“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,
Parallel Translations
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“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,
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The londe of zabulon and Neptalim the waye of the see beyonde Iordan Galile of the Gentyls
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The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim by the way of the sea, beyond Iordan, Galile of the Gentiles:
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Matthew 4:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 9:1 But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Of Tiberias, or because that country bended toward Tyre,…
Of Tiberias, or because that country bended toward Tyre, which standeth upon the sea that cutteth the midst of the world.
So called, because it bordered upon Tyre and Sidon, and because Solomon gave the king of Tyre twenty cities in that quarter, 1 Kings 9:11.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of…
15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
Ver. 15. The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, &c.] In Zabulon were Nazareth, Bethsaida, Tiberias, Cana (where our Saviour turned water into wine), and Nain, where he raised the widow’s son; so that she was twice a mother, yet had but one child, 2Sa 20:18. In Nephthalim were the city of Abel (where they asked counsel of old, and so they ended the matter); Harosheth the city of Sisera, Riblah, Caesarea Philippi, and Capernaum. This borough was the seat of the evangelical kingdom; and it was fitly chosen for such a purpose, as that which by reason of the wonderful wholesomeness of the air, fertility of the soil, nearness to the river Jordan and lake of Gennesareth, neighbourhood of many great towns and famous cities, promised a plentiful increase and income of the evangelical harvest. Here the grain was white unto the harvest (as at Samaria) and solicited labourers. It is a minister’s wisdom to seat himself, as near as may be, where most need is, and greatest likelihood of doing good, as St Paul did often. ("Come ever into Macedonia and help us," Act 16:9; "Thou hast well done that thou art come," Act 10:33) No Church was founded at Athens, no good to be done there among those wits of Greece. The apostle tarried at Ephesus while a door was opened, and then departed to other places. If thou perceive thyself unfit to do more good in any place, though it be not any fault of thine, saith a grave author, away to another. If the commodity of the place prevail more with thee there to abide, than the promoting of Christ’s kingdom, to use thy talent elsewhere, it is to be feared thou wilt either lose thy gifts, or fall into errors and heresies, or, at least, become a frigid and dry doctor among such a people as have once conceived an incurable prejudice against thee. (Rolloc. Com. in Joh 4:44)
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Galilee of the Gentiles] So called, either because it bordered upon the Gentiles, or because it was given away by David to Hiram, king of Tyre, or because it was inhabited by the Assyrians, who carried the people captive, and dwelt in their place.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Galilee of the Gentiles - That part of Galilee…
Galilee of the Gentiles - That part of Galilee which lay beyond Jordan was so called, because it was in a great measure inhabited by Gentiles, that is, heathens. Isaiah ix, 1, 2.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Galilee of the Gentiles] Or of the…
Verse 15. Galilee of the Gentiles] Or of the nations. So called, because it was inhabited by Egyptians, Arabians, and Phoenicians, according to the testimony of Strabo and others. The Hebrew גוים goyim, and the Greek εθνων, signify nations; and, in the Old and New Testaments, mean those people who were not descendants of any of the twelve tribes. The word Gentiles, from gens, a nation, signifies the same. It is worthy of remark, that it was a regular tradition among the ancient Jews, that the Messiah should begin his ministry in Galilee. See the proofs in Schoetgen.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain St. Matthew has omitted in this place part of…
St. Matthew has omitted in this place part of the prophecy, (Isaias ix.) because it was not to his purpose. He has likewise given us the mystical, though still true, interpretation of the prophecy, which was written in the first instance to foretell the deliverance of Jerusalem from Senacherib, in the time of Ezechias. (1 Kings, xix.) (Jansenius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim,…
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea--the coast skirting the Sea of Galilee westward--beyond Jordan--a phrase commonly meaning eastward of Jordan; but here and in several places it means westward of the Jordan. The word seems to have got the general meaning of "the other side"; the nature of the case determining which side that was.
Galilee of the Gentiles--so called from its position, which made it the frontier between the Holy Land and the external world. While Ephraim and Judah, as STANLEY says, were separated from the world by the Jordan valley on one side and the hostile Philistines on another, the northern tribes were in the direct highway of all the invaders from the north, in unbroken communication with the promiscuous races who have always occupied the heights of Lebanon, and in close and peaceful alliance with the most commercial nation of the ancient world, the PhÅ“nicians. Twenty of the cities of Galilee were actually annexed by Solomon to the adjacent kingdom of Tyre, and formed, with their territory, the "boundary" or "offscouring" (Gebul or Cabul) of the two dominions--at a later time still known by the general name of "the boundaries (coasts or borders) of Tyre and Sidon." In the first great transportation of the Jewish population, Naphtali and Galilee suffered the same fate as the trans-jordanic tribes before Ephraim or Judah had been molested (Kg2 15:29). In the time of the Christian era this original disadvantage of their position was still felt; the speech of the Galileans "bewrayed them" by its uncouth pronunciation (Mat 26:73); and their distance from the seats of government and civilization at Jerusalem and Cæsarea gave them their character for turbulence or independence, according as it was viewed by their friends or their enemies.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. The land of Zebulun and the land of…
15. The land of Zebulun and the land of Nephthalim — The territories of these two tribes were the first to feel the overthrow and captivity of Assyria, at first lightly, and then more grievously. And according to this prophecy, that ancient dimness and darkness should be reversed by a light that should burst upon the people, produced by the coming of the Prince of Peace. The ancient Jews accordingly expected that the coming of the Messiah would be in these regions. One of their books, called the Sohar, has this declaration: “The Messiah shall be revealed in the land of Galilee.”
