Psalms 107:10

“Such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, etc.] This is the second instance of persons in distress calling on the name of the Lord; and who, being delivered, are under obligation to praise him, such as are captives and prisoners. The Targum applies it to the Israelites in the Babylonish captivity; but it is much better to interpret it of prisoners in common; whose prisons are generally dark cells or dungeons, and where they are alone, and deprived of the company of the living; and so are not only in darkness, but seem as if they were in the state of the dead; their condition is the shadow of it, and bears some resemblance to it. And it may be applied, in a spiritual sense, to the…”

“Such as sit in darkness - The reference in these verses Psalms 107:10-14 is evidently to the children of Israel, when in Babylon; and the design is, to show the goodness of God to them in their trouble, and the occasion which they had for praising him on that account. To “sit in darkness” is significant of great ignorance (compare the notes at Luke 1:79; notes at Isaiah 9:2); or of affliction and trouble, as darkness is an emblem of calamity. And in the shadow of death - A dark, gloomy, chilly shade such as “Death” would cast if he stood between us and the light. See the notes at Job 3:5; compare Job 10:21; Psalms 23:4; Psalms 44:19; Isaiah 9:2. The reference is to the sad and gloomy…”

“Darkness - In dark prisons or dungeons. Psalms 107:12”

“107:10-16 The psalmist calls for thanksgiving and praise from people in despair over the consequences of their rebellion.”

“Such: Here begins the second comparison; in which the state of the captives in Babylon is illustrated by that of prisoners in a dreary dungeon. as sit: Job 3:5; Isa 9:2; Mat 4:16, Mat 22:13; Luk 1:79 bound: Psa 105:18; Exo 2:23, Exo 2:24; Ch2 33:11; Job 36:8, Job 36:9; Lam 3:6, Lam 3:7; Rom 6:20, Rom 6:21 Psalms 107:11”

“Others suffered imprisonment and bonds; but through Him who had decreed this as punishment for them, they also again reached the light of freedom. Just as in the first strophe, here, too, as far as יודוּ in Psa 107:15, is all a compound subject; and in view of this the poet begins with participles. "Darkness and the shadow of death" (vid., Psa 23:4) is an Isaianic expression, Isa 9:1 (where ישׁבי is construed with ב), Psa 42:7 (where ישׁבי is construed as here, cf. Gen 4:20; Zac 2:11), just as "bound in torture and iron" takes its rise from Job 36:8. The old expositors call it a hendiadys for "torturing iron" (after Psa 105:18); but it is more correct to take the one as the general term and…”