Isaiah 9:6

For we too say plainly, that the prophet, wishing to make manifest to men the mystery concerning Christ, called the Self-Existent "Angel," that the meaning of the words might not be referred to the Father, as it would have been if the title of "Existent" alone had been found throughout the discourse. But just as our word is the revealer and messenger (or "angel") of the movements of the mind, even so we affirm that the true Word that was in the beginning, when He announces the will of His own Father, is styled "Angel" (or "Messenger"), a title given to Him on account of the operation of conveying the message. And as the sublime John, having previously called Him "Word," so introduces the further truth that the Word was God, that our thoughts might not at once turn to the Father, as they would have done if the title of God had been put first, so too does the mighty Moses, after first calling Him "Angel," teach us in the words that follow that He is none other than the Self-Existent Himself, that the mystery concerning the Christ might be foreshown, by the Scripture assuring us by the name "Angel," that the Word is the interpreter of the Father's will, and, by the title of the "Self-Existent," of the closeness of relation subsisting between the Son and the Father. And if he should bring forward Isaiah also as calling Him "the Angel of mighty counsel," not even so will he overthrow our argument. […]

Today was born the child, and his name was called Wonderful! For a wonder it is that God should reveal himself as a baby.

Likewise Isaiah also says, "For unto us a child is born." But what is there unusual in this, unless he speaks of the Son of God? "To us is given he whose government is upon his shoulder." Now, what king is there who bears the ensign of his dominion upon his shoulder, and not rather upon his head as a diadem, or in his hand as a scepter, or else as a mark in some royal apparel? But the one new King of the new ages, Jesus Christ, carried on his shoulder both the power and the excellence of his new glory, even his cross; so that, according to our former prophecy, he might thenceforth reign from the tree as Lord.

[Eutyches] might have read the words of the same prophet: "A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulders: and they shall call his name, angel of the Great Counsel, God the Mighty, the Prince of peace, Father of the world to come." And he would not speak nonsense, saying that the Word was made flesh in such a way that Christ, born from the Virgin's womb, had a man's form yet did not have the reality of his mother's body.

But the prophet who predicted the Emmanuel has written of him a little further on that "unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and his name is called angel of great counsel, …

After two names, therefore [child and son], he will be called by another six names: wonderful, counselor, God, mighty, father of the coming age, prince of peace. For the names are not to be joined into couplets as many think, such that we would read "wonderful counselor" and "mighty God." Instead "wonderful," which is pele in Hebrew, is to be read separately, as is "counselor," or what is called yôʿēṣ in their language. The title "God" also, whom the Hebrews call ēl stands on its own. Thus in subsequent passages where we read, "For you are God and we were unaware," and again, "I am God and there is no other beyond me," along with many similar statements, the Hebrew uses ēl where Latin uses Deus. And "mighty," which comes next, is called gibbôr in Hebrew. Hence when the same prophet remembers "They will lay their trust upon God, the Holy One of Israel in truth, and the remnant of Jacob upon the mighty God," the Hebrew text has ēl gibbôr for "mighty God." But anyone who reads that the Savior is our peace, according to the apostle Paul, will have no doubt that the father of the coming age and of the resurrection, which is completed in our vocation, is also the prince of peace who said to the apostles, "My peace I give to you, my peace I bequeath to you." The Septuagint in my opinion, terrified as it was by the majesty of these names, did not dare to say of a child that he must be called God and so forth but wrote in place of the six names, which it did not have in Hebrew, "angel of great counsel, and I will bring peace and his salvation upon the princes," which seems to me to have the following meaning: He who announced to us that Israel would be thrown down for a while and that the nations would be healed is the angel of great counsel who also gave peace to its princes, apostles and apostolic men, and bequeathed dogmatic healing to their believers.

(Verse 6.) For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, upon whose shoulder dominion is laid: and his name is called, Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish these things. Therefore the devil, and all his violent plundering, by which he oppressed the human race and mixed blood with blood, will be consumed by fire and the eternal fire will be their food. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, of whom it has been said: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose good (Isaiah 7:16); and later in the generation of the Prophetess: Before the child knows how to call his father and mother (Isaiah 8:4). Therefore this boy, who was born of a virgin, is called Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us'; and he is also called 'from the Prophetess', that is, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Hasten, strip off, hurry to plunder: he is now called by many names. […]

We often find the Lord Christ described as a child because of the purity of his innocence. The simplicity of youth bestows on a child the blessing of aversion from vices and from the malice of the world. As Christ himself attested, "Of such is …

In the holy Scripture Christ is often called a child because of his innocence of mind. As Isaiah says, "For a child has been born to us, and a son has been given to us."

"Unto us a child is born, and unto us a young man is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders;" which is significant of the power of the cross, for to it, when He was crucified, He applied His shoulders, as shall be more clearly made out in the ensuing discourse.

