Isaiah 9:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 9:3
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
nation
הַגּ֔וֹיha.Goy
H1471
a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
increased
הִגְדַּ֣לְתָּhig.Dal.ta
H1431
to be (causatively make) large (in various senses · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
joy
הַשִּׂמְחָ֑הha.sim.Chah
H8057
blithesomeness or glee · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
joy
שָׂמְח֤וּsa.me.Chu
H8055
probably to brighten up · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
before
לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙le.fa.Nei.kha
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
joy
כְּשִׂמְחַ֣תke.sim.Chat
H8057
blithesomeness or glee · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
harvest
בַּקָּצִ֔ירba.ka.Tzir
H7105
severed · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
rejoice
יָגִ֖ילוּya.Gi.lu
H1523
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
divide
בְּחַלְּקָ֥םbe.cha.le.Kam
H2505
to be smooth (figuratively) · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
spoil
שָׁלָֽלsha.Lal
H7998
booty · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 119:162 I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
Isaiah 26:15 Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of t…
Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladn…
Isaiah 65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
Isaiah 66:10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
Isaiah 61:7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the d…
Jeremiah 31:7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, sav…
Jeremiah 31:12-14 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 9:1-7
The first words of this chapter plainly refer to the close of the foregoing chapter, where every thing looked black and melancholy: Behold, trouble, and darkness, and dimness - very bad, yet not so bad but that to the upright there shall arise light in the darkness (Psa 112:4) and at evening time it shall be light, Zac 14:7. Nevertheless it shall not be such dimness (either not such for kind or not such for degree) as sometimes there has been. Note, In the worst of times God's people have a nevertheless to comfort themselves with, something to allay and balance their troubles; they are persecuted, but not forsaken (Co2 4:9), sorrowful yet always rejoicing, Co2 6:10. And it is matter of comfo…
multiplied . . . nation--primarily, the rapid increase of Israelites after the return from Babylon; more fully and exhaustively the rapid spread of Christianity at first.
not increased the joy--By a slight change in the Hebrew, its (joy) is substituted by some for not, because "not increased the joy" seems opposite to what immediately follows, "the joy," &c. HENGSTENBERG, retains not thus: "Whose joy thou hadst not increased," (that is, hadst diminished). Others, "Hast thou not increased the joy?" The very difficulty of the reading, not, makes it less likely to be an interpolation. HORSLEY best explains it: The prophet sees in vision a shifting scene, comprehending at one glance the histor…
Thou hast multiplied the nation,.... With light, knowledge, honour, and glory, even Galilee of the nations before mentioned, the land of darkness, and of the shadow of death, where the people dwelt; on whom Christ, the light, shone in the ministration of his Gospel to them; whereby the number of believers in Christ were multiplied; and indeed, as he conversed, preached, and wrought his miracles most here, he had here the greatest number of disciples and followers; here were the five hundred brethren by whom he was seen at once, after his resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:6 for this is not to be understood of the Assyrian nation, whose army under Sennacherib was very large; nor of the Jewish nat…
The Church Fathers
You have multiplied the nation, you have not magnified the joy: they shall rejoice before you, as they rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors exulting for the spoils, when they divide the spoils. LXX: You have brought down a large portion of the people in your joy, and they shall rejoice in your presence, as they are accustomed to rejoice in the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils. We put both editions in dark places so that the diligent reader may recognize how much the Vulgate translation differs from the Hebrew truth and others. To the very light that appeared to the people in darkness, that is, to the Lord the Savior, an apostrophe is made. And it is said to him: You have multiplied the nation, that is, you have filled all nations with the knowledge of you; but you have not magnified the