Isaiah 9

Chap. IX. ver. 1. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, &c.] Yet, though this calamity shall be exceeding great, it shall not be utterly so extreme and disconsolate, as that former which the land of Israel shall endure, when Tighath-pileser shall have miserably afflicted it, 2 Kings xv. 29; and when it shall have been conquered and wasted by Shalmaneser. Bp. Hall.

— The Prince of Peace.] This name does in an eminent manner belong to Christ, inasmuch as He is the sole Mediator between God and man: the end of his coming was not to procure for his followers a visible earthly peace; but peace with Heaven, the peace of God. Wogan. The peace and tranquillity of Christ’s government is however set forth by the Prophets in very pompous and magnificent descriptions, as here follows, “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end;” and as this is partly fulfilled in the inward joy and consolation, which is dispensed at present by the secret influences of the Holy Ghost, and in the conversion of many nations, that had persecuted and opposed it, this may be sufficient to confirm our hopes that it shall hereafter be more perfectly accomplished, and nothing left to disturb the peace and quietness of his reign. Dr. Berriman. Although Christ be indeed “exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour,” though He have “all power in heaven and in earth,” already vested in the human nature united to his own Divine person, and be at present “Lord of all,” and of his Church in a more peculiar manner; yet is not that power so visibly and fully exerted as it shall one day be; nor all those glorious effects as yet accomplished, which the Prophets foretell, when describing the victorious and peaceful, the unlimited and everlasting, dominion of the Messiah. He actually reigns in the hearts of men even now, and by his grace subdues the enemies of our souls; but this empire is not so absolute as it shall be, when every enemy shall have been utterly destroyed. What period is fixed for the perfect and ultimate accomplishment of these things, as it does not seem possible for us to determine, so neither is it material too curiously to enquire. Dean Stanhope.

Isaiah 9:2

2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.] There is a comfortable assurance of delivery in this miserable captivity: for behold, the Messiah shall certainly come, and by his doctrine and Spirit shall enlighten those that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, beginning his blessed Gospel in those utmost skirts of Galilee. Bp. Hall. The event is true and evident: as these lands had the first share in the calamity, from Assyrian invasion, 2 Kings xv. 29; so had they a prerogative in enjoying the presence of the Messiah. Jos. Mede. The prophet is particular in naming Zebulum, to which tribe Nazareth belonged; and Naphtali, in which was Capernaum, situate on the sea of Tiberias; both which places were beyond Jordan. Bp. Kidder.

Isaiah 9:3

3. Thou hast multiplied the nation.] Namely, the true Israel, which God shall enlarge by adding daily to the Church such as believe the Gospel. Dr. Wells.

— and not increased the joy. The marginal reading, “Thou hast increased the joy to him, or to it,” seems most agreeable to the context: if we keep the reading of the text, it may be translated by way of interrogation, “Wilt thou not increase the joy?” Then follows the answer, “the joy before thee,” &c. This various reading originates in the Hebrew, where the particle signifying not is very like, and often mistaken for the word signifying to him. W. Lowth.

— joy in harvest,—when they divide the spoil.] These expressions signify great rejoicing; see chap. xvi. 10; 1 Sam. xxx. 16. It is said to be before God, which denotes a religious joy, Deut. xii. 12. W. Lowth.

Isaiah 9:4

4. — the staff of his shoulder.] A staff laid across the shoulder, upon the ends of which slaves carried burdens. Parkhurst.

Isaiah 9:5

5. — but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.] The word “this” is not in the original. The sense seems to be, that all instruments of warfare should be destroyed and become fuel for fire, as in Ps. xlvi. 9; where the image is employed to express complete victory and a perfect establishment of peace. See also Ezek. xxxix. 8—10. Bp. Lowth.

harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

Isaiah 9:6

6. For unto us a child is born, &c.] The verse may be thus paraphrased: It is not for God’s people to rest in the temporal deliverance from their captivity, but to erect their thoughts unto higher hopes, even the happy assurances of salvation by the true Messiah, who is to come into the world: For unto us that Child is born, and unto us that Son of God is given, who shall take upon his shoulder the perpetual government of his Church. Bp. Hall.

