Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. FOR - the ground of these great expectations. UNTO US - for the benefit of the Jews first (Israel is here the speaker), and then the Gentiles (cf. "unto you," Luke 2:11). A CHILD IS BORN (the Immanuel, child of the Virgin, Isaiah 7:14), UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN (Psalms 2:7) - God's gratuitous gift, on which man had no claim (John 3:1...

6._For unto us a child is born. _Isaiah now argues from the design, to show why this deliverance ought to be preferred to the rest of God’s benefits, namely, because not only will God bring back the people from captivity, but he will place Christ on his royal throne, that under him supreme and everlasting happiness may be enjoyed. Thus he affirms that the kindness of God will not be temporary, for it includes the whole of that intermediate period during which the Church was preserved till the coming of Christ. Nor is it wonderful if the Prophet makes a sudden transition from the return of the ancient people to the full restoration of the Church, which took place many centuries afterwards; for in our observations on Isaiah 7:14, (142) we have remarked, that there being no other way that God is reconciled to us than through the Mediator, all the promi

1-7 The Syrians and Assyrians first ravaged the countries here mentioned, and that region was first favoured by the preaching of Christ. Those that want the gospel, walk in darkness, and in the utmost danger. But when the gospel comes to any place, to any soul, light comes. Let us earnestly pray that it may shine into our hearts, and make us wise unto salvation. The gospel brings joy with it. Those who would have joy, must expect to go through hard work, as the husbandman, before he has the joy of harvest; and hard conflict, as the soldier, before he divides the spoil. The Jews were delivered from the yoke of many oppressors; this was a shadow of the believer's deliverance from the yoke of Satan. The cleansing the souls of believers from the power and pollution of sin, would be by the influence of the Holy Spirit, as purifying fire. These great things for the church, shall be done by th...

Verse Isaiah 9:6. THE GOVERNMENT SHALL _BE UPON HIS SHOULDER_] That is, the ensign of government; the sceptre, the sword, the key, or the like, which was borne upon or hung from the shoulder. Isaiah 22:22. _AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED_] אל גבור _El gibbor_, the prevailing or conquering God. _THE EVERLASTING FATHER_ - "The Father of the everlasting age"] Or אבי עד _Abi ad_, the Father of eternity. The _Septuagint_ have μεγαλης βουλης Αγγελος, "the Messenger of the Great Counsel." But instead of אבי עד _Abi ad_, a MS. of _De Rossi_ has אבעזר _Abezer_, the _helping Father_; evidently the corruption of some Jew, who did not like such an evidence in favour of the Christian Messiah. Prince

FOR - This is given as a reason of the victories that were predicted in the previous verses. That it has reference to the Messiah has been almost universally conceded; and indeed it does not seem possible to doubt it. The eye of the prophet seems to have been fixed on this great and glorious event - as attracting all his attention. The scenes of coming times, like a panorama, or picture, passed before him. Most of the picture seems to have been that of battles, conflicts, sieges, dimness, and thick darkness. But in one portion of the passing scene there was light. It was the light that he saw rising in the distant and darkened Galilee. He saw the joy of the people; the armor of war laid aside; the image of peace succeeding; the light expanding and becoming more intense as the darkness retired, until he saw in this region the Prince of Peace - the Sun of Righteousness itself. The eye of t...

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 9:1 THE TROUBLES OF ISRAEL SHALL END THROUGH THE BIRTH OF A MARVELOUS CHILD. The section of the prophecy commencing with Isaiah 7:1 terminates in this glorious burst of glad and gracious promise. The gist of the whole section is: "Israel shall not suffer from Pekah and Rezin; her oppressors shall be Assyria and Egypt, more especially the former; Assyria shall overwhelm her, crush her, lay her low; she shall remain awhile in gloom and darkness; but at length the darkness shall be dispelled; a 'great light' shall shine forth, first in the north, then over all th

FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN,.... This is a reason of all that is said in the context; of the great light that shone upon and was seen by those that sat in darkness, and in the land of the shadow of death; of the great joy among the people; of the breaking off of the yoke, rod, and staff of the oppressor; and of the burning of garments rolled in blood, so putting an end to war, and establishing peace; all which is owing to the child here said to be born, by whom we are to understand the Messiah; as the Targum interprets it; and not Hezekiah, as many of the Jewish writers n apply it; who could never be represented as a child just born, when he was, at least, ten or eleven years of age when this prophecy was given out, and twenty nine when Sennacherib came up with his army against him, as Aben Ezra observes; to which time he and others refer the context; nor can any reason be assigned why h...

The last verses of the eighth chapter picture a horrible state of wretchedness and despair: «And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. But see what a change awaits them! Isaiah 9:1. _Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vacation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations._ Read the fine translation of the Revised Version: «But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish.» What a marvelous light from the midst of a dread

CHAPTER 9 The Message of Hope Concerning Israel's Future and the Impending Judgments 1. _The Messiah, His Name, His rule, His kingdom (Isaiah 9:1)_ 2. _Judgment upon Israel (Isaiah 9:8)_ 3. _The impenitent nation (Isaiah 9:13)_ 4. _The wrath of Jehovah (Isaiah 9:18)_ 5. _Unrighteous judges and three questions (Isaiah 10:1_ Matthew 4:12 quotes the opening verses of this chapter. This applies to His double advent. The first and second coming

ISRAEL'S DELIVERER. This famous passage on the Messianic King is now by several regarded as late. The question is too large to be discussed, but it seems more difficult to explain its origin in the post-exilic period than under the monarchy. This was present as a starting-point, and Isaiah would not expect it to be eliminated. The bursting of the enemy's yoke and the establishment of a righteous rule were quite in line with his aspirations. In the later period other themes would have been added such as the bringing back of the dispersed exiles. The passage does not describe a state of things which has already come into existence. The tenses are prophetic; they are written while the people still dwell in the land of deep darkness (_mg.)._ But the poet's vision has already seen the glorious dawn. Yahweh has multiplied their exultation; it is like the joy of harvest home or division of the...