Grammatically, we may remark that the repeated word land in this verse is in apposition with the people in Mat_4:16. The two lands and the people it is which sat in darkness, and saw the great light.
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By the way of the sea — The word way here signifies route or tract of country; and the phrase, by the way of the sea, signifies on the borders of the sea. It describes the situation of the land of these two tribes, as being contiguous to the Sea of Tiberias.
Galilee of the Gentiles — This phrase is commonly understood as a geographical name of a particular part, namely, of northern Galilee. But it is very plain that northern Galilee, which lay far beyond the lake, could not here be meant. Hengstenberg says that it is not a geographical name specifying a particular part, but simply a phrase of description. Galilee is called of the Gentiles because, from various circumstances, a Gentile population had largely intermingled with the Jewish. This had corrupted their religion, debased their character, and produced much of the darkness which had deepened into the shadow of death.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. Galilee of the Gentiles] See above, Mat_4:12.
15. Galilee of the Gentiles] See above, Mat_4:12.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15-16) The citation is remarkable as the only reference…
(15-16) The citation is remarkable as the only reference in the New Testament to what seems to us the most wonderful and majestic of all Messianic prophecies; and still more remarkable as dwelling, not on the words so familiar to us, “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given . . . ,” but on the merely local imagery which is a prelude to that great utterance, and on that, in a version which is neither a true rendering of the Hebrew, nor a correct citation from the received Greek version. We have to recognise the fact that the Evangelist did not study prophecy as we study it. Books were scarce, and the publican of Capernaum, though his occupation implied some clerkly knowledge, probably had few, and heard rather than read the Scriptures which he quotes. What strikes a man who learns in this way is the coincidence of single words and phrases with familiar facts. He speaks not of what has been written, but of what has been spoken. He is not careful about the context. When St. Matthew looked back on the change that had come over Capernaum in the arrival of the prophet of Nazareth—a change extending to his own life—these words seemed the only adequate description of it. Here was the very scene of which Isaiah had spoken, the old border country of Zebulon and of Naphthali. To him and to others who had been in the darkness of spiritual ignorance, neglected and uncared for, as sheep gone astray in the dark valley of death, there had sprung up a marvellous Light. Unconsciously he adds his testimony to that of St. John, that the presence of Jesus was felt to be that of the “true Light” that “lighteth every man” (Joh_1:9).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The land of Zabulon, etc. From Isa_9:1, Isa_9:2, spoiled…
The land of Zabulon, etc. From Isa_9:1, Isa_9:2, spoiled in the Authorized Version, but rendered correctly in the Revised Version. Isaiah says that those parts of the land which had borne the first brunt of the Assyrian invasions under Tiglath-Pileser, (2Ki_15:29; el. Zec_10:10) shall be proportionately glorified by the advent of Messiah. Wetstein gives a tradition from the "Pesikt. Zut.," of Messiah ben Joseph first appearing in Galilee; hut the whole passage (quoted in Dalman"s "Der Leidende und der Sterbende Messias," pp. 10-13) clearly points to a knowledge of the New Testament. As to the form of the quotation, observe:
(1) Matthew disregards the Hebrew construction, and gives merely the general sense.
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(2) He takes it from the Hebrew, not the LXX
(3) This last point is doubtless to be connected with the fact that the quotation does not occur in the other Gospels, i.e. that it did not belong to the Petrine cycle of teaching, and if it did belong to the "Matthean" cycle, not to that form which was current among Gentile Christians (cf. A. Wright, "Composition of the Four Gospels." p. 104). Zabulon and... Nephthalim, equivalent to the later Upper and Lower Galilee. By the way of the sea; toward the sea (Revised Version); cf. Jer_2:18; i.e. the district on the W. of the Sea of Galilee, as opposed to "the other side of Jordan," and "the circle of the nations," i.e. the frontier districts nearest to Phoenicia, including "the land of Cabul", (1Ki_9:11-13) which formed part of the later Upper Galilee. Via Marls, M. Renan observes, was the name of the high road from Acre to Damascus, as late as the Crusades. "Way," however, here means "region (cf. Isa_58:12Jo Isa_24:4) (Cheyne, on Isa_9:1) Yet hardly so; odon , is adverbial, 1Ki_8:48, (equivalent to 2Ch_6:38) and designates the stretching of the districts of Zebulun and Naphtali towards the sea. The sea is the Sea of Galilee. The close union of this clause in the Authorized Version with the following words, "beyond Jordan," misses its true meaning as explanatory of the position of Zebulun and Naphtali, and rather takes it as describing some special locality east of Jordan. Beyond Jordan; i.e. the eastern side, mentioned in 2Ki_15:29 as having suffered with Naphtali under the Assyrian invasion; see further ver. 25. Galilee of the Gentiles (vide supra, "by the way of the sea").
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 15. By the way of the sea. The Sea…
15. By the way of the sea. The Sea of Galilee is meant.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.