Post by Josh on Dec 14, 2007 16:35:52 GMT -8
Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:1-7
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
Two very interesting passages. Isaiah 7:14 has some debate surrounding it regarding context and interpretation. The word rendered "virgin" (almah, in Hebrew) can also apparently mean "young woman", leading some to wonder whether Isaiah is really envisioning a miraculous conception. Also there is some debate about whether Isaiah was trying to describe something that would happen in the near future (perhaps the birth of his own son?) or something in the distant future, or both.
In my mind, the verses 9:6-7 (above), which also speak about a son, clears these questions up quite nicely. It's important to note that in Isaiah predictions about a specific "suffering servant" crop up again and again, with numerous specific details about his appearance, mission, life, and death (and even survival after the grave). So, these passages fit nicely within the framework of prophecies about the Messiah interspersed throughout the book.
Some modern Jewish scholars have tried to re-interpret the "suffering servant" of Isaiah as simply an embodiment of Israel itself. This interpretation fails on several levels.
First, it is a novelty- ancient Jewish commentators saw these passages as predictive of one (or possibly two) individual Messianic figures to come.
Furthermore, verses like this:
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
demonstrate that the "us" in Isaiah is the nation of Israel, so the "son" can't be the nation of Israel or the personal pronouns become nonsensical. It would be like saying "for unto the Jews the Jews are born, unto the Jews, the Jews are given".
As to the section 9:1-3 (above), it is stated that the ministry of the Messiah (the child to be born) will bring glory to a long despised backwater of Jewish territory, dominated by the presence of the Gentiles during the life of Christ- namely, Galillee, where Jesus grew up and conducted most of his ministry.
The passage goes on:
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This is one of the strongest passages in the Old Testament equating the coming Messiah with God himself. To call the "son" to come the "mighty God and everlasting Father" is quite a nod toward the Trinitarian ideas of the early Church, also establishing that the equation of the Messiah with God Himself in some way was not without some precedent.
Lastly, it is strongly implied that the Messiah is to be of the line of David . The Gospel writers affirm in genealogies that Jesus was a direct descendant of David.
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:1-7
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
Two very interesting passages. Isaiah 7:14 has some debate surrounding it regarding context and interpretation. The word rendered "virgin" (almah, in Hebrew) can also apparently mean "young woman", leading some to wonder whether Isaiah is really envisioning a miraculous conception. Also there is some debate about whether Isaiah was trying to describe something that would happen in the near future (perhaps the birth of his own son?) or something in the distant future, or both.
In my mind, the verses 9:6-7 (above), which also speak about a son, clears these questions up quite nicely. It's important to note that in Isaiah predictions about a specific "suffering servant" crop up again and again, with numerous specific details about his appearance, mission, life, and death (and even survival after the grave). So, these passages fit nicely within the framework of prophecies about the Messiah interspersed throughout the book.
Some modern Jewish scholars have tried to re-interpret the "suffering servant" of Isaiah as simply an embodiment of Israel itself. This interpretation fails on several levels.
First, it is a novelty- ancient Jewish commentators saw these passages as predictive of one (or possibly two) individual Messianic figures to come.
Furthermore, verses like this:
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
demonstrate that the "us" in Isaiah is the nation of Israel, so the "son" can't be the nation of Israel or the personal pronouns become nonsensical. It would be like saying "for unto the Jews the Jews are born, unto the Jews, the Jews are given".
As to the section 9:1-3 (above), it is stated that the ministry of the Messiah (the child to be born) will bring glory to a long despised backwater of Jewish territory, dominated by the presence of the Gentiles during the life of Christ- namely, Galillee, where Jesus grew up and conducted most of his ministry.
The passage goes on:
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This is one of the strongest passages in the Old Testament equating the coming Messiah with God himself. To call the "son" to come the "mighty God and everlasting Father" is quite a nod toward the Trinitarian ideas of the early Church, also establishing that the equation of the Messiah with God Himself in some way was not without some precedent.
Lastly, it is strongly implied that the Messiah is to be of the line of David . The Gospel writers affirm in genealogies that Jesus was a direct descendant of David.