Isaiah 60:19-20

60:19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,

nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you;

the Lord will be your permanent source of light –

the splendor of your God will shine upon you. ¹ 

60:20 Your sun will no longer set;

your moon will not disappear; ² 

the Lord will be your permanent source of light;

your time ³  of sorrow will be over.

Isaiah 9:2

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

see a bright light; ⁴ 

light shines

on those who live in a land of deep darkness. ⁵ 

Matthew 4:16

4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” ⁶ 

Luke 1:78-79

1:78 Because of ⁷  our God’s tender mercy ⁸ 

the dawn ⁹  will break ¹⁰  upon us from on high

1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, ¹¹ 

to guide our feet into the way ¹²  of peace.”

John 1:9

1:9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, ¹³  was coming into the world. ¹⁴ 

John 3:19

3:19 Now this is the basis for judging: ¹⁵  that the light has come into the world and people ¹⁶  loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

John 8:12

Jesus as the Light of the World

8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, ¹⁷  “I am the light of the world. ¹⁸  The one who follows me will never ¹⁹  walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 12:46

12:46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.

Ephesians 5:8

5:8 for you were at one time darkness, but now you are ²⁰  light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light –

Revelation 21:23

21:23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 22:5

22:5 Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.

[60:19]  ¹ tn Heb “and your God for your splendor.”

[60:20]  ² sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.

[60:20]  ³ tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[9:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[4:16]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

[1:78]  ⁷ tn For reasons of style, a new sentence has been started in the translation at this point. God’s mercy is ultimately seen in the deliverance John points to, so v. 78a is placed with the reference to Jesus as the light of dawning day.

[1:78]  ⁸ sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

[1:78]  ⁹ sn The Greek term translated dawn (ἀνατολή, anatolh) can be a reference to the morning star or to the sun. The Messiah is pictured as a saving light that shows the way. The Greek term was also used to translate the Hebrew word for “branch” or “sprout,” so some see a double entendre here with messianic overtones (see Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).

[1:78]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “shall visit us.”

[1:79]  ¹¹ sn On the phrases who sit in darkness…and…death see Isa 9:1-2; 42:7; 49:9-10.

[1:79]  ¹² tn Or “the path.”

[1:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “every man” (but in a generic sense, “every person,” or “every human being”).

[1:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “He was the true light, who gives light to everyone who comes into the world.” The participle ἐρχόμενον (ercomenon) may be either (1) neuter nominative, agreeing with τὸ φῶς (to fw"), or (2) masculine accusative, agreeing with ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon). Option (1) results in a periphrastic imperfect with ἦν (hn), ἦν τὸ φῶς… ἐρχόμενον, referring to the incarnation. Option (2) would have the participle modifying ἄνθρωπον and referring to the true light as enlightening “every man who comes into the world.” Option (2) has some rabbinic parallels: The phrase “all who come into the world” is a fairly common expression for “every man” (cf. Leviticus Rabbah 31.6). But (1) must be preferred here, because: (a) In the next verse the light is in the world; it is logical for v. 9 to speak of its entering the world; (b) in other passages Jesus is described as “coming into the world” (6:14, 9:39, 11:27, 16:28) and in 12:46 Jesus says: ἐγὼ φῶς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐλήλυθα (egw fw" ei" ton kosmon elhluqa); (c) use of a periphrastic participle with the imperfect tense is typical Johannine style: 1:28, 2:6, 3:23, 10:40, 11:1, 13:23, 18:18 and 25. In every one of these except 13:23 the finite verb is first and separated by one or more intervening words from the participle.

[3:19]  ¹⁵ tn Or “this is the reason for God judging,” or “this is how judgment works.”

[3:19]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and men,” but in a generic sense, referring to people of both genders (as “everyone” in v. 20 makes clear).

[8:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”

[8:12]  ¹⁸ sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.

[8:12]  ¹⁹ tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.

[5:8]  ²⁰ tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.