Isaiah 9:3-13

3 ¹You shall multiply the nation, You ²shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As ³men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

4 For ⁴You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their ⁵oppressor, as at the battle of ⁶Midian.

5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

6 For a ⁷child will be born to us, a ⁸son will be given to us; And the ⁹government will rest ¹⁰on His shoulders; And His name will be called ¹¹Wonderful Counselor, ¹²Mighty God, Eternal ¹³Father, Prince of ¹⁴Peace.

7 There will be ¹⁵no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the ¹⁶throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with ¹⁷justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore *. ¹⁸The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

God's Anger with Israel's Arrogance

8 The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.

9 And all the people know it, That is, ¹⁹Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in ²⁰arrogance of heart:

10 "The bricks have fallen down, But we will ²¹rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars."

11 Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries from ²²Rezin And spurs their enemies on,

12 The Arameans on the east and the ²³Philistines on the west; And they ²⁴devour Israel with gaping jaws. ²⁵In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

13 Yet the people ²⁶do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they ²⁷seek the LORD of hosts.

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Isaiah 9:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 9

This chapter contains a prophecy, partly of comfort to the church and people of God, against the calamities predicted in the preceding chapter Isa 8:1-22; and partly of punishment, to be inflicted upon the ungodly Israelites by their enemies. The comfort promised arises from the appearance of Christ, the great light, in some certain places of the land mentioned, said before to be afflicted, Isa 9:1,2 which would occasion a joy among them; illustrated by some similes, by the joy in harvest, and at the dividing of spoils, Isa 9:3 the cause of which is a deliverance from a burdensome yoke of tyranny and bondage, wrought in like manner as that by Gideon formerly; different from all other salvations, which are usually obtained with noise and blood, Isa 9:4,5 the author of which is the Messiah; who is described by his birth as man, and by his divine sonship as God; or by his person, having two natures united in him; and by the government devolved on him; and by his several names, which express the greatness and glory of his person and office; and by the increase and administration of his government, Isa 9:6,7 then follows a denunciation of judgment on Israel, Isa 9:8 the instruments of which are pointed at, Isa 9:11,12, and the persons described that should suffer, high and low, rich and poor, young and old, Isa 9:14,15,17 the reasons of it, their making light of former corrections, Isa 9:9,10 their impenitence and hardness under chastenings, Isa 9:13 their going astray by means of their leaders; and their hypocrisy and wickedness, Isa 9:16-18 all which would occasion the wrath of God to burn against them, and consume them, Isa 9:18,19 yea, through hunger and want of provisions, should destroy one another, Isa 9:20,21.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 27

1. Isaiah 26:15
2. Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 65:14, 18, 19; Isaiah 66:10
3. 1 Samuel 30:16
4. Isaiah 10:27; Isaiah 14:25
5. Isaiah 14:4; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 51:13; Isaiah 54:14
6. Judges 7:25; Isaiah 10:26
7. Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 11:1, 2; Isaiah 53:2; Luke 2:11
8. John 3:16
9. Matthew 28:18; 1 Corinthians 15:25
10. Isaiah 22:22
11. Isaiah 28:29
12. Deuteronomy 10:17; Nehemiah 9:32; Isaiah 10:21
13. Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8
14. Isaiah 26:3, 12; Isaiah 54:10; Isaiah 66:12
15. Daniel 2:44; Luke 1:32, 33
16. Isaiah 16:5
17. Isaiah 11:4, 5; Isaiah 32:1; Isaiah 42:3, 4; Isaiah 63:1
18. Isaiah 37:32; Isaiah 59:17
19. Isaiah 7:8, 9; Isaiah 28:1, 3
20. Isaiah 46:12
21. Malachi 1:4
22. Isaiah 7:1, 8
23. 2 Chronicles 28:18
24. Psalms 79:7; Jeremiah 10:25
25. Isaiah 5:25
26. Jeremiah 5:3; Hosea 7:10
27. Isaiah 31:1; Hosea 3:5

Footnotes 8

[a]. Another reading is "not increase"
[b]. Lit "the"
[c]. Lit "in"
[d]. Lit "they"
[e]. Lit "in the day of Midian"
[f]. Lit "be"
[g]. Lit "word"
[h]. Lit "the whole mouth"