See note Matt. 4:15¹.

The Sea of Galilee.

Christ’s ruling on the throne of David over His kingdom will be first in the millennium and then in the new heaven and new earth unto eternity. See Luke 1:32-33 and note Luke 1:33¹.

From the time, in Gen. 11, when mankind gave up God as their Governor and made themselves the governors, the matter of government has been a great problem to man. But when the restoration comes (Acts 3:21), Christ will be the unique Governor, and the government of the Triune God will be upon His shoulder (v. 6). This government will increase and fill every corner of the earth (Psa. 72:8; Zech. 9:10b; see note Dan. 2:35^3b), causing the earth to be full of peace (cf. Isa. 2:4; 11:6-9).

Christ is the Prince of peace to us (Eph. 2:14) mainly by His ruling within us (Col. 3:15).

As the child born to us, Christ is the Mighty God (Matt. 2:11; Rom. 9:5; Heb. 1:8), and as the Son given to us, He is the Eternal Father (Isa. 63:16; 64:8; John 5:43; 10:30; 14:7-10). See note Isa. 63:16^1a.

Lit., Wonder of a Counselor, or, Wonder, Counselor. Christ is wonderful (Judg. 13:18), and He is also the Counselor. He gives us counsel, and then, as the Mighty God, He is the power and strength for carrying out the counsel (1 Cor. 1:24).

Or, rule, dominion. So also in the next verse. The divine administration is upon the shoulders of Christ, the wonderful One.

The phrase to us, especially by its repetition, indicates emphatically that every aspect of Christ revealed in this verse is for our personal and subjective experience.

The child born of a human virgin (Isa. 7:14) is the Son given by the Eternal Father. Christ is the child born of both the divine and human natures (Matt. 1:20-23), and He is also the Son in the divine nature given by the Eternal Father. Through the birth of the divine-human child, the Eternal Father gave us His divine Son as a gift. Through such a giving, everyone who believes in, i.e., receives, this dear Son receives eternal life (John 3:16; 1 John 5:11-12). See note Isa. 7:14^1d.

By the shining of Christ, the Lord broke the yoke of the burden of the people of God, broke the staff on their shoulder, and broke the rod of their oppressor as in the day of Midian, when Gideon gained a great victory over the Midianites (Judg. 7:22-25). The Assyrians came to invade Judah and to oppress them, but the Lord destroyed them as He had destroyed the Midianites through Gideon (2 Kings 19:35-37).

This prophecy refers to the increase, spread, and growth of Christ on earth through all the New Testament believers, who are the farmers in the harvest and the fighters gaining the spoil, mentioned later in the verse.

This prophecy was fulfilled in Matt. 4:12-16, when Christ came to Galilee as the great light — the true light, the light of life (4, John 1:9; 8:12) — to shine on the people who walked in darkness (John 1:5; Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 2:9b) and who dwelt in the shadow of death (Luke 1:78-79). Christ’s shining as the great light on God’s people saves them from the darkness of death, releases them from bondage in darkness (v. 3; Col. 1:13), breaks the yoke that has been upon them (v. 4; 10:26-27), and destroys their enemies with their armor (v. 5).

Isa. 9:8-21; 10:1-34 shows that both the oppressed, the kingdom of Israel, and the oppressor, the kingdom of Assyria, were under the judgment of God. These two judgments were actually one (Isa. 10:22-23). After the time of Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 11:26-43; 12:1-20). Because the kingdom of Israel had fallen to the extent that it was on the level of the Gentile nations, even becoming an ally to the king of Aram (Isa. 7:1), Israel was not only under God’s chastisement but also under His judgment. God’s chastisement on Israel (Ephraim — v. 9) became His judgment on Israel.