Seven centuries before Bethlehem, Isaiah announced a birth — and gave the child names no human king could carry.
“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.” — Isaiah 9:6
A child is born — fully human; a son is given — from God. And then the titles land, each one a claim: the government of the world on his shoulder, and a name that is the name of God.
The names
| Name (KJV) | Hebrew | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Wonderful, Counsellor | Pele Yo’etz | A wonder past explaining; the wisdom of God in person |
| The mighty God | El Gibbor | The same title used of the LORD Himself in Isaiah 10:21 |
| The everlasting Father | Avi-Ad | Father of eternity — the child is the eternal God, not a creature |
| The Prince of Peace | Sar Shalom | “Of the increase… and peace there shall be no end” (9:7) |
The New Testament reads the birth as its fulfillment — “unto you is born… a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11); “the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14); the great light dawning in Galilee (Matthew 4:15-16).
The Apostolic (Oneness) reading
Isaiah 9:6 is one of the load-bearing texts of Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal faith, and it is read exactly as written. The child born is called “The mighty God” — so the Messiah is God, not a lesser being. And He is called “The everlasting Father” — so the Son and the Father are not two divine persons, but the one God: the Father, dwelling in and revealed as the Son. This is what Jesus meant by “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9), and what Paul meant by “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). The manger holds the mighty God; the child on Mary’s lap is the everlasting Father come in flesh.
The honest part
The verse is disputed, and the site says so. Traditional Jewish reading takes the names as throne-names — honorific titles for a Davidic king (some apply them to Hezekiah) in the style of ancient Near-Eastern coronation oracles, not literal claims of deity. The Christian reply is that the titles — especially El Gibbor, “Mighty God,” the very name of the LORD a chapter later — overrun anything a human king could bear, and that the promised endless government (9:7) was fulfilled in no son of David but One. Weigh the names against every earthly king, and judge for yourself.