Isaiah 9

Unto Us a Child Is Born

A great light breaks on Galilee, a child-King receives four throne names, and a proud kingdom refuses to turn.

c. 734–722 BC; the light prophesied for Galilee dawned with Jesus’s ministry Also in 2 Ne. 19 Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Chapter 8 ended in total darkness: people wandering, hungry, cursing their king and their God, seeing only “dimness of anguish.”

Chapter 8 ended in total darkness: people wandering, hungry, cursing their king and their God, seeing only “dimness of anguish.” Chapter 9 begins by saying the darkness won’t last.

The historical setting is the northern regions of Israel, Zebulun and Naphtali, around the Sea of Galilee. These were the first Israelite lands conquered by Assyria, in 733–732 BC, when Tiglath-pileser III “took… Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive” (2 Kgs. 15:29). They were the first to go into darkness. Isaiah promises they will be the first to see the light.

Then the chapter changes key. Verses 8–21 begin a long poem of judgment against the northern kingdom (Ephraim) that continues into chapter 10, with a haunting refrain. Nephi quoted the whole chapter in 2 Ne. 19.

The thread through the chapter

Isaiah 9 is a story of two responses to darkness. The first response is God’s.

Isaiah 9 is a story of two responses to darkness.

The first response is God’s. Into the darkest, most devastated corner of the land, the very places Assyria conquered first, He sends a great light (verses 1–2). Joy breaks out like harvest time (verse 3). The oppressor’s yoke is shattered, as when Gideon routed Midian with a handful of men (verse 4). Even the soldiers’ blood-soaked boots and cloaks are thrown on the fire (verse 5). And the reason for all this joy is… a baby. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” This child carries the government on His shoulder, bears four magnificent names, and rules on David’s throne forever (verses 6–7). God’s answer to the darkness is a Person.

The second response is Israel’s. Verses 8–21 describe the northern kingdom after the first Assyrian blows. Do they repent? No. They say, in effect, The bricks fell down? We’ll rebuild with cut stone! The sycamores were cut down? We’ll plant cedars! (verse 10). They treat judgment as a construction setback, not a call to return. So the blows keep coming, and the refrain tolls four times: “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (verses 12, 17, 21; Isa. 10:4).

The contrast is the point. God responds to our darkness by giving us His Son. The question is whether we respond to His discipline by turning to Him or by rebuilding our own walls with better stone.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–7

A great light and a royal child

In plain words

But the darkness will not last forever. The Lord first humbled the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, but in the future He will bring honor to Galilee of the nations, along the road by the sea and beyond the Jordan. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; light has dawned on those who lived in the shadow of death. You have enlarged the nation and filled it with joy, like the joy of harvest or of dividing plunder. You have broken the oppressor’s yoke as You did in Gideon’s day against Midian. Every soldier’s boot and blood-soaked cloak will be burned. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and peace will grow without end. He will reign on David’s throne, establishing it with justice and righteousness forever. The Lord’s zeal will make it happen.

1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, 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.

History & Setting #

First into darkness, first to see the light

Zebulun and Naphtali were tribal territories in the far north of Israel, around the Sea of Galilee.

Zebulun and Naphtali were tribal territories in the far north of Israel, around the Sea of Galilee. They sat on the main invasion route from Mesopotamia, so they were always hit first. In 733–732 BC, Tiglath-pileser III annexed them, deported much of the population, and turned them into Assyrian provinces (2 Kgs. 15:29). The region became mixed with foreigners, hence “Galilee of the nations” (or “of the Gentiles”).

Isaiah promises that this region, which went first into the darkness, would be honored first with the light. Seven centuries later, Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Zebulun and based His ministry at Capernaum “in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim.” Matthew quotes this passage as fulfilled (Matt. 4:12–16).

Sources: “Galilee”, Bible Dictionary. “Zebulun”, Bible Dictionary.

2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

Word & Language #

“Not” or “to it”? The Book of Mormon weighs in

This line has puzzled readers, since the rest of the verse is all about joy.

This line has puzzled readers, since the rest of the verse is all about joy. The explanation is a tiny textual detail. In Hebrew, loʾ (“not”) and lo (“to it”) sound identical. The written Hebrew text has “not,” but the traditional Jewish reading instruction (the qere) says to read it as “to it”: “thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased its joy.” Most modern translations follow that reading, which fits the context perfectly.

Here the Book of Mormon agrees with that reading. Nephi’s text says: “Thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased the joy” (2 Ne. 19:3). Without the troublesome “not,” the verse fits its context. It is one of a number of places where the Book of Mormon’s Isaiah text departs from the King James Version in the direction of a reading preserved elsewhere in the ancient textual tradition.

Sources: John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998. Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch, eds., Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, Provo, UT: FARMS, 1998.