joy. According to which the Apostle says that he has perpetual sorrow for his brothers who are Israelites (Rom. X). And Jonah is grieved that the Ninevites have been saved in such a way that the gourd, or Ciceion, withered (Jonah IV). And the Lord himself speaks in the Gospel: I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. XV, 24). And in his suffering he said, 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me (Mat. XXVI, 39).' This passage means: If it is possible for the multitude of the Gentiles to believe without the destruction of the Jews, I reject suffering. But if they are to be blinded, let all the nations see, let your will be done, Father. So when Christ comes and the people of Christians are gathered from all nations, then the Apostles will rejoice, like harvesters rejoice in the harvest, of whom the Lord spoke: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matth. IX, 37). And as conquerors rejoice, who divide the captured booty. For when a strong one has been captured and bound, his whole house is plundered, and the spoils are divided (Matthew 12).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Harvest — The season for gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the harvest…
Entertainments · Given on occasions of: Harvest home — Given on occasions of: Harvest home
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Harvest · Celebrated with joy — Celebrated with joy
Harvest, The · A time of great joy — A time of great joy
Joy · 2:11;4:7;5:11;9:2,14;13:5;14:7;16:5,6,8,9,11;17:15;19:8;20:5;21:1,6;28:7;30:5,11,12;32:1,2,11;33:21;35:9;36:8;40:16;42:4;43:4;45:15;46:4;51:8,12;53:6;63:5-7,11;64:10;68:3;69:32;70:4;71:23;85:6;89:15,16;97:11,12;100:1,2;104:34;105:3,43;119:1,2,14,16,55,111,162,165;126:5,6;132:16;138:5;149:2,5; — 2:11;4:7;5:11;9:2,14;13:5;14:7;16:5,6,8,9,11;17:15;19:8;20:5;21:1,6;28:7;30:5,11,12;32:1,2,11;33:21;35:9;36:8;40:16;42:4;43:4;45:15;46:4;51:8,12;53:6;63:5-7,11;64:10;68:3;69:32;70:4;71:23;85:6;89:15,16;97:11,12;100:1,2;104:34;105:3,43;119:1,2,14,16,55,111,162,165;126:5,6;132:16;138:5;149:2,5;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Thou hast multiplied. This passage is somewhat obscure, both in itself, and on account of the diversity of interpretations; for it appears to be absurd to say that the joy was not increased, seeing that he immediately afterwards adds, they rejoiced. On this account the Jews interpret l' (lo) not negatively, but as if v (vau) had been substituted for ' (aleph); for sometimes, though rarely, it has this meaning in the Scriptures. [141] (Exodus 21:8.) The Jews do this, because they cannot reconcile the words of the Prophet with their opinion. Again, some view these words as referring to Sennacherib, because his army, though it was large, brought him no ground of joy, but rather of grief. (2 Kin…
In Isa 9:3 he says, in words of thanksgiving and praise: "Thou multipliest the nation, preparest it great joy; they rejoice before Thee like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they share the spoil." "The nation" (haggoi) is undoubtedly Israel, reduced to a small remnant. That God would make this again into a numerous people, was a leading feature in the pictures drawn of the time of glory (Isa 26:15; Isa 66:8; Zac 14:10-11), which would be in this respect the counterpart of that of Solomon (Kg1 4:20). If our explanation is the correct one so far, the only way to give an intelligible meaning to the chethib לא, taking it in a negative sense, is to render it, as Hengstenberg, Hitzig, and o…
Beyond destruction there is hope. In the Messiah’s kingdom, the darkness would give way to great light, which was to dawn in Galilee and reach the whole nation, and then the whole world. The Messiah’s rule would be marked by the vindication of the oppressed and the end of all oppression. He would bring justice and righteousness forever in a kingdom of peace.
9:1 Zebulun and Naphtali were northern tribes in Israel (Judg 6:35). They were humbled by the Assyrian invaders under Tiglath-pileser III in 734 and 732 BC. In Jesus’ lifetime, this prophecy was connected with his coming out of Galilee (Matt 4:14-16). • Galilee of the Gentiles was the region of Israel between the Sea of Galilee and the…
For the yoke of his burden The yoke which was a burden to Hezekiah, and that he bent his shoulder for this heavy burden to pay harsh tribute, and the rod with which he had oppressed Hezekiah.
have You broken You broke them together in one night.
like the day of Midian in Gideon’s time, for they, too, fell together in one night, and on the night of the harvest of the Omer, as it is said (Judges 7:13): “And behold, a roasted cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian.”
