This post follows my last post in this series. This will probably be my longest post in the series, but it is the post that will open the most eyes, I think. You should start to make some connections on your own, but I will put those connections together in the following posts on this topic. This post discusses the last few meanings of "light" in the Old Testament.
(7) Light signifies life/existence, and darkness signifies death/nonbeing (Job 3:4, 16, 20, 23; 18:6; 33:28; 33:30; Ps. 36:9):
In this first example, in Job 3:1-10, Job gives a speech in which he wishes he was never born. He hopes the day he was born perishes (3:1). In poetic fashion, paralleling 3:1, he repeats this message by using the images of darkness and light, asking that God “not let light shine on it” and “let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it” (3:4-5). Meaning, he wishes it never existed; this particular use of the metaphors of light and darkness conveys the idea of being and nonbeing more so than life and death, but these ideas are similar. To die is to cease to exist; to live is to exist (or being born is coming into existence).
Job 3:16, 20, and 23 use the metaphor of light to convey a similar concept. In 3:16, Job wishes that he had been a “stillborn” at childbirth (“infants who have never seen the light”) (3:16). The stillborn infant’s life ceases; it fails to see the “light.” Those infants that live eventually open their eyes and see the light. Granted, "light" here also signifies a literal light in a sense, as a baby that survives childbirth opens his or her eyes to the light of the sun, but it has a much deeper meaning than that. To see the "light" is to be alive and well, and in the context of this verse, it seems clear that Job has this in mind, as he wishes for the opposite of living through childbirth, death. Continuing on, in 3:20, using synonymous parallelism, Job rhetorically asks, “Why does God give light to the one who is in misery and life to those whose soul is bitter . . . ?” In the two lines of this one verse, Job repeats the same question using different words and images in each line; light and life are paralleled.[1] Then, just a couple of verses later, and within the same speech, Job asks, “Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?” (3:23) Job repeats the same question from the previous few verses (and the verse above), but using different imagery—why doesn’t God simply end his life? It is clear that “light” equals life. Furthermore, this makes sense out of Job in general because, throughout the book, Job is constantly asking why God gives him life.
Job 18:6: “The light in his tent grows dark; his lamp above him is extinguished.”
This is another verse in which light symbolizes life and darkness death. Old Testament scholar Robert Alden says, “Elsewhere ‘dark’ refers to death (3:5; 10:21; 17:13), so at this point Bildad probably meant that the wicked will die.”[2] However, light, especially the image of the lamp, also symbolizes guidance in this book, so how can one know which “light” Bildad is referring to? The answer is found in Job 21:17. Here, Job responds to Bildad’s speech, arguing that the wicked person’s “lamp,” or light, is never put out when it should be. And in the context of 21:17, Job is referencing the lack of God’s punishment on the wicked, which leads to “pain,” “misfortune,” and being “swept away by a whirlwind.” In other words, Job is asking why the wicked never suffer proper punishment for their sins—suffering and death. Instead of dying, they live: “Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, even increase in power?” (21:7). Job is responding to Bildad’s idea that the wicked suffer and die. Therefore, “light” in 18:6 signifies life.
This theme continues in Job 33:28. Elihu says to Job, “He redeemed my life from going down to the place of corruption, and my life sees the light.” Elihu says these words right after saying that God brings terrifying dreams, revelations, and suffering in order to get a person to repent (33:14-27). It is in this context that Elihu uses the image of seeing the “light” in contrast to being in “the place of corruption,” which signifies being buried dead in the ground “in some pit.”[3] According to Elihu, then, God brings a person suffering in order to save him or her from being punished with death, being “in the place of corruption” (33:24), and instead he gives that person life. Therefore, this use of the term “light” signifies life, in contrast to being dead underground. He seems to be saying, “My life is given a second chance, even though I deserved death.” In fact, based on Job 33:30, which is only a couple of verses later, it is clear that light signifies life here, as the use of the term light in 33:30 (“light of life”) occurs in Elihu’s summation of his speech that occurs in 33:28, and the connection of light and life is quite explicit (“light of life”). Furthermore, the reference of “light” in 33:28 may be specifically signifying “the source of life” rather than “life,” based on the usage of light in 33:30 (which, really, is closely related regardless of which signification is being signified, life or source of life).