4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

History & Setting #

The day of Midian

This alludes to Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (Judg. 7). The Lord deliberately reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300 so that Israel could not boast that its own hand had…

This alludes to Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (Judg. 7). The Lord deliberately reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300 so that Israel could not boast that its own hand had saved it (Judg. 7:2). Armed only with trumpets, jars, and torches, the 300 routed a vast army.

The day of Midian is therefore shorthand for a deliverance that is obviously God’s doing, not man’s. Isaiah uses it again in Isa. 10:26. The coming deliverance through the child of verse 6 will be like that: a victory won by God, with human weakness on full display.

5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

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.

Witness of Christ #

A child born, a Son given

Notice the two parallel lines. A child is born (He enters mortality as a human baby), and a Son is given (He is the gift of the Father, who existed before His birth).

Notice the two parallel lines. A child is born (He enters mortality as a human baby), and a Son is given (He is the gift of the Father, who existed before His birth). Latter-day Saints may hear in this pairing both natures of Jesus Christ: born of Mary and given by God (John 3:16; 1 Ne. 11:18–21; Mosiah 3:8).

The Bible Dictionary cites this verse as an example of Isaiah’s prophecies of “the coming of the Redeemer, both in His first appearance… and as the Great King at the last day.” Handel set it to one of the most joyful choruses in Messiah, and generations of Christians have sung it at Christmas.

Sources: “Isaiah”, Bible Dictionary.

Imagery & Symbol #

On His shoulder

In the ancient Near East, a symbol of office, such as a key, a scepter, or a royal robe, was sometimes worn or carried on the shoulder.

In the ancient Near East, a symbol of office, such as a key, a scepter, or a royal robe, was sometimes worn or carried on the shoulder. Isaiah uses exactly this image when the “key of the house of David” is laid on Eliakim’s shoulder (Isa. 22:22). Here the entire government rests on the child’s shoulder: the full weight and authority of rule.

It’s moving to set beside this the Savior’s own images of shoulders. The Good Shepherd finds the lost sheep and “layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing” (Luke 15:5). He bore His cross (John 19:17). The shoulder that carries the government of the universe also carries the lost and the burden of our sins.

Witness of Christ #

Four throne names

Ancient kings received grand throne names at their coronation. Isaiah gives this child four, each a pair of words in Hebrew: - Wonderful Counsellor (peleʾ yoʿets).

Ancient kings received grand throne names at their coronation. Isaiah gives this child four, each a pair of words in Hebrew:

Wonderful Counsellor (peleʾ yoʿets). Many scholars read “Wonderful” and “Counsellor” as one title: a counselor who is a wonder. Peleʾ is a word used for God’s miracles, what only God can do (Ex. 15:11). His counsel is supernaturally wise. Compare Isa. 11:2: “the spirit of counsel.”
The mighty God (ʾel gibbor). This is an unmistakably divine title. The exact phrase appears again in the next chapter for the God of Israel to whom the remnant returns (Isa. 10:21). The child is God.
The everlasting Father (ʾavi-ʿad), literally “Father of eternity.” The Book of Mormon helps here. Jesus Christ is called “the Father” because He is the Creator of heaven and earth (Mosiah 15:4; Ether 3:14), because He is the Father of all who are spiritually reborn through Him (Mosiah 5:7), and because He acts with the Father’s full authority (Mosiah 15:2–3). He is the Son of God the Father, and He is also a “father” to us in these senses.
The Prince of Peace (sar shalom). Shalom is more than the absence of war; it is wholeness, well-being, everything as it should be. He brings peace between nations (verse 5), and peace to the soul (John 14:27; D&C 19:23).

Sources: “Christ, names of”, Bible Dictionary.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Witness of Christ #

David’s throne forever

The Lord had covenanted with David that his throne would be established forever (2 Sam. 7:12–16).

The Lord had covenanted with David that his throne would be established forever (2 Sam. 7:12–16). By Isaiah’s day, David’s descendants included faithless kings like Ahaz. Isaiah looks past them to a Son of David whose reign will never end.

Gabriel used this language when he announced Jesus’s birth to Mary: “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32–33). The final line of verse 7 is a guarantee: “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” It depends on God’s passionate commitment, not on human faithfulness.

Verses 8–12

“We will build with hewn stones”

In plain words

The Lord has sent a message against Israel, and all of Ephraim and Samaria will know it. They say proudly, “The brick walls have fallen, but we’ll rebuild with cut stone. The sycamores are cut down, but we’ll replace them with cedars.” So the Lord will raise up enemies against them: Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west, devouring Israel with open mouths. Even so, His anger is not turned away, and His hand is still stretched out.

