with the horrible darkness of death. AN ECCLESIASTICALL EXPOSITION UPON SAINT LUKE 1.16 THE SHADOW OF DEATH IS A STATE OF SIN AND IGNORANCE. HENRY HAMMOND: The meaning of this figurative speech, “the shadow of death,” will be best conjectured by comparing it with Psalm 23:4, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” Making God his shepherd in verse 1, the psalmist compares himself with a sheep, which feeds sometimes on a hill, sometimes in a valley, sometimes in danger from wolves,