The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light: The people is a general expression, and it is not clarified further. It probably refers to the people of Judah and Israel, but translators should use a general term. Contemporary English Version simply begins with “Those who walked….” The idiom walked in darkness tells of a time during which they lived under oppression. Have seen a great light is another idiom, meaning they have experienced rescue from that time of trouble. The adjective great may be rendered “bright” without detracting from the figure. The use of figurative language in this poetic section should be kept. These figures are probably sufficiently universal, so that translators do not need to clarify them.

Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light dawned: These two lines are parallel with the first two lines. Deep darkness renders the Hebrew noun tsalmoth. Masoretic Text has the Hebrew phrase tsal-maweth, which is literally “shadow of death” (New International Version; similarly New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible). These two Hebrew expressions have the same consonants, and they both are figures representing a time of oppression and trouble. Translators may use either figure here.

For the translation of this verse we suggest:

• The people who walked in the dark
have now seen a bright light;
on those living in a land under deep darkness
the light has shone.

If the figurative language needs to be spelled out for clarity, then we may say:

• The people who lived under oppression
have seen the light of better times.
That light has shone
on those who lived in fear of death.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .