and having left Nazareth, he went and dwelt at Capernaum, which is on the sea-side in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim,
The move here looks small: a change of address from one Galilean town to another. Yet Matthew treats it as the opening of the Lord's public ministry, and ties it to a prophecy of Isaiah. Why Capernaum, why the old tribal names Zebulun and Naphtali, and why not Jerusalem?
Matthew places this move right after the arrest of John the Baptist. One writer reads that arrest as the signal for the Lord to step into public view.
There is "a time to keep silence and a time to speak" — a rule never kept so perfectly as by the Lord of all. The imprisonment of John the Forerunner and Baptist marked the time for Jesus to come forward into public service. "Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum." The Lord had already ministered in blessing to people in Judea and Samaria, as the early chapters of the Gospel of John show.
He passed over two places: the capital, and the town where He grew up. He settled at Capernaum, and one writer ties that choice to prophecy.
Jesus, from Judea where He had worked, goes away to Galilee among the poor and despised of the people. He stays at Capernaum, a place even called His city. It is there, according to prophecy, that the light must shine. (Matthew always gives us the One who is the subject of prophecy.) He does not begin His work at Jerusalem among the proud leaders of the Jews, nor where He was at home... I do not say that prophecy directed His steps; but His acts accomplished prophecy.
"Galilee of the Gentiles" was not a compliment in that day. The religious classes in the south looked down on the people there.
The province got this name because the most ignorant class of Jews lived there. They had become mixed up with the Gentiles, who were very many in that borderland. The upper classes of Judea despised Galilee — those learned in the law, the refined and religious leaders, yes, all the sects in Jerusalem. People saw anyone from Galilee as an ignorant countryman... But here, where the people had sunk the lowest, the Lord appears first.
Matthew could have written "Galilee." Instead he names the town and the two old tribal territories. Their names tell both the ruin and the remedy.
Capernaum was, true to its name, the "village of consolation" — the place where He lived and the scene of many of His mighty works. Zebulun, the dweller in relationship as he should have been, had long ago fulfilled Jacob's prophecy. "Dwelling at the haven of the sea," he had become the picture of Israel as a whole, giving up its dwelling alone to mix in unfaithful trade with the nations. Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in darkness which was truly the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now to Zebulun there had come a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man; and to Naphtali more than a struggler — a glorious Conqueror, the woman's Seed.
One writer traces the same pattern on into the last days.
There the fulfilment applies to the presence and ministry of the Lord in that despised region... among the darkest and most despised in the land a great light would spring up. It was in Galilee, not Jerusalem, that the grace of Jesus shone. And so in the last days: the Galilean character belongs to the future remnant.
Making Capernaum His home gave that town more of Christ than any other place received. Later the Lord weighed the town by what He had given it.
The Lord Himself spoke of this outward privilege and its abuse in solemn and weighty words: "And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day" (Matt. 11:23). Capernaum did not repent at the preaching of Jesus... this, the Lord's own city in Galilee, lies so completely in ruins that no one can identify its site for certain.
- Timing. John's arrest was the cue. The forerunner fell silent, and the Lord stepped out of private service into public preaching.
- Choice. He passed by Jerusalem and His hometown and settled among the poor and despised. Prophecy did not steer His steps; His acts fulfilled prophecy.
- Place. Zebulun had drifted into the nations, and Naphtali had stopped struggling. That darkness was the very place for light to spring up.
- Pattern. Grace shone in Galilee, not in the capital. One writer sees that same character on God's faithful people in the last days.
- Warning. The town given most of Christ became the town most answerable for Him. Capernaum did not repent, and today no one can even find its site for certain.
that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying,
Matthew pauses here to say that Jesus' move from Nazareth to Capernaum filled out words Isaiah had written centuries earlier. Two questions follow — why say this at all, and why did the light rise in the most despised corner of the land?
Did Jesus move to Capernaum just to tick off a prediction? One writer says no, and yet nothing about the move was accidental.
Jesus, from Judea where He had worked, goes away to Galilee among the poor and despised of the people. He stays at Capernaum, a place even called His city. It is there, according to prophecy, that the light must shine — and Matthew always gives us the One who is the subject of prophecy. He does not begin His work at Jerusalem among the proud leaders of the Jews, nor where He was at home. The poor of the flock, the testimony of God, and the Spirit of the Lord, perfect in spiritual wisdom, unite to direct His steps to the place God willed. I do not say that prophecy directed His steps; but His acts accomplished prophecy.
Why does Matthew point out the fulfilment? It fits the way his whole Gospel presents Jesus.
In Matthew the Holy Spirit brings before us Jehovah-Jesus, the Messiah. He works miracles, accomplishes prophecy, and explains the kingdom of heaven. Yet He is in need, despised, and the companion of such people in Galilee. He Himself takes a place of separation, to make good the great word which God inspired the prophet Isaiah to reveal hundreds of years before.