And when Isaiah calls Him the Angel of mighty counsel, did he not foretell Him to be the Teacher of those truths which He did teach when He came [to earth]? For He alone taught openly those mighty counsels which the Father designed both for all those who have been and shall be well-pleasing to Him, and also for those who have rebelled against His will, whether men or angels.

When Scripture wishes to show that God needs no one, it says that he has no counselor. When it wishes to show the equal honor of the Only Begotten, it calls the Son of God his counselor.

"'Messenger' of great counsel," the Son of God is called, because of the other things which He taught, and principally because He announced the Father to men, as also now He saith, "I have manifested Thy Name unto the men." For after having said, "I have finished Thy work," He next explaineth it in detail, telling what sort of work. Now the Name indeed was well known. For Esaias said, "Ye shall swear by the true God." But what I have often told you I tell you now, that though it was known, yet it was so only to Jews, and not to all of these: but now He speaketh concerning the Gentiles. Nor doth He declare this merely, but also that they knew Him as the Father. For it is not the same thing to learn that He is Creator, and that He hath a Son.

Come now, and let me show you that the Son is called God. "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall give birth to a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means, 'God is with us.' " Did you see how both the name Lord is given to the Father and the name God is given to the Son? In the psalm, the sacred writer said, "Let them know that Lord is your name." Here Isaiah says, "They shall call his name Immanuel." And again, he says, "A child is born to us, and a son is given to us; and his name shall be called Angel of Great Counsel, God the Strong, the Mighty One."

Furthermore, we must prove that this Jesus was beforehand promised from ancient times in the prophets and was called the Son of God. David said, "You are my son; today I have begotten you." Again he said, "In the glories of holiness, from the womb, from of old, I have begotten you, a child." And Isaiah said, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his government was upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, and Counselor, and mighty God of the ages, and Prince of peace. And to the increase of his government and to his peace there is no end." Therefore tell me, O wise teacher of Israel, who is he that was born and whose name was called "child" and "son" and "Wonderful" and "Counselor," the "mighty God of the ages," and "Prince of peace," "to the increase of" whose government and to whose "peace [he said], there is no end?" For if we call Christ the Son of God, David taught us [this]; and that we call him God, this we learned from Isaiah. "And his government was laid upon his shoulder"; for he bore his cross and went out from Jerusalem. And that he "was born as a child," Isaiah again said, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear; and his name shall be called Immanuel, which is, our God with us."

So we have in another place: "A child is born to us, and a son is given to us." In the term child there is an indication of age; in the term son a reference to the fullness of Godhead. He was made of his mother and born of the Father, but as the same person he was born and given. Do not think of two but of one. For the Son of God is one person, born of the Father and sprung from the virgin. The names differ in order but unite in one, just as the scriptural lesson just read teaches: "Man was made in her, and the Highest himself has founded her." He was man indeed in body, but the Highest in power. And while he is God and man through diversity of nature, he is the same person, not two persons, though being God and man. He has, therefore, something peculiar to his own nature and something in common with us, but in both cases he is one and in both he is perfect.

But who is the good counselor? Certainly that one of whom it is said: 'His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.' He is the Angel of great counsel: this is he …

Surely the entire divinely arranged plan of our Redeemer's [coming] in the flesh is the reconciliation of the world—it was for this purpose that he became incarnate, for this he suffered, for this he was raised from the dead—that he might lead us, who had …

"Which will be to all people," not to all the people of the Jews, nor to all the people of the nations, but to all the people who, either from the Jews or from the nations of the whole world, are brought together in one …

303. For a child is born to us. Here he describes the Savior. And first, as to his reception; second, as to his naming, where it says, and his name shall be called (Isa 9:6); third, as to his power, where it says, his empire …

Us - Unto us Jews, of whom Christ was born, and to whom he was primarily sent. A child - The Messiah by the consent of interpreters, not only Christian, but Jewish: for so the ancient Hebrew doctors understood the place, and particularly the Chaldee paraphrast; although the latter Jews, out of opposition to Christ, wrest it to Hezekiah.

The Father shall devolve it upon him, so that he shall have an incontestable right to govern; and he shall undertake it, so that no doubt can be made of his governing well, for he shall set his shoulder to it, and will never complain, as Moses did, of his being overcharged. I am not able to bear all this people, Num. xi. Glorious things are here spoken of Christ's government,

He is the Father of the world to come (so the LXX. reads it), the father of the gospel-state, which is put in subjection to him, not to the angels, Heb. ii. He was, from eternity, Father of the great work of redemption: his heart was upon it; it was the product of his wisdom as the counsellor, of his love as the everlasting Father. [4.] He is the prince of peace.

