Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 4:15

"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, Toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles," — Matthew 4:15 (ASV)

Jesus’ move fulfilled Isa 9:1–2, a prophecy that is part of a large structure looking to Immanuel’s coming . The point of the quotation is clear enough. In despised Galilee, the place where people live in darkness without the religious and cultic advantages of Jerusalem and Judea, where the darkness is most dense, here the light has dawned. This was God’s prophesied plan; from of old the Messiah was promised to “Galilee of the Gentiles,” a foreshadowing of the commission to “all nations” (28:19). Moreover, if the messianic light dawns on the darkest places, then Messiah’s salvation can only be a bestowal of grace; Jesus came to call, not the righteous, but sinners (9:13).