Galilee had a bad name in the rest of the country.
The province got this name because the most ignorant class of Jews lived there. They had become mixed with the Gentiles, who were very many in that borderland. The upper classes of Judea despised Galilee — those learned in the law, the refined and religious leaders, yes, all the different groups in Jerusalem. People looked on anyone from Galilee as an ignorant countryman. What good thing can come from Nazareth? But here, where the people had sunk lowest, the Lord appears first.
The same pattern — Galilee, not Jerusalem — reaches into the last days.
Let the hand of oppression press on them harder than ever before. Still there would be this difference: among the darkest and most despised in the land a great light should spring up. And how our Lord's first appearing among them proved it! It was in Galilee, not Jerusalem, that the grace of Jesus shone. And so in the last days: the Galilean character belongs to the future remnant.
Isaiah's words name Zebulun and Naphtali. One writer draws out what those two names mean.
Zebulun, the dweller in relationship, as he should have been, had long fulfilled Jacob's prophecy: "dwelling at the haven of the sea," he had become the picture of Israel as a whole, giving up its separate dwelling to mix in unfaithful trade with the nations. Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in a darkness that was truly the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now there had come to Zebulun a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man; and to Naphtali more than a struggler, a glorious Conqueror.
Matthew stops his citation before Isaiah finishes. Read on in Isaiah 9, and the light turns out to be a person.
What was this great light that the people saw? Isaiah 9, the chapter these words come from, tells us. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end... The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."
Matthew's quotation stops where it does on purpose, and commentators note the care of it.
The quotation takes just so much of the prophecy as bears on the first advent of Christ, the great light that shone on her who was distressed... Only the very next words in Isaiah 9 open up the coming glory of Messiah here below, still unfulfilled: "You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil." Those words are far from gospel blessing and from heavenly glory. They fit exactly the world kingdom of our Lord at the end of the age.
- Written — Isaiah marked out this ground centuries early, and Matthew's Gospel shows the One who is the subject of prophecy.
- Walked — prophecy did not steer His feet; His acts accomplished prophecy.
- Where — not Jerusalem with its leaders, but Galilee, where the people had sunk lowest.
- Who — the light is the Child born and Son given of Isaiah 9, named Mighty God and Prince of Peace.
- Waiting — Matthew quotes only the first-advent half; the joy and the endless government still lie ahead.
Land of Zabulon and land of Nepthalim, way of [the] sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations
Matthew has just told us that Jesus left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum. He quotes Isaiah to explain why. The names in the quotation marked the most damaged corner of the land. So why did Jesus start His work there?
One writer traces what had become of the two tribes named here.
Galilee was "the land of Zebulun and Naphtali" on one side, and now "Galilee of the Gentiles" on the other. Both names showed plainly how far God's people had sunk into ruin. Zebulun, whose name means the dweller in relationship, should have lived up to it. Instead he had long since fulfilled Jacob's prophecy. "Dwelling at the haven of the sea," he had become a picture of Israel as a whole, which gave up its "dwelling alone" to mix in unfaithful trade with the nations. Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in the water. And Naphtali, the struggler, sat and struggled no more, in a darkness that was truly the "shadow of death." But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by that, and there in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. Now a Dweller had come to Zebulun, One in whom God Himself could dwell with man; and to Naphtali came more than a struggler — a glorious Conqueror, the woman's Seed.
The name "Galilee of the Gentiles" goes back to a deportation centuries earlier.
About 740 B.C. Tiglath-pileser carried away captive all the people of Naphtali, and others besides (2 Kings 15:29). No doubt foreigners then settled in the district. When Israel's captivity was complete, they were able to spread southward. So we get the term "Galilee of the Gentiles," or nations. It does not appear before Isaiah 9:1, and Matthew 4:15 quotes that prophecy.
Commentators differ over how many districts the verse names. They also differ over whether "beyond Jordan" means east or west.
The prophecy seems to say that Zebulun and Naphtali were beyond the Jordan. But some think it names three districts: Zebulun and Naphtali; the way of the sea beyond the Jordan; and Galilee of the Gentiles. Others think it means only the district west of the Jordan... When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the great light shone on both sides of the Jordan, though the west was more the scene of His ministry.
Matthew says the move fulfilled Isaiah's words. That does not mean Jesus was following a script.
Prophecy said the light must shine there — and Matthew always shows us the One whom prophecy is about. He does not begin His work at Jerusalem among the proud leaders of the Jews. He does not begin it where He was at home either. The poor of the flock, the testimony of God, and the Spirit of the Lord, perfect in spiritual wisdom, all work together to direct His steps to the place God willed. I do not say that prophecy directed His steps; but His acts accomplished prophecy.
The promise came to the place under the heaviest pressure.