Job 33:30, which is also a part of Elihu’s same speech to job, is even more explicit in the connection of light and life. Elihu summarizes the previous section of his speech by saying, “Indeed, God does all these things . . . to turn back his life from the place of corruption, that he may be enlightened with the light of life” (33:29-30). In Elihu’s mind, God brings suffering and dreams in order to save a man or woman from death (“place of corruption”) and give him life (“light of life”).[4] Light clearly symbolizes life, at the very least, as the text explicitly says the “light of life.” But as mentioned above, in this instance, “light” seems to signify “a source of life” rather than just “life.” This is the case because Elihu calls the light the “light of life.” So, instead of simply saying, “That he may be enlightened with the light [life],” which is without the modifying words “of life,” Elihu says, “That he may be enlightened with the light of life [the light that gives life].” He could have easily used the word “light” by itself, as he did in 33:28 (and elsewhere), but he included the modifying words “of life” seemingly in order to state and clarify the function of the light—it gives life. And even if Elihu is saying that the light has the quality of life, not that it gives life, the connotation remains the same: the “light” that has life is given to a person (he is “enlightened”), and that person then has life. Thus, the “light of life” gives life or is the source of life.
Proverbs 13:9 says, “The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked goes out.” This verse is similar to Job 18:6; both verses involve the imagery of the lamp of a wicked person going out. And in Job 18:6, as discussed above, the lamp going out signifies death, and thus light signifies life. This same idea fits the context of Proverbs 13:9, where the writer speaks on the rewards of righteous living and the consequences of unrighteousness. So, the writers says that the life of the righteous person will shine, while the life of the wicked person will be ended.
(8) Light signifies righteousness/goodness (contrasted with darkness, which signifies evil/) (Job 24:13; Isa. 5:20): Job 24:13 says, “There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways and they do not stay on its paths.” In the immediate context of this verse (24:1-25), Job is responding to one of his friends on the subject of the God’s ignorance of those who are practicing wrongdoing. In the preceding verse, Job says, “From the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry out for help, but God charges no one with wrongdoing” (24:12). And in the proceeding verse, Job says, “Before daybreak the murderer rises up; he kills the poor and the needy; in the night he is like a thief.” It seems the author of Job is paralleling (synonymous parallelism) these explicit works of evil with one that is not in line with the “ways” of the light. Because “light” is contrasted with evil deeds, it seems that “light” signifies righteousness; evildoers do not follow the way of righteousness. Therefore, in this instance, light signifies righteousness and goodness.[5] And in 24:16-17, Job contrasts light and dark by associating evildoers with the darkness; they love the darkness.
Isaiah 5:20 is another example in which the images of light and dark signify good/righteousness and evil/unrighteousness, respectively. Isaiah says, “Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter” (5:20). The author of Isaiah appears to be using synonymous parallelism to make his point that those that distort the standards of God are going to be judged negatively. Thus, at least in this verse, light signifies goodness/righteousness, and darkness signifies evil/unrighteousness, since he is repeating the first line of 5:20 with different imagery (“good” and “evil” are replaced with “light” and “darkness”). Indeed, Gary Smith seems to agree, noting, “The second woe laments [commenting on 5:20] the consequent deterioration of morality among those who reject God.”[6] While Smith does not directly comment on what light and darkness signify, it is clear that he believes this verse has to do with “morality,” which has to do with our ethical behavior, or righteousness and unrighteousness.
While not the Old Testament, the Dead Sea scrolls are also pertinent texts in regards to the use of the term “light,” especially as it relates to John and 1 John. The scroll’s usage of “light” fits into this category. Craig Keener notes:
Other Jewish texts (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls) also used the light-darkness image to contrast the followers of righteousness with those of sin, regarding God as wholly righteous. The Old Testament also affirmed that God was wholly righteous (e.g., Ps 92:15).[7]
Thus, light signified righteousness and darkness unrighteousness in the Qumran community. This is important since John and Jesus lived and breathed around the same time these documents were written, so it could give hints as to how John uses the term “light,” as Keener argues.
(9a)[8] Light signifies salvation/deliverance, and darkness signifies condemnation/judgment/exile (Isa. 2:5; 5:30; 9:2; 30:26; 42:6; 45:7; 49:6, 9; 50:10; 58:8, 10; 59:9; Jer. 4:23; Jer. 13:16; Amos 5:18, 20; Micah 7:8-9; Zech. 14:6-7): Since this is the category with the most verses, specifically is Isaiah and other prophets, the discussion will not include every single verse.
Isaiah 2:5 is, not surprisingly, a debatable verse in regards to the meaning of the term “light.” Some take “light” to signify God’s guiding law (category 6 above), and others take it to mean God’s future deliverance/salvation of Israel.[9] Thus, to “walk in the LORD’s light” (HCSB) is to live in God’s salvation. Both are possible and make sense of the context. In Isaiah 2:1-5, Isaiah is prophesying about a future time when the nations of the world will come to “Zion” and want to learn and follow the commandments of God. God will also bring about the peace of the nations, ending all warfare and bloodshed between nations. Isaiah ends this short section by exhorting Israel to “walk in the LORDS’s light” (2:5, HCSB). Now, Isaiah could be simply asking Israel follow God’s commandments, and thus light signifies God’s guiding commandments. After all, Isaiah does speak about a future time when the all of the nations will obey God’s commandments (2:3). So, God is commanding Israel to proleptically follow his commandments.
