Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
In the original Hebrew script of the Old Testament, there were no commas or any other punctuation. So the translators have made their own best judgment in putting those details in. Therefore, there could be commas between all of these items: wonderful, counselor, mighty, God, everlasting, Father, Prince of Peace. Or there could be no pauses at all – just one delightfully long run-on litany of praise and adoration.
I am especially in awe of the contraposition of the phrases "Mighty God" and "Everlasting Father" in this text. The late Bob Martin, Bible professor at Johnson University
The very idea! -- Jesus is Mighty God, Creator of the universe, holder of all things in His hand and for His will and design;
maker of atoms and apples and ants, planets and puppies and platelets,
galaxies and guppies and gorillas,
stars and stalactites and the stratosphere,
volcanoes and violets and ultraviolet light,
waterfalls and walruses and whiskers,
rivers and rosebuds and rain, mountains and maple trees and magpies,
lilacs and lightning and lightning bugs –
this great and fearsome God of everything is also my very own Everlasting Father -- my comfort, shelter, refuge, rock, best friend, DADDY. He hurts with me, laughs with me, loves a good joke, understands my frustrations, puts up with my tantrums, wipes away my tears in utmost sympathy and empathy, puts up with my endless complaining, guides and corrects my thoughts and actions, continually looking for the best things to give me and to pull out of me, takes pride in my very being... my Abba, my Jesus. Oh! What a wonderful thing to be His!
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