<p>4:16&nbsp;<i>The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light-</i>Each of the Gospels is somehow personalized to the writer. Matthew, for example, changes the Lord's quotation of Is. 9:9 from &quot;the people which&nbsp;<i>walked</i>&nbsp;in darkness...&quot; to &quot;the people which<i> sat</i>&nbsp;in darkness saw great light&quot; (Mt. 4:16), because he was&nbsp;<i>sitting</i>&nbsp;at the receipt of custom when the Lord called him (Mt. 9:9).&nbsp;</p>
<p><i>And for those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death- </i>As if death is personified, having its own region and shadow. The darkness of the context in Is. 9:2 is that of Is. 8:22- the darkness of condemnation, for the rejected for whom there was 'no dawn' (Is. 8:20 Heb.). We can be condemned in this life and yet still change that verdict- by coming to the light of Christ. Isaiah 8 concluded by speaking of the wicked being sent into the darkness of condemnation (a common figure in Isaiah, e.g. Is. 5:30; 9:19). Those who dwell in the dark shadow of death are therefore those who have been condemned- but for them, the light of Christ arose from despised Galilee and the area around the Sea of Galilee (Is. 9:1- &quot;the sea&quot; surely refers in the context to the Sea of Galilee, not the Mediterranean).&nbsp;</p>
<p><i>On them a light has dawned-</i> The light is clearly the Lord Jesus. He uses the same word soon afterwards in speaking of how God makes His light to &lsquo;spring up&rsquo; upon both the just and the unjust, the evil and the good (Mt. 5:45). These categories are therefore within the group of those to whom the light of the Gospel has been revealed. Likewise the rising of the sun in the parable of the sower (Mt. 13:6 s.w.) would refer to the beginning of Christ&rsquo;s public ministry; the various types of ground initially responded to John&rsquo;s message, but when Christ&rsquo;s ministry was revealed openly, i.e. the sun sprung up, then persecution began, and they fell away.</p>