Psalms 107:10

Such as sit in darkness - Here begins the Second similitude, which he uses to illustrate the state of the captives in Babylon viz., that of a prisoner in a dreary dungeon.

1. They sit in or inhabit darkness. They have no light, no peace, no prosperity.

2. "In the shadow of death." The place where death reigns, over which he has projected his shadow; those against whom the sentence of death has been pronounced.

3. They are bound in this darkness, have no liberty to revisit the light, and cannot escape from their executioners.

4. They are afflicted, not only by want and privation in general, but they are tortured in the prison, עני oni, afflicted, humbled, distressed.

5. Their fetters are such as they cannot break; they are iron. The reason of their being in this wretched state is given.

Psalm 107:10Then they cry - The effect produced by affliction as before.

Such as sit in darkness - The reference in these verses Psalm 107:10-14 is evidently to the children of Israel, when in Babylon; and the design is, to show the goodness of God to them in their trouble, and the occasion which they had for praising him on that account. To "sit in darkness" is significant of great ignorance (compare the notes at Luke 1:79; notes at Isaiah 9:2); or of affliction and trouble, as darkness is an emblem of calamity.

And in the shadow of death - A dark, gloomy, chilly shade such as "Death" would cast if he stood between us and the light. See the notes at Job 3:5; compare Job 10:21; Psalm 23:4; Psalm 44:19; Isaiah 9:2. The reference is to the sad and gloomy residence of the Hebrews in the land of captivity.

Being bound in affliction and iron - Captives and slaves. Compare Psalm 105:18.

107:10 Darkness - In dark prisons or dungeons.