Tom -
There is no contradiction in this verse. The contradictions lie in many other verses such as:
Mark 15:25 (crucified by third hour)
John 19:14 (not crucified by sixth hour)
2 Samuel 10:18 (700, 40,000 horsemen)
1 Chronicles 19:18 (7000, 40,000 footmen)
The addition of verses such as John 5:7 (was never in the original), Mark 16:9-20 (was never in the original) etc.
But with this specific verse of Isaiah, the translators have deceived english speaking readers by translating "Might God" when the Hebrew found for these words refers to a "Mighty Man" but not the "Almighty God." That is to say, the Hebrew word that refers to God throughout the OT is Shadday" {shad-dah'-ee} while the one applied in Isaiah 9:6 is "Gibbowr" meaning "mighty."
The word "Gibbowr" is used many times in the OT to refer to many "Mighty Men." But, by translating the verse into "Mighty God," it gives the appearance that the promised Messiah was to be equal to God.
However, as seen by the Jews who faithfully followed the OT up to the coming of Jesus (Pbuh), they never understood the promised Messiah to be equal to God because the OT never promised such a messiah.
Ray |
