“For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us, and dominion rests on his shoulders, and his name will be: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Peaceful Prince.”
“For the increase of dominion and for peace without limit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it in justice and righteousness from now on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.”
(Isaiah 9:6-7, translated by Peter D. Quinn-Miscall in Reading Isaiah, p. 178-179.)
I like this translation by Quinn-Miscall because it’s not trying to be poetic, in fact, it’s not trying to be anything. Quinn-Miscall writes, “I translate literally to accentuate the ambiguity of the Hebrew text … especially of cause and effect.”
I’m so used to the majestic King James translation that this helps me see the text again, to step aside and let the original Hebrew shine. Many translations say “He will reign on David’s throne” (NIV), although some point out that “He will reign” is not in the text by bracketing it out or italicizing it. The Hebrew says something more like a blessing: “peace (shalom) without limit upon the throne of David.”
A literal translation reads like fragments and impressions, phrases more than sentences, and then you get to the end of the verse and see God working there. The primary actor who will accomplish this is neither the king nor the child, but the Lord of Hosts.
Once we look at the Hebrew originals, we can step back and see how the colors of each phrase reflected and refracted through time into other languages and cultures, including ours. For each name, we can look back and forth in the Bible for that. Christians have been doing this for about two thousand years, and have come up with a host of other names for Jesus.
In fact, there’s an entire church service built around seven names for Jesus: the “O Antiphons.” Each of these is connected with a short prayer that is sung (called an “antiphon”), a scripture passage that is read, a choir anthem, and a prayer. It’s like a concert with a purpose, and moving from image to image is like stepping through a spectrum of colors. There’s even a twist at the end: you sing seven different verses of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and you find out that each image is a verse in that classic carol.
Our local Episcopal Cathedral, St. Mark’s in Seattle, schedules an “O Antiphons” service on the first Sunday of Advent. As each antiphon is sung, a banner is walked in and set up, until at the end of the service seven banners sit across your view. The first three of these align with the first three names in Isaiah 9:6, as shown by the beginning of each verse in “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” paired with the image on the banner.
- O Wisdom, “O come, thou Wisdom from on high … “ displays a banner with a seven-branched menorah lamp. This is the wisdom offered by the “Wonderful Counselor,” discussed yesterday.
- O Adonai, “O come, O come, thou Lord of might … “ displays a banner with a burning bush in sparkling fabric. This is the strength of the “Mighty God,” whose zeal accomplishes it all. The original word “God” means literally “The High One,” so it may have originally meant “the high human” rather than implying divinity. Then, over time, the literal meaning unfolded, as it was applied to the highest of all high ones.
- O Root of Jesse, “O come, thou Branch of Jesse’s tree … “ displays a banner with a purple flower. If you look closely, the inner yellow circle around the middle of the bloom has seven sharp triangles that may represent thorns on a golden, circular crown. Jesse was the father of King David, the greatest of Israel’s kings, so this is the “Everlasting Father.” (Much more on this when we get to Isaiah 11.)
- O Key of David, “O come, thou Key of David, come … “ displays a banner with a red key. This is the key discussed yesterday, opening doors no one can shut. None of Isaiah’s four names for the third child specifically involve opening and shutting doors, but thinking about it another way, maybe all of them do!
- O Rising Dawn, “O come, thou Dayspring from on high … “ displays a banner of a scarlet sun with many rays. This is the light of wisdom by which one can walk, so I would file this one under “Wonderful Counselor.”
- O King of Nations, “O come, Desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind … “ displays a banner with a three-colored crown. The phrase “desire of nations” alludes to the way this King will rule, not by coercing nations into His empire, but by drawing all nations to himself. We’ll see how Isaiah 11:10 is one verse that says this. This ruler’s modus operandi is peace, so this is the “Peaceful Prince.”
- O Emmanuel, “O come, O come, Emmanuel … “ displays a banner with a narrow-rayed eight-pointed star. The prophecies of the star are older than Isaiah and come from Balaam, a prophet from before kings or judges. The image on the banner comes from Torah, but the name Emmanuel from Isaiah 7:14.
One thread running through all of these is a leader who leads with a personal and surprising peace. Here again, Isaiah is the middle link in a chain between the Torah and Jesus. The famous blessing of Numbers 6:26 in the Torah says that God’s face brings peace: “The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (NKJV) The one who is “Everlasting Father” loves his children and leads us face to face, while the one who is “Peaceful Prince” leads a nation through peacemaking. Which Jesus does in John 14:27 when he faces his disciplines and says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (NKJV) His names shift like a kaleidoscope around Him.
There are so many names! And this list could be longer. What John says in the very last verse of his gospel about Jesus’s deeds can be applied to Jesus’s names: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25 NKJV)
These names are the labels we are given to describe the indescribable, transdimensional mystery of the Incarnation – they are inadequate to God’s reality, but they are enough for ours, and they all work together for our good. Each name adds to the others, as they mix like colors of light, giving Him the name which is above all other names in heaven and on earth. When we behold Christ face to face, we see the one to whom these names are given, transforming us, giving us rest and peace.