For unto us a child is born,....

The government shall be upon his shoulder - That is, the ensign of government; the scepter, the sword, the key, or the like, which was borne upon or hung from the shoulder. See note on Isa 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.

OTHER TRANSLATIONS of this divine title have been proposed by several very eminent and able scholars. Not that they have any of them been prepared to deny that this translation is after all most accurate; but rather that whilst there are various words in the original, which we render by the common appellation of “GOD,” it might be possible so to interpret this as to show more exactly its definite meaning. One writer, for example, thinks the term might be translate! “The Irradiator,”—he who gives light to men.

How complex is the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ! Almost in the same breath the Prophet calls Him a "Child," and a "Counselor," a "Son," and "the Everlasting Father." This is no contradiction, and to us scarcely a paradox, but it is a mighty marvel that He who was an Infant should at the same time be Infinite—He who was the Man of Sorrows should also be God over all, blessed forever—and that He who is in the Divine Trinity always called the Son, should nevertheless be correctly called "the Everlasting Father."

God's gratuitous gift, on which man had no claim (Joh 3:16; Ro 6:23). government . . . upon . . . shoulder--The ensign of office used to be worn on the shoulder, in token of sustaining the government (Isa 22:22). Here the government on Messiah's shoulder is in marked antithesis to the "yoke and staff" of the oppressor on Israel's "shoulder" (Isa 9:4).

ONE EVENING LAST WEEK I stood by the sea-shore when the storm was raging. The voice of the Lord was upon the waters; and who was I that I should tarry within doors, when my Master’s voice was heard sounding along the water? I rose and stood to behold the flash of his lightnings, and listen to the glory of his thunders.

ONE EVENING LAST WEEK I stood by the sea-shore when the storm was raging. The voice of the Lord was upon the waters; and who was I that I should tarry within doors, when my Master’s voice was heard sounding along the water? I rose and stood to behold the flash of his lightnings, and listen to the glory of his thunders. The sea and the thunders were contesting with one another; the sea with infinite clamor striving to hush the deep-throated thunder, so that his voice should not be heard; yet over and above the roar of the billows might be heard that voice of God, as he spoke with flames of fire, and divided the way for the waters. It was a dark night, and the sky was covered with thick clouds, and scarce a star could be seen through the rifts of the tempest; but at one particular time, I noticed far away on the horizon, as if miles across the water, a bright shining, like gold. It was the moon hidden behind the clouds, so that she could not shine upon us; but she was able to send her rays down upon the waters, far away, where no cloud happened to intervene. I thought as I read this chapter last evening, that the prophet seemed to have stood in a like position, when he wrote the words of my text. All round about him were clouds of darkness; he heard prophetic thunders roaring, and he saw flashes of the lightnings of divine vengeance; clouds and darkness, for many a league, were scattered through history; but he saw far away a bright spot—one place where the clear shining came down from heaven.

LAST SABBATH MORNING we considered the first title, “His name shall be called Wonderful:” this morning we take the second word, “Counsellor.” I need not repeat the remark, that of course these titles belong only to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we cannot understand the passage except by referring it to Messiah—the Prince. It was by a Counsellor that this world was ruined.

LAST SABBATH MORNING we considered the first title, “His name shall be called Wonderful:” this morning we take the second word, “Counsellor.” I need not repeat the remark, that of course these titles belong only to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we cannot understand the passage except by referring it to Messiah—the Prince. It was by a Counsellor that this world was ruined. Did not Satan mask himself in the serpent, and counsel the woman with exceeding craftiness, that she should take unto herself of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in the hope that thereby she should be as God? Was it not that evil counsel which provoked our mother to rebel against her Maker, and did it not as the effect of sin, bring death into this world with all its train of woe? Ah! beloved, it was meet that the world should have a Counsellor to restore it, if it had a Counsellor to destroy it. It was by counsel that it fell and certainly, without counsel it never could have arisen. But mark the difficulties that surrounded such a Counsellor. ‘Tis easy to counsel mischief; but how hard to counsel wisely! To cast down is easy, but to build up how hard! To confuse this world, and bring upon it all its train of ills was, an easy thing. A woman plucked the fruit and it was done; but to restore order to this confusion, to sweep away the evils which brooded over this fair earth, this was work indeed, and “Wonderful” was that Christ who came forward to attempt the work, and who in the plentitude of his wisdom hath certainly accomplished it, to his own honor and glory, and to our comfort and safety. We shall now enter upon the discussion of this title which is given to Christ, a title peculiar to our Redeemer; and you will see why it should be given to him and why there was a necessity for such a Counsellor. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ is a Counsellor in a three-fold sense.

