Isaiah 9:7 reads as follows.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The rabbis typically understand this to be a reference to Hezekiah.
But how do they explain the use of the word “forever” in reference to Hezekiah, when he only ruled for 29 years?
I am guessing they would say that the Hebrew word can also mean a long time, and that as kingly reigns go, Hezekiah ruling for 29 years was on the long side.
How would rabbis or other Jewish commentators deal with the objection “This can’t refer to Hezekiah since he did not rule forever”?
Omar6741 said
Isaiah 9:7 reads as follows.Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The rabbis typically understand this to be a reference to Hezekiah.
But how do they explain the use of the word “forever” in reference to Hezekiah, when he only ruled for 29 years?
I am guessing they would say that the Hebrew word can also mean a long time, and that as kingly reigns go, Hezekiah ruling for 29 years was on the long side.
How would rabbis or other Jewish commentators deal with the objection “This can’t refer to Hezekiah since he did not rule forever”?
Somebody here must be able to help me with this.
Robert, I see that Hezekiah was thought to some to be a potential messiah that failed, but I still don’t see how that answers the question about forever. Do mean that if Hezekiah had prevailed that Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Rome, the various Muslim empires and then the British would not have ever conquered Judea?
If so, there is still the problem of Hezekiah himself presiding over that region forever.
However, if “forever” is hyperbole perhaps we have a better solution to the problem of Messiahs. Jesus son of Nun provided rest, the next generation follows idols. That does not discount Jesus’s rest. He fulfilled his quest, or rather Yahweh fulfilled all his promises through Jesus son of Nun (at least according to chapters 1 – 12). Then 13-24 chip away at his accomplishments. I am just positing that various messiahs were successful in their own times, and the praise raised up may have reached the realm of hyperbole in the case of Isaiah speaking about Hezekiah.
Also, it just seems a harshly literal use Isaiah’s words.
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