8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,

10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

Liken It #

Rebuilding instead of repenting

This is the proud boast of Samaria after the first Assyrian blows. Mud-brick walls collapsed?

This is the proud boast of Samaria after the first Assyrian blows. Mud-brick walls collapsed? We’ll rebuild with expensive cut stone. Humble sycamore-fig beams destroyed? We’ll use imported cedar. Every disaster becomes an opportunity to build something even more impressive.

It sounds like resilience, and in some contexts resilience is a virtue. But verse 13 shows what’s missing: “the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them.” They treated a call to repentance as a construction problem. Mormon described the Nephites the same way: after the Lord chastened them, they would forget Him again, until He had to “chasten his people with many afflictions” (Hel. 12:2–3).

11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;

12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Verses 13–17

Leaders who mislead

In plain words

The people haven’t turned back to the One who struck them or sought the Lord. So in one day He will cut off both head and tail, palm branch and reed. The elders and dignitaries are the head; the prophets who teach lies are the tail. The leaders mislead the people, and those they lead are swallowed up. So the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men and has no pity on their orphans and widows, because everyone is godless and wicked and speaks foolishness. Even so, His hand is still stretched out.

13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

17 Therefore the LORD shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Verses 18–21

Wickedness burns like fire

In plain words

Wickedness burns like a fire, consuming thorns and thickets until the whole forest goes up in smoke. The Lord’s wrath darkens the land, and the people become fuel for the fire. No one spares even his own brother. They grab food on the right and are still hungry; they eat on the left and are never full. They devour even their own flesh. Manasseh attacks Ephraim, Ephraim attacks Manasseh, and together they turn on Judah. Even so, His hand is still stretched out.

18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

History & Setting #

Brothers at war

Manasseh and Ephraim were the two sons of Joseph, and their tribes were the heart of the northern kingdom.

Manasseh and Ephraim were the two sons of Joseph, and their tribes were the heart of the northern kingdom. In Isaiah’s day the north tore itself apart. In the twenty years before Samaria fell, six kings reigned, and four were assassinated by rivals (2 Kgs. 15:8–31). Verse 20’s grim image, eating “the flesh of his own arm,” means turning on one’s own kin.

The only thing that unites the brothers is their hostility to Judah. The Restoration adds a hopeful coda: in the last days, Ephraim and Judah will be reconciled, and “Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim” (Isa. 11:13; see Ezek. 37:15–22).

Seeing Christ in Isaiah 9

Isaiah 9:6–7 is one of the clearest and most beloved prophecies of Jesus Christ in all scripture. The child is born and the Son is given. The government is on His shoulder. He is the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace, and He sits on David’s throne forever. Matthew shows the light dawning in Galilee when Jesus began to preach (Matt. 4:12–17), and Gabriel echoes verse 7 to Mary (Luke 1:32–33).

Set this against the rest of the chapter. Israel’s response to darkness was to rebuild its own walls. God’s response to Israel’s darkness was to send His Son into it, born into the very region that had suffered most. Christ comes to the places that went first into the dark.

Liken it to yourself

Where is the “land of Zebulun and Naphtali” in my life, the place that was hit first and hardest? Can I believe that the light may come there first?
Of the four names in verse 6, which one do I most need Jesus Christ to be for me right now: Counselor, Mighty God, Father, or Prince of Peace? Why?
When disappointment or discipline comes, do I tend to repent, or do I just rebuild with “hewn stones”? What would turning to “him that smiteth” look like?
The government is upon His shoulder. What burden am I trying to carry on my own shoulders that belongs on His?

Worth exploring next

Handel’s Isaiah. Listen to Handel’s Messiah with Isaiah open. Nearly the entire first part comes from Isaiah (40:1–5, 40:9, 7:14, 9:2, 9:6, 35:5–6, 40:11), and much of the second part from Isaiah 53. Which passages do you recognize?
The mighty God. Compare Isa. 9:6 and Isa. 10:21. What does it mean that the same divine title describes the child and the God to whom the remnant returns?
Christ as Father. Read Mosiah 15:1–7 and Mosiah 5:7. How do Abinadi and King Benjamin help explain “The everlasting Father”?

This chapter elsewhere in scripture

Nephi’s text of this chapter (2 Ne. 19) reads differently from the King James Version in 13 verses. The BoM markers show the 10 where more than a small word changes.

2 Ne. 19 — Nephi quotes the chapter.
Matt. 4:12–16 — Jesus’s ministry in Galilee fulfills verses 1–2.
Luke 1:32–33 — Gabriel echoes verse 7 to Mary.

Sources & further reading

“Isaiah”, Bible Dictionary.
“Christ, names of”, Bible Dictionary.
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997.
Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.
Chapter 13: The Establishment of Zion (Isaiah 1–12), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

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