUBLES OF ISRAEL SHALL END THROUGH THE BIRTH OF A MARVELOUS CHILD . The section of the prophecy commencing with Isaiah 7:1 terminates in this glorious burst of glad and gracious promise. The gist of the whole section is: "Israel shall not suffer from Pekah and Rezin; her oppressors shall be Assyria and Egypt, more especially the former; Assyria shall overwhelm her, crush her, lay her low; she shall remain awhile in gloom and darkness; but at length the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-7

Vision of future glory. In bright contrast to the preceding gloomy outlook, bursts the enrapturing view of future glory on the prophet's soul. I. COMPENSATION FOR PAST SUFFERING . Not forever is the land to lie darkened. A great light of deliverance is to appear. The prophet's glance rests on the northern and eastern portions of the kingdom of Ephraim. They had been conquered by Assyria, and the people carried away captive ( 2 Kings 15:29 ). But "as the former time brought... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

The people that walked in darkness (comp. Isaiah 8:22 ). All the world was "in darkness" when Christ came; but here the Jews especially seem to be intended. It was truly a dark time with them when Christ came. Have seen ; rather, saw . The "prophetic" preterit is used throughout the whole passage. A great light. "The Light of the world," "the Sun of righteousness," "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, "first broke on man in that northern tract" by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

The dawn of gospel day. "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." The glory which God revealed then through the prophet was but a prelude to that greater glory which the Incarnation made manifest. So much so that these words are used in Matthew 4:16 , and relate to Jesus leaving Nazareth and coming to Capernaum, upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim, that so the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

Light in darkness. Cheyne's translation brings out the meaning and reference of this passage. "Surely there is (now) no (more) gloom to her whose lot was affliction. At the former time she brought shame on the land of Zebulun, and on the land of Naphtali, but in the latter he hath brought honor on the way by the sea, the other side of Jordan, the district of the nations." The historical facts to which allusion is made are: 1. The despoiling of Upper and Lower Galilee by Tiglath-Pileser (... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 9:2

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; John 1:46 : ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ John 7:52 : ‘Search and look, for out... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 9:2

Isaiah 9:2. The people Israel and Judah; that walked Or sat, as it is in Matthew 4:16; in darkness Both in the darkness of ignorance, and in the darkness of calamity; have seen a great light The prophet speaks of what was future, and would not take place till after seven hundred years, as though it were already arrived. Though “there would be very many among the Jews, to whom the Messiah, arising with his new light, would be an offence; who would resist his salutary doctrine, and... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-2

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-7

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:1-7

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 9:2

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 9:2

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 9:2

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