Matthew 4:16

“The people which sat in darkness, etc.] The inhabitants of Galilee, who sat or “walked”, as in Isaiah; that is, continued in spiritual darkness, in ignorance, blindness, error, and infidelity, “saw great light”; Christ himself, who came a light into the world; he conversed with them, preached unto them, and opened the eyes of their understandings to behold his glory, and to know him, and salvation by him. And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death: the same persons who sit in darkness, sit also in the region of death; for such are dead in trespasses and sins: where there is no spiritual light, there is no spiritual life, and such are in danger of the second death; but the…”

“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…”

“That it might be fulfilled ... - This place is recorded in Isaiah 9:1-2. Matthew has given the sense, but not the very words of the prophet. For the meaning of the passage as employed by Isaiah, see the notes at Isaiah 9:1-2. By the way of the sea - Which is near to the sea, or in the vicinity of the sea. Beyond Jordan - This does not mean to the east of Jordan, as the phrase sometimes denotes, but rather in the vicinity of the Jordan, or perhaps in the vicinity of the sources of the Jordan. See Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 4:49. Galilee of the Gentiles - Galilee was divided into upper and lower Galilee. Upper Galilee was called Galilee of the Gentiles, because it was occupied chiefly by…”

“Here is a beautiful gradation, first, they walked, then they sat in darkness, and lastly, in the region of the shadow of death. Matthew 4:17”

“which sat in darkness: Psa 107:10-14; Isa 42:6, Isa 42:7, Isa 60:1-3; Mic 7:8; Luk 1:78, Luk 1:79, Luk 2:32 shadow: Job 3:5, Job 10:22, Job 34:22; Psa 44:19; Jer 13:16; Amo 5:8 Matthew 4:17”