OET interlinear MAT 4:16

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκοτίᾳ φῶς εἶδεν μέγα, καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου, φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς

the people ¬which sitting in darkness /a/_light saw great and ˱to˲_the_‹ones› sitting in /a/_land and shadow ˱of˲_death /a/_light rose ˱on˲_them

These two clauses mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and it would be good to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation rather than combining them. However, if it would be helpful to your readers, you could connect the phrases with a word other than and in order to show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: “the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; yes, to the ones sitting in the region and shadow of death, upon them has a light arisen”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exmetaphor

ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκοτίᾳ φῶς εἶδεν μέγα, καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου, φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς

the people ¬which sitting in darkness /a/_light saw great and ˱to˲_the_‹ones› sitting in /a/_land and shadow ˱of˲_death /a/_light rose ˱on˲_them

Here Isaiah refers to sin, trouble, and hopelessness as if they were darkness and the shadow of death. He refers to God’s deliverance and salvation as if it were a great light. If possible, preserve these metaphors or express them in simile form. Alternate translation: “the people sitting in spiritual darkness have seen the great light of God’s salvation, and to the ones sitting in the region and shadow where there is spiritual death, upon them the light of God’s deliverance has arisen”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ὁ καθήμενος & τοῖς καθημένοις

the ¬which sitting & ˱to˲_the_‹ones› sitting

Here, Isaiah refers to living as if it were sitting. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable word or state the meaning plainly. Alternative translation: “dwelling … to the ones dwelling”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἐν σκοτίᾳ

in darkness

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of darkness, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “where it is dark”

Note 5 topic: translate-tense

εἶδεν & φῶς ἀνέτειλεν

saw & /a/_light rose

Isaiah uses the past tense here in order to refer to something that will certainly happen in the future. If it would not be natural to do that in your language, you could use the future tense. Alternate translation: “will see … will a light arise”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου

/a/_land and shadow ˱of˲_death

Here, Isaiah is using the possessive form to describe a region and a shadow, or darkness, that is characterized by death. If this is not clear in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: “the deadly region and the deathly shadow” or “the region and shadow characterized by death”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

θανάτου

˱of˲_death

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of death, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “that are deadly”