Isaiah 9: Unto Us a Child Is Born

"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" (9:1). In 733–732 BC Tiglath-pileser III annexed these northern districts and made them Assyrian provinces. Isaiah promises reversal where the darkness fell first.

"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. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy" (vv. 2–3), or, as the Hebrew margin reads, "increased its joy" (see Research). "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" (v. 4).

"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. 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" (vv. 6–7).

Then judgment on Ephraim's pride: "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars" (v. 10). Aram and the Philistines devour Israel; leaders mislead; wickedness burns like fire; brother devours brother; "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" (vv. 8–21).

Galilee of the nations

Galil ha-goyim, the "district of the nations," was northern Galilee, where Israelites lived among Phoenicians and Arameans. Tiglath-pileser III's annals record taking Hazor, Kinnereth, Megiddo and the region and deporting its people (2 Kings 15:29 names Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead and Galilee). Archaeology shows destruction layers at Hazor and other northern sites in this period. By Jesus' time Galilee was again largely Jewish.

Throne names

Egyptian pharaohs received a series of throne names at accession, and some scholars think Isaiah 9:6 echoes that custom: a coronation oracle for a Davidic king, perhaps at birth or enthronement (compare Psalm 2:7, "thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee"). Others read it as birth announcement. Either way, the names are titles of the king's role as God's representative, which later readers heard as more than royal titles.

9:3: "not increased the joy" or "increased its joy"?

The Masoretic Text writes lo' ("not") and reads lo ("to it"), a ketiv/qere note: "you have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy" (qere) or "you have not increased the joy" (ketiv). The KJV follows the written "not"; most modern versions the read "its joy." The Great Isaiah Scroll writes lo' ("not"), like the ketiv. Many scholars suggest the original was haggilah, "the rejoicing," divided differently. A small example of how one word's reading is decided.