However, it makes more sense of Isaiah and the immediate context of 2:5 if light signifies future salvation, and as this analysis will show, this meaning combines both meanings. Isaiah is prophesying about a future time of salvation when the nations will obey God’s commandments and war will cease. It is significant that future salvation here is equivalent to a time of obedience. These concepts do not contradict one another; the future salvation will bring about obedience to God and peace on earth. Therefore, to “walk in the LORD’s light” (HCSB) is to live in God’s salvation, and that looks like following God’s commandments. One proleptically lives in God’s future salvation by obeying the commands of God now. Not only does this meaning fit the immediate context, but it makes sense out of the usage of “light” in the rest of Isaiah, as this analysis bear out.
Isaiah 9:2 uses light in the same way, to signify salvation. Old Testament scholar Gary smith says, “At this point [9:2] light is not identified, but it was certainly a sign of hope and deliverance from the darkness that pervaded the land.”[10] This appears to true, as “light” is used in the context of God speaking about the end of Israel’s exile. This light will save Israel from the darkness of exile (8:22), end the oppression of Israel (9:4), and make Israel great again (9:3). Therefore, light saves; it signifies salvation, and darkness exile. Also pertinent is the agent of salvation in section in 9:6, which reads: “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called: Extraordinary Strategist, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 30:26 is a verse in Isaiah that uses the term “light” in association with salvation and deliverance. Here, the prophet says, “The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter . . . when the LORD binds up his people’s fractured bones and heals their severe wound.” Again, the term “light” is used in the context in the future deliverance of Israel. Granted, “light” here is not the agent of salvation, but it does say that “light” will shine when Israel’s salvation occurs. So, light does not signify salvation directly, but it is closely associated with salvation.
Isaiah 42:6 is another significant verse in this discussion. It reads, “I, the LORD, officially commission you [the servant]; I take hold of your hand. I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations.” It is clear that “light” signifies salvation/deliverance here, or one that saves[11], as the next verse says that this light has the job “to open blind eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons” (42:7). The “light to the nations” frees prisoners, or saves them. In other word, the light, the servant in Isaiah, is commissioned to save the nations from darkness, or exile.
Isaiah 49:6 closely parallels Isaiah 42:6, as 49:6b reads, “‘I will make you [Israel] a light to the nations, so that you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.’” Again, light explicitly signifies salvation (or one that brings salvation); the light brings deliverance to the nations. God will make Israel a “covenant mediator for people, to rebuild the land and to reassign the desolate property” (49:8b). And darkness is contrasted with the light—it signifies exile and/or prison (49:9).
Moving onto Jeremiah, Jeremiah 13:6 is quite explicit in its connection of darkness with exile and light with salvation. The second part of the verse reads, “Do it [respect for God] before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for into the darkness and gloom of exile” (13:6b). There is no mystery here; the text explicitly calls exile darkness and deliverance light, so nothing further needs to be added.
Isaiah 59:9 reads, “For this reason deliverance is far from us and salvation does not reach us. We wait for light, but see only darkness; we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness. The prophet says that salvation from exile is far away, and in the context of this passage, it is because of sin (59:12). There is no chance of salvation with the state that Israel is in. The second part of the verse seems to repeat the same concept but with the image of light and darkness. Just as the prophet says that salvation is far away, or not present, the “light” is not present, but only “darkness”, or exile, is present. Israel is in a state of exile. The prophet appears to be using synonymous parallelism; the second line repeats the concept in the first line but using different verbiage. So, because of this, “light” signifies salvation/deliverance and “darkness” judgment/exile. Not only can one make this conclusion because of these reasons, but also as already demonstrated, “light” in Isaiah mostly signifies salvation/deliverance. This is another verse in an already established pattern.
Lamentations 3:3 is yet another text in which light and darkness signify salvation/deliverance and exile/judgment, respectively. It reads, “He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light.” Commentating on this verse, Old Testament scholar F.B. Huey Jr. writes:
The author understood that the ‘affliction’ (‘poverty,’ LXX) he had experienced was imposed by the rod of God’s judgment (2 Sam 7:14; Job. 9:34; Pss 2:9; 89:32; Isa 10:5; Mic 5:1) The alienation from God’s favor is described as being ‘driven away’ (nāhag, cf. 1 Sam 30:20; Job 24:3). It also is compared to darkness (cf. Job 12:25; Ps 82:5; Isa 50:10; Amos 5:18).[12]
The author of Lamentations wrote this book after Judah’s destruction and during exile in Babylon. The book is a series of laments about God’s judgment on Judah. Thus, exile, or “captivity,” is described as darkness, as opposed to light, which is being in “God’s favor.” God drove Judah into a state of condemnation, not salvation.
