“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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Claim: The Messiah must be a divine being for it says “and he will be called… Mighty God.” Who can this be referring to if not for Jesus?!
Response: There are several answers to this claim.
For starters, let us look at the Jewish translation of the verse:[i] “For a child has been born to us, a son was given to us, and the authority is upon his shoulder, and the wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, ‘the prince of peace.'”
Notice, for starters, that the Jewish versions translate it more accurately by putting it in the past tense, as opposed to Christian translations which attempt to make it sound like a future prophecy about Jesus. From the surrounding context we realize that this verse has absolutely nothing to do with the Messiah or Messianic age. It is a historical account pertaining the great king of the Davidic dynasty, King Hezekiah. The chapter starts off in praise of the Lord for saving us from the king of Assyria, King Sancherib. This is why the chapter ends off with “the zealousness of God Master of Legions will accomplish this.” So the Jewish commentators explain this “child” and “king”—in the times of Sancherib, based on context and past tense—to be referring to King Hezekiah.
Note, that the term “the zealousness of God” or “zeal of God” is used only three times in the Bible—and all three times it’s about King Hezekiah’s miraculous victory.[ii]
Was he a divine being?
As you must have realized, the Jewish translation doesn’t say that “his name will be… Mighty God,” but that the Mighty God will call his name “Sar Shalom” (prince of peace) (”..and the wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, ‘the prince of peace’.”) Hence, divinity is mentioned on the Lord, not on the finite human being.
Another equally valid translation goes as follows:[iii]
“For a child has been born to us, A son has been given us. And authority has settled on his shoulders. He has been named “The Mighty God is planning grace; The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler”.” This translation is a blowout to any attempts to missionize the verse.
Moreover, even if all granted that it is Messiah’s name, it wouldn’t prove that he’s a Deity. Many names all throughout the Jewish Bible contain a message about the Divine Supreme Being and contain the name of God. For example, Hezekiah means “God (is) strong,” Toviah means “God (is) good,” Chananyah means “God (is) gracious,” and Elisha means “God (is) salvation.” El-Gibor (Mighty God) is no different—it means “God (is) mighty.”
Of course, besides for all of this, the startling question still remains: even if all Christian interpretations granted—who is to say that it is Jesus?
[i] Chabad.org and others.
[ii] Isaiah 37:21, 31-35; and II Kings 19:19, 20, 29-32.
[iii] The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation, page 802.
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