THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 4 - Verse 14

Verses 14-16. That it might be fulfilled, etc. This place is recorded in Isa 9:1,2. Matthew has given the sense, but not the very words of the prophet.

By the way of the sea. Which is near to the sea, or in the vicinity of the sea.

Beyond Jordan. This does not mean to the east of Jordan, as the phrase sometimes denotes, but rather in the vicinity of the Jordan, or perhaps in the vicinity of the sources of the Jordan. See De 1:1; 4:49.

Galilee of the Gentiles. Galilee was divided into upper and lower Galilee. Upper Galilee was called Galilee of the Gentiles, because it was occupied chiefly by Gentiles. It was in the neighbourhood of Tyre, Sidon, etc. The word Gentiles includes, in the Scriptures, all who are not Jews. It means the same as nations, or, as we should say, the heathen nations.

{i} "Esaias the prophet, saying" Is 9:1,2