NOTE:
This post has been withdrawn. The post has been published in my book, Isaiah: The Prophet of Hope. The book presents Isaiah’s message of hope, focusing on a study of the Immanuel’s oracle in Isaiah 7:14. You can order the book from Amazon.
Isaiah: The Prophet of Hope
Visit my Amazon author’s page to purchase the book (click here).
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
A Note About This Post:
Before “You Have Increased Their Joy” (Isaiah 9:3)” was withdrawn for publication, “You Have Increased Their Joy” (Isaiah 9:3)” was read by 1846 readers. You can read “You Have Increased Their Joy” (Isaiah 9:3)” and other articles on Isaiah by reading my book Isaiah: The Prophet of Hope. Below is the content of the book:
CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations – Page vii
Preface – Page ix
Chapter 1 Isaiah, The Prophet of Hope: Isaiah 8:16 – Page 1
Chapter 2 The Donkey and Its Crib: Isaiah 1:3 – Page 9
Chapter 3 The Mountain of the Lord’s House: Isaiah 2:1–5 – Page 13
Chapter 4 The Song of the Vineyard: Isaiah 5:1–7 – Page 16
Chapter 5 The Sign of Immanuel: The Rise of Assyria: Isaiah 7:14 – Page 24
Chapter 6 The Sign of Immanuel: Isaiah 7:4 – Page 29
Chapter 7 The Virgin Shall Conceive: Isaiah 7:14 – Page 34
Chapter 8 The Birth of Immanuel: Isaiah 7:14 – Page 39
Chapter 9 The Presence of Immanuel: Isaiah 8:10 – Page 44
Chapter 10 Immanuel: God Is With Us: Matthew 1:23 – Page 50
Chapter 11 The Child Immanuel: Isaiah 7:10–16 – Page 56
Chapter 12 Isaiah’s Wife: Isaiah 8:3 – Page 59
Chapter 13 The Land That Is in Distress: Isaiah 9:1 – Page 63
Chapter 14 The People Living in Deep Darkness: Isaiah 9:1–2 – Page 68
Chapter 15 “You Have Increased Their Joy”: Isaiah 9:3 – Page 72
Chapter 16 The Peaceful Kingdom: Isaiah 11:1–10 – Page 75
Chapter 17 The Desert Highway: Isaiah 35:1–10 – Page 79
Chapter 18 Deutero-Isaiah: The Prophet of the Exile: Isaiah 40:1–11 – Page 82
Chapter 19 Hope for the Future: Isaiah 40:1–2 – Page 88
Chapter 20 The Way of the Lord: Isaiah 40:3 – Page 95
Chapter 21 God’s Faithfulness and Human Commitment: Isaiah 40:6 – Page 100
Chapter 22 Israel’s Life in Exile: Isaiah 40:27 – Page 104
Chapter 23 Fear and Trust: Isaiah 41:13 – Page 110
Chapter 24 Israel in Babylon: Isaiah 52:4 – Page 113
Chapter 25 The Profanation of God’s Name: Isaiah 52:3–26 – Page 120
Chapter 26 The Punishment of the Wicked: Isaiah 66:24 – Page 127
Bibliography – Page 143
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>I've always found the Ketiv/Qere distinction for reasons to accept the integrity of most of the text that we have. For the people tasked with preserving the text of the Hebrew Scriptures, they were so dedicated not to subtract from the integrity of the text that they didn't change plainly incongruent spellings and words, they just gave the traditionally "fixes" in additional to the passed-down texts.
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>Nate,You are correct in your evaluation of the work of the Masoretes. They had a high view of the text and were reluctant to make changes to the original text. This is the reason they developed a system of marginal notes. Even when a word was missing, as it is the case in the book of Ruth, they were ruluctant to put the missing word into the text.Thank you for your comment.Claude Mariottini
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>Another point not covered here is that the footnotes say the word was not copied correctly. Instead of הגוי לא it is perferred הגילד which changes it from "nation no" to "rejoice" as it is in the Martin Luther Bible.
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>correction הגילה
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>Scott,The solution you propose is a scholarly reconstruction of the problem. To my knowledge, it has been adopted by only one English translation, the New American Bible.I think it is wiser to remain with the correction proposed by the Masoretes.Have a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year.Claude Mariottini
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Thank you professor, you have helped me to deal with this text for my sermon for tomorrow. From a lutheran pastor in Germany: Many Christmas blessings!
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Michael,
I am happy to know that my post was helpful to you. May the Lord bless and anoint your preaching tomorrow.
May you have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Claude Mariottini
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In my view the author of Isaiah wrote ‘not’ and that is what is meant. The message I get from this passage is that the joy had not grown because people rejoiced for the wrong reasons; they rejoiced as men do when dividing up the spoils. That is, in their self-serving materialistic way; something that God specifically warns about in Proverbs 24; ‘Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he is overthrown: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him!’
But the people have now seen a great light; they have seen the error of their ways. The yoke of their oppressor has been broken. In other words they are no longer unconscious slaves to their materialistic nature. They are no longer in the shadow of darkness; they have woken up and seen the truth.
Isaiah references the defeat of the Midianites in a subsequent verse to make clear his meaning. In my view this is very significant and should not be ignored. This story is summed up by the soldier’s dream in which a loaf of bread rolls into a tent and knocks it over. In other words the Midianites are defeated by their encounter with God’s truth (the loaf of bread). In both Isaiah and Judges it is seeing the truth that is the crucial factor that leads to redemption. The joy does not increase until there is a fundamental change in outlook.
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Terry,
Thank you for your comment and for visiting my blog.
Unfortunately, your interpretation of Isaiah 9:3 is not correct. You spiritualize the text and you also take the text out of its historical context. The author of Isaiah did not write “not” in the text because all the evidence points to the fact that the scribe made a mistake in copying from the original manuscript.
If you read the text of Isaiah correctly you will understand the reason there is much joy among the people. I tried to explain the reason for the people’s joy, but it seems I did not do a good job because the way you are interpreting Isaiah 9:3, your interpretation goes completely contrary to what the prophet is trying to communicate to his audience.
Claude Mariottini
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Thank you Dr. have always been leery of the NKJV translation, out of ignorance apparently, as i am skeptical when translation try to improve upon what God placed upon a Englishman King James heart to do. I have always used the verse “so as a man thinketh, so is he” as the Psalmist said as a litmus test of King James state of mind and heart.
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David,
Thank you for your comment. When the translators of the King James Bible translated the Hebrew into English, they did not have the better manuscripts and all the other Hebrew writings available to them. Today we have a lot of material that help us understand the Hebrew text of the Bible.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
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