Font Size
This is one of the best known passages in the OT. As in 2:1-5 and 4:2-6, this bright vision of hope stands in stark contrast to the gloomy portrayal of judgment that precedes it. While human arrogance, pride, and disobedience bring devastation, a gracious act of God brings hope for an otherwise impossible future.
The power of this passage is heightened when one realizes that it serves to conclude the section that began with King Ahaz (ch. 7). Because of his defiant disobedience to the will of God, his reign experienced the devastation and destruction of the Assyrian army. It was a time of great darkness. In contrast, there is one, another royal figure, who will be of divine character and whose reign will bring peace and light and justice.
Let us look at this passage in more detail. The lands of Zebulun and Naphtali are in the northern-most region of Israel and no doubt suffered the brunt of the Assyrian invasion. Even they will experience the beneficence of the coming royal Savior. Isaiah draws upon history to support his prophecy. Just as God worked with Gideon to defeat the Midianites (Jdg 7), so he will once again work to overthrow the present enemy.
What is the meaning of this remarkable prophecy, “For to us a child is born”? Is this a reference to Immanuel mentioned in ch. 7? Is this a hymn used on the occasion of the coronation of King Hezekiah, as many scholars would have us believe, with the divine titles being borrowed from the Egyptian royal tradition? One doubts it. There is simply no other occasion in the whole of the OT where such ascriptions of deity are assigned to a human king. Isaiah saw a messianic figure, somewhere in the future, who had divine qualities and yet who would enter human history, thus ushering in an age of peace and righteousness.
Isaiah continues his contrast with Ahaz in particular and human kings in general in v.7. This future ideal king will establish the kingdom the way it was meant to be, in justice and righteousness, a task that will not be realized through human means but will require an act of God (“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this”).