OTHER TRANSLATIONS of this divine title have been proposed by several very eminent and able scholars. Not that they have any of them been prepared to deny that this translation is after all most accurate; but rather that whilst there are various words in the original, which we render by the common appellation of “GOD,” it might be possible so to interpret this as to show more exactly its definite meaning. One writer, for example, thinks the term might be translate! “The Irradiator,”—he who gives light to men. Some think it bears the meaning of “The Illustrious,”—the bright and the shining one. Still there are very few, if any, who are prepared to dispute the fact that our translation is the most faithful that could possibly be given—the mighty God.” The term here used for God, El, is taken from a Hebrew or root, which, as I take it, signifies strength; and perhaps a literal translation even of that title might be, “The Strong one,” the strong God. But there is added to this an adjective in the Hebrew, expressive of mightiness, and the two taken together express the omnipotence of Christ, his real deity and his omnipotence, as standing first and foremost among the attributes which the prophet beheld. “The mighty God.” I do not propose this morning to enter into any argument in proof of the divinity of Christ, because my text dues not seem to demand it of me.

UPON OTHER OCCASIONS I have explained the main part of this verse—“the government shall be upon his shoulders, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God.” If God shall spare me, on some future occasion I hope to take the other titles, “The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” But now this morning the portion which will engage our attention is this, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” The sentence is a double one, but it has in it no tautology. The careful reader will soon discover a distinction; and it is not a distinction without a difference. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” As Jesus Christ is a child in his human nature, he is born, begotten of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. He is as truly-born, as certainly a child, as any other man that ever lived upon the face of the earth. He is thus in his humanity a child born. But as Jesus Christ is God’s Son, he is not born; but given, begotten of his Father from before all worlds, begotten—not made, being of the same substance with the Father. The doctrine of the eternal affiliation of Christ is to be received as an undoubted truth of our holy religion. But as to any explanation of it, no man should venture thereon, for it remaineth among the deep things of God—one of those solemn mysteries indeed, into which the angels dare not look, nor do they desire to pry into it—a mystery which we must not attempt to fathom, for it is utterly beyond the grasp of any finite being. As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp him he could not be infinite: if we could understand him, then were he not divine. Jesus Christ then, I say, as a Son, is not born to us, but given.

How complex is the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ! Almost in the same breath the Prophet calls Him a "Child," and a "Counselor," a "Son," and "the Everlasting Father." This is no contradiction, and to us scarcely a paradox, but it is a mighty marvel that He who was an Infant should at the same time be Infinite—He who was the Man of Sorrows should also be God over all, blessed forever—and that He who is in the Divine Trinity always called the Son, should nevertheless be correctly called "the Everlasting Father." How forcibly this should remind us of the necessity of carefully studying and rightly understanding the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ! We must not suppose that we shall understand Him at a glance. A look will save the soul, but patient meditation alone can fill the mind with the knowledge of the Savior. Glorious mysteries are hidden in His Person. He speaks to us in plain language, and He manifests Himself openly in our midst, but yet in His Person itself there is a height and depth which human intellect fails to measure. When he has looked long and steadily, the devout observer perceives in his Well-Beloved beauties so rare and ravishing that he is lost in wonder! Continued contemplation conducts the soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into an elevation of delighted admiration which the less thoughtful know nothing of. So deep is the mystery of the Person of our Lord that He must reveal Himself to us or we shall never know Him! He is not discovered by research nor discerned by reason. "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona," said Christ to Peter, "for flesh and blood have not revealed this unto you." "When it pleased God," says the Apostle, "to reveal His Son in me." Another Apostle asked the question, "How is it that You manifest Yourself unto us?" There is no seeing Jesus except by His own light.

UPON OTHER OCCASIONS I have explained the main part of this verse—“the government shall be upon his shoulders, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God.” If God shall spare me, on some future occasion I hope to take the other titles, “The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” But now this morning the portion which will engage our attention is this, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” The sentence is a double one, but it has in it no tautology.

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 the prophet gazed intently on that scene, and was fixed on that portion of the picture: he sees the Messiah in his office, and describes him as already come, and as born unto the nation. Unto us - For our benefit. The prophet saw in vision the darkness and gloom of the nation, and saw also the son that would be born to remove that darkness, and to enlighten the world. A child - (ילד yeled). This word usually denotes a lad, a boy, a youth. It is commonly applied to one in early life; but no particular stress is to be laid on the word. The vision of the prophet is, that the long-expected Messiah is born, and is seen growing up amidst the surrounding darkness of the north of Palestine, Isa 9:1. Is born - Not that he was born when the prophet spake. But in prophetic vision, as the events of the future passed before his mind, he saw that promised son, and the eye was fixed intently on him; see the Introduction, section 7, and the note at Isa 1:1. A son - בן bên. […]

I believe shoulders can symbolize government and authority — that we carry authority on our shoulders.