Amos 5:18 speaks on the coming judgment of God, not salvation. However, the metaphors of “light” and “darkness” remain basically the same. God warns that the “day of the Lord” will bring about judgment, and that this judgment will be exile (5:27). God uses the metaphor of “darkness” to describe the coming judgment: “Woe to those who wish for the day of the LORD! Why do you want the LORD’s day of judgment to come? It will bring darkness, not light.” Israel expected God to defeat her enemies and bring blessing on the “day of the LORD.”[13] Thus, “light” signifies deliverance, not from exile, but from the enemy nations that waged war on Israel, but the points remains the same.
Zechariah 14:7 is the last verse that is significant in this category. In the section that includes this verse, God promises salvation to Israel on the “day of the LORD,” saying, “And people will settle there, and there will no longer be the threat of divine extermination—Jerusalem will dwell in security” (14:11). God will destroy Israel’s enemies (14:12-15), and God will become “king over all the earth” (14:9). God associates this day with the coming of “light” (14:7). Thus, while “light” does not signify salvation directly, it is associated with the day of salvation. In addition, 14:8 is especially important for John’s usage of light: “Moreover, on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it will happen both in the summer and the winter.” This is an image of what the future salvation will look like.
(9b) Light signifies God or God’s Glory that brings salvation, and darkness signifies condemnation and judgment (Isa. 10:17; 60:1, 3, 19-20): There are several verses in the Old Testament in which light signifies God’s glory in connection with future salvation. As this discussion will show, this is also an important distinction that plays into John’s usage of the term light.
In Isaiah 10:17, God is warning about the coming future judgment of Assyria for not properly giving glory to God for its military victories over Israel (10:15-16). God describes what he is going to do to Assyria by referring to himself as “the light of Israel”: “The light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One will become a flame; it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s briers and his thorns in one day” (10:17). The parallelism in this verse is apparent—The Holy One, God, is the “light of Israel.” Now, it seems as though “light” here is associated with judgment and not salvation; however, these two themes cannot be separated, as the judgment of Assyria by the “light” leads to salvation for Israel (at least the remnant): “At that time those left in Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them” (10:20). The light saves the remnant from oppression. It is also notable that “light” does not directly signify salvation/deliverance, but it signifies the one who carries out salvation/deliverance. Either way, it is a distinction without much of a difference. For example, one could argue Jesus is just as much equivalent to salvation as he is the one that brings salvation.
Isaiah 60:1 describes the coming of Israel’s “light” as the coming of the glory of God (“Splendor of the LORD”), and 60:1-22 describes the salvation that results from the coming of this light. So while “light” technically signifies that which brings salvation, God’s glory, and not salvation directly, it is still appropriate to put in this category since light is associated with salvation. And this coming of God’s light for salvation coincides with the coming of God’s special servant, who is “commissioned . . . to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, and decree the release of the captives, and the freeing of prisoners, to announce the year when the LORD will show his favor” (61:1-2a). One commentator notes that the “darkness” mentioned in 60:2 is probably not signifying Israel’s exile, as in other some other verses, but more of the general “doom” and “gloom” of the future situation the world will find itself in.[14] However, 60:14-15 indicate that the “light” saves Israel from exile, as the text assumes Israel is oppressed by a foreign enemy, and God has abandoned Israel; thus, “darkness” signifies exile/judgment/condemnation. Also, the speeches that come immediately before this one (59:1-21) and after it (61:1-11; 62:1-8) talk about God’s future judgment of the wicked and salvation/deliverance from exile (61:4; 62:4). Thus, “darkness” in 60:1 most likely signifies exile/judgment/condemnation. Granted, “darkness” here covers the whole world, not just Israel, but this fits the New Testament theme that the whole world was in exile, or in Paul’s language, under the curse (Gal. 3:10, 13).
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[1]Robert Alden, Job, 78.
[2]Ibid., 196.
[3]Ibid., 330.
[4]Ibid., 331.
[5]Ibid., 248.
[6]Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 1–39, Edited by E. Ray Clendenen, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2007), 178.
[7]Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 1 John 1:5 note.
[8]I want to note that “light” may potentially signify the agent of salvation rather than salvation itself, but it is not much a difference. It is a distinction without MUCH of a difference, although a slight different exists, ever so slight of a difference. I will note the verses where the difference exists.
[9]Smith, Isaiah 1-39, 131, note 34.
[10]Ibid., 238.
[11]Gary Smith, Isaiah 40-66, Vol. 15B, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2009), 167.
[12]F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Vol. 16, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 470.
[13]Billy K. Smith and Franklin S. Page, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Vol. 19B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 110.
[14]Gary Smith, Isaiah 40-66, 614.
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