Suppose the hand of oppression pressed on them harder than ever before. There would still be this difference: among the darkest and most despised in the land a great light would spring up. And how truly that came about when our Lord first appeared among them! It was in Galilee, not Jerusalem, that the grace of Jesus shone.
The people of Galilee had a poor name among the leaders in Jerusalem.
The province had this name because the least educated class of Jews lived there. They had mixed with the Gentiles, who were very many in that border country. The upper classes of Judea despised Galilee. So did the learned in the law, the refined and religious leaders — yes, all the different sects in Jerusalem... But here, where the people had sunk the lowest, the Lord appears first.
He was even known by the name of that region.
He was "Jesus of Galilee." The poor despised Galileans had the light when the Jews had not.
Galilee sat on the edge of the Gentile world.
This great light broke out in regions that bordered the great Gentile world. In its full and final power it would give light to every land.
- Ruin. The names in the verse record a collapse. Foreigners overran the district after the captivity, and the title "Galilee of the Gentiles" showed how far God's people had sunk.
- Choice. Jesus began not in Jerusalem or in His hometown, but in the place willed by God; Prophecy did not direct His steps, but His acts fulfilled prophecy.
- Light. God promised the great light in the darkest and most despised part of the land.
- Reversal. The teachers in Jerusalem looked down on Galilee, yet the poor despised Galileans had the light and the Jews did not.
- Reach. The light shone on a border facing the nations, and in its full power it would give light to every land.
-- the people sitting in darkness has seen a great light, and to those sitting in [the] country and shadow of death, to them has light sprung up.
The verse quotes Isaiah's promise and applies it to the moment Jesus moved north and began to preach. Two questions sit at its centre. Why did the light break out in that corner of the land? And what does it mean that the people were settled in the darkness instead of passing through it?
Matthew ties the move to Capernaum to Isaiah's words. One writer is careful about which way that link runs. Jesus was not following a script; He was the subject of it.
According to prophecy, the light must shine there. Matthew always gives us the One who is the subject of prophecy. He does not begin His work at Jerusalem among the proud leaders of the Jews, nor where He was at home. The poor of the flock, the testimony of God, and the Spirit of the Lord — perfect in spiritual wisdom — all work together. They direct His steps to the place God willed. I do not say that prophecy directed His steps; but His acts accomplished prophecy.
Zebulun and Naphtali were the ruined northern lands. They had mixed with the nations, and the people there were despised. One writer takes their old tribal names as a picture of how far Israel had fallen — and of why the light came there.
Zebulun, the dweller in relationship, as he should have been, had long fulfilled Jacob's prophecy. "Dwelling at the haven of the sea," he had become the picture of Israel as a whole. Israel had given up its dwelling alone to mix in unfaithful trade with the nations. Now it was only "the way of the sea," as if swallowed up in its waters. Naphtali, the struggler, sat struggling no more, in a darkness that was indeed the shadow of death. But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by this. There in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up.
Older translations say the people sat in darkness, where the ESV says they were dwelling there. One writer takes that word as a picture of settled hopelessness. He sets it against the way a believer moves through the same world.
This world is "the valley of the shadow of death," and the believer, in the Old Testament as well as the New, is only ever pictured as walking or passing through it. The children of this world, though, are sitting in this region and shadow of death. They sit in all the false security that has marked them from the days of Noah and Lot until now. They will go on doing so until "sudden destruction" falls on them.
Others read the word more simply. One writer notes that the Hebrew word and its Greek equivalent can also mean abiding or staying — William Kelly. Commentators differ on how much weight the word carries.
Matthew does not describe a teaching or a movement. He describes a light that dawned. To find out what that light is, one writer sends us back to the chapter Matthew quotes.
What was this great light that the people saw? The chapter these words are quoted from tells us. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father (Father of eternity), Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end … The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this" (Isa. 9).
Galilee bordered the Gentile nations. One writer sees in that location a sign of how far this light would finally reach.
This great light broke out in regions bordering on the great Gentile world. That light was destined, in its full and final power, to give light to every land.
The people described here made no claim to see. That, one writer argues, is why they received the light while the religious teachers did not.
He came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. "You say you see," He told the Pharisees, "therefore your sin remains." He was Jesus of Galilee. The poor, despised Galileans had the light when the Jews had not.
- Darkness — the people were not travelling through the gloom. They sat down in it, sure they were safe, while the believer only passes through the same valley.
- Dawn — the light did not creep in; it sprang up. Prophecy did not direct Jesus's steps; His acts fulfilled prophecy.
- Place — He did not begin at Jerusalem or at home. He chose the ruined, despised north, because darkness is where light belongs.
- Person — the great light has a name: the Child born, the Son given, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.
- Reach — shining first on a borderland was the promise of a light meant, in its full power, for every land.