— the government shall be upon his shoulder.] That is, the ensign of government; the sceptre, the sword, the key, or the like, borne upon, or hung from, the shoulder. See chap. xxii. 22. Bp. Lowth.

— his name shall be called. That is, He shall be; for all this could not be the proper name of any one; the Messiah will be all this: it does not infer that He shall be commonly known by such title. Bp. Kidder. ‘Tis the prophetic method, by the imposition as it were of a name, to declare the quality. Jos. Mede. Thus (chap. i. 26,) it was prophesied that Jerusalem should be “called the city of righteousness.” Why? because, as was promised in the words foregoing, “God would restore her judges as at the first,” &c.; her manners should answer that title. See too, Luke i. 32. 35; it might be proved by a multitude of instances. W. Lowth, Dean Stanhope.

— Wonderful.] In his birth; in his preservation from Herod and his other enemies; in the favour of God; in his mighty works; in his resurrection, his ascension, and the sending down of his Spirit upon his Apostles, enabling them also to work miracles, as He had done. Reading.

— Counsellor.] As knowing the mind of the Lord. Bp. Chandler. Not unlikely called so, saith Dr. Knight, from his being one of that great council when God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Bp. Wilson. See St. Chrysostom’s observations at Gen. i. 26.

— The mighty God.] The same title which is given to the One Supreme God of Israel, chap. x. 21. Dr. Waterland. This is the doctrine which the Evangelists, Apostles, and ministers of Christ constantly taught of Him, that He was God from all eternity. Reading.

— The everlasting Father.] Or, “Father of eternity,” or “of that which is everlasting,” a title very applicable to the Messiah, whether we consider Him as “the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him,” Heb. v. 9, or as the Founder of the new age, or world to come, the Head and Introducer of a dispensation which is to last for ever: agreeably to this

Isaiah 9:7

7. — upon the throne of David.] The Messiah is said to sit upon the throne of David, because all the promises

Isaiah 9:8

8. The Lord sent a word into Jacob.] Here begins, and ends with chap. x. 4, a distinct prophecy, addressed exclusively to the kingdom of Israel; divided into four parts, each the particular punishment of some grievous offence: after each is repeated a general denunciation of a further reserve of Divine wrath, used before by the Prophet, on a like occasion, (see the margin,) and making, as we call it, the burden of the song. Bp. Lowth.

9. The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: &c. The Eastern bricks are only clay well moistened with water, mixed with straw, and dried in the sun. Sir J. Chardin. These bricks are properly opposed to hewn stone, so greatly superior in beauty and durableness: the sycomores, timber of little worth, are with equal propriety opposed to the cedars; “with which,” as Dr. Shaw remarks on this passage, “they can stand in no competition at all for beauty and ornament.” We meet with the same opposition of cedars to sycomores, 1 Kings x. 27. By this figurative speech, the people of Israel hoast that they easily shall be able to repair their present losses, (sustained perhaps by the first Assyrian invasion by Tiglath-pileser,) and to bring their affairs to a more flourishing state than ever. Bp. Lowth.

Isaiah 9:11

11. — adversaries of Rezin against him.] When the king of Assyria had subdued the Syrians, he made them join him in invading Israel. W. Lowth.

Isaiah 9:13

13. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them.] See note on chap. i. 5.

Isaiah 9:14

14. — head and tail, branch and rush.] Both the noblest and basest of the people: the strongest, and the weakest, and most contemptible, of that nation. Bp. Hall.

Isaiah 9:15

15. — and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.] He is the most vile and despicable of all the people. Bp. Hall.

Before CHRIST about 738. whole mouth. f Chap. 5. 25. & 10. 4. Or, they that call them blessed. that are called blessed of them. swallowed up. and impenitence. The woe of tyrants. Before CHRIST about 738.

Isaiah 9:18

18. — it shall devour the briars and thorns, &c.] Briers and thorns are often put generally for the wicked, as useless and unprofitable, proper objects of God’s wrath, to be burnt up. See chap. xxxiii. 12; and the note on chap. xxvii. 4. Bp. Lowth, W. Lowth. 20. — they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: This, and what goes before, signify that they should plunder and devour those of their own country and blood: compare chap. xlix. 26; Deut. xxviii. 53;