The Prophet and His Day: Isaiah 1-39 - Free Bible Commentary

2The people who walk in darknessWill see a great light;Those who live in a dark land,The light will shine on them.3You shall multiply the nation,You shall increase their gladness;They will be glad in Your presenceAs with the gladness of harvest,As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.4For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.5For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;And the government will rest on His shoulders;And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.7There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,On the throne of David and over his kingdom,To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousnessFrom then on and forevermore.The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.9:1 “no more gloom” The MT has twenty three verses in chapter 8, but the LXX makes v. 23 chapter 9verse1.The term “gloom” (BDB 734) appears in 8:22 and 8:23 (9:1) only. It links these contexts together.It is hard to know where prophecies start and stop. Be careful of letting modern chapter, verse,capitalization, and paragraphing cause you to miss related themes. An editor (or Isaiah himself or oneof his disciples) complied his sermons, oracles, and poems into an anthology. Often the onlyconnections are word plays, historical setting, or eschatological contexts.The term “no” can be understood (1) in a negative sense (if so, this verse concludes the previouscontext) or (2) if one adds “more” (NASB), then it is positive and starts the next context.} “for her who was in anguish” The PRONOUN “her” probably refers to “land” (BDB 75, 69!).Because two of the northern tribes of Israel are mentioned specifically, this must refer to (1) thenorthern tribes or (2) the covenant people as a whole.9:1,3 “He. . .He. . .You. . .You” The translators of the NASB capitalize these PRONOUNS because theysee them as referring to God’s activity.} “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali” There is a strong contrast between 8:19-22 and9:1ff. Apparently, these northern two tribal allocations had suffered greatly in 732 B.C. under Tiglath-Pileser III (i.e., Pul, cf. II Kings 15:29). No one thought that anything good could come out of thisregion. This sets the stage for the fulfillment in Jesus’ day of His Galilean ministry (“but later He shallmake it glorious,” cf. Matt. 4:12-17).122