Yesaya 9:2

9:2 (9:1) The people walking in darkness

see a bright light; ¹ 

light shines

on those who live in a land of deep darkness. ² 

Yesaya 42:7

42:7 to open blind eyes, ³ 

to release prisoners ⁴  from dungeons,

those who live in darkness from prisons.

Yesaya 42:16

42:16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ⁵ 

I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ⁶ 

I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,

and level out the rough ground. ⁷ 

This is what I will do for them.

I will not abandon them.

Yesaya 49:9

49:9 You will say ⁸  to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons, ⁹  ‘Emerge.’ ¹⁰ 

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

[9:2]  ¹ sn The darkness symbolizes judgment and its effects (see 8:22); the light represents deliverance and its effects, brought about by the emergence of a conquering Davidic king (see vv. 3-6).

[9:2]  ² tn Traditionally צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet) has been interpreted as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV, NIV), but usage indicates that the word, though it sometimes refers to death, means “darkness.” The term should probably be repointed as an abstract noun צַלְמוּת (tsalmut). See the note at Ps 23:4.

[42:7]  ³ sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.

[42:7]  ⁴ sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.

[42:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “a way they do not know” (so NASB); NRSV “a road they do not know.”

[42:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”

[42:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”

[49:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.

[49:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”

[49:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).