-3

In the prophecies in Isaiah 9:6, in a modern version of the Authorized Version (a Christian translation):

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, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Based on this scripture text, his named will be called "The mighty God" is this English translation accurate to what the actual Hebrew text says? Or it should be:

For a child is born unto us. A son is given unto us; And the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom." (The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text, 1917 edition)

The Hebrew name Pele- joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom is translated as,

Wonderful in counsel is God the Mighty, the everlasting Father, the Ruler of Peace.

Update:

What is the view of the Jews for the Messiah? Most Christian denominations today share the view of the Messiah as divine taking into account the passage above as their reference, however I am not sure if how the Jews view the Messiah, is it divine by nature?

4

1 Answer 1

2

1) Here's is the commentary from Rashi:

For a child has been born to us: Although Ahaz is wicked, his son who was born to him many years ago [nine years prior to his assuming the throne] to be our king in his stead, shall be a righteous man, and the authority of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His yoke shall be on his shoulder, for he shall engage in the Torah and observe the commandments, and he shall bend his shoulder to bear the burden of the Holy One, blessed be He.
and… called his name: The Holy One, blessed be He, Who gives wondrous counsel, is a mighty God and an everlasting Father, called Hezekiah’s name, “the prince of peace,” since peace and truth will be in his days. (Transation from Chabad)

So "Peleh-yoetz-el-gibbor-Avi-ad" refers to God, and "Prince of Peace" refers to the name. You should be aware that Biblical Hebrew syntax allows for the subject to follow the verb, and vice-versa. (Though verb-subject is much more common.)

2) Abraham_ibn_Ezra on the other hand, cites the opinion of Rashi and those who agree with him. But he prefers the explanation that all the names refer to the child, and he interprets each name as referring to various aspects of Hezekiah's personality and life. For example, "peleh"=פלא literally means "wonder" (It's a noun, and not the adjective "wonderful"- that would be "muflah"=מפלא or "niflah"=נפלא.) David Kimhi provides a similar explanation and specifies that the wonder referred to are the events described in Kings II 20:9-11.

You'll find that many Hebrew names contains God's name. For example, "Elijah"=אליהו contains two Divine names. Another example is Genesis 22:14:

And Abraham named that place, "The Lord will see"...

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .