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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)

Indeed, if there is one God wouldn't this verse mean that the child, the Messiah, who we know as Jesus, is that God?

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  • Hi, and welcome to the site! If you haven't already done so, please check out our help centre and how are we different from other sites.
    – bruised reed
    Dec 16, 2014 at 11:36
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    People always want to use the Almighty God part of that to prove Trinity, I think that it is a rather weak argument by itself. The term used there is not definitively the one God. The more important title given in that passage is everlasting father. Now that is a hard one to explain away.
    – Joshua
    Mar 4, 2016 at 22:42
  • @Joshua good point well made
    – David
    Jan 28, 2017 at 21:33
  • To[ whom does El-Gibborh refer in Isaiah 9:6?](hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/2815/…)
    – User 14
    May 4, 2021 at 23:05

3 Answers 3

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Jesus can be referred to as “a god” even though he is not God Almighty for the following reasons:

http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001729?q=ps+82%3A6&p=par#h=10...

The judges of Israel were called “gods”. At Psalm 82:1, 6, ʼelo·himʹ is used of men, human judges in Israel. Jesus quoted from this Psalm at John 10:34, 35. They were “gods” in their capacity as representatives of and spokesmen for Jehovah.

Moses was told that he was to serve as “God” to Aaron and to Pharaoh.—Ex 4:16, ftn; 7:1...again because he was a spokesman for God.

JESUS identified his role and his relationship with his father at John 10:31-36. The Jews wanted to stone him. Jesus asked them why. THEY charged he was claiming to be a god, or claiming to be god (depending on the translation you use). Jesus replied by reminding them that they (the judges of Israel) were called “gods” in scripture (and then reminded them that scripture cannot be nullified). (Jesus was quoting from Ps 82:1,6.) So since THE JUDGES OF ISRAEL WERE CALLED GODS themselves, how could they stone him just for saying he was GOD'S SON?

At Isaiah 9:6 Jesus Christ is prophetically called ʼEl Gib·bohrʹ, “Mighty God” (not ʼEl Shad·daiʹ [God Almighty], which is applied to Jehovah at Genesis 17:1)."

Jesus, even though God's son could prophetically be called a Mighty God because he was:

a) Jehovah Gods spokesman (John 7:16,17)

b) Appointed to become judge to all those who lived on earth. (ACTS 10:42)

So, in summary, since Jehovah God referred to Moses and Israelite judges as "gods" in scripture, Jesus most certainly was a mighty god.

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  • m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/…
    – user26827
    Mar 24, 2016 at 17:04
  • what about the everlasting father bit of the text?
    – David
    Jan 28, 2017 at 21:30
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    our original father was Adam. We inherited death from him. (Rom 5:12) Jesus sacrifice opened the way for all of us to receive everlasting life, replacing Adam as our father. Jesus is referred to as the "last Adam" (1 cor 15:22,45) because of this fact. He gave us what Adam lost, essentially becoming the eternal father of all who accept his sacrifice. (Rom 5:12,18). Note also Isa 9:6 says the government WILL BE on his shoulders, he WILL BE called eternal father. Jehovah God has always been our father, the ruler of the universe. Jesus role is progressive. (1 cor 15:21 - 28)
    – 1982
    Jun 23, 2017 at 4:28
  • @David, I'm not a JW but everlasting father can be interpreted as father of eternity. As Jubal was the Father of all humans who play the lyre and pipe, Jesus is the Father of all humans who live for eternity.
    – Austin
    Jul 18, 2021 at 15:28
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Jehovah's witnesses does not believe there are multiple gods. They believe there are only one God.

Some verses, like the one we are discussing about may be confusing, indeed. According to JW, Jesus is not THE God, but referred as a god. This is because of his role in God's plan. http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002451#h=20:90-20:883

For more explanations about Jesus' titles in Isaiah 9:6, here are some articles from their magazines/books :

  1. http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2010733#h=4:40-6:301
  2. http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2007361#h=16:410-19:257
  3. http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/pc/r1/lp-e/1200270023/155/4

Also, on the 'FAQ' section of their official website, we can find answer to these associated questions :

Is God's Name Jesus ? http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/is-gods-name-jesus/

Is Jesus Almighty God ? http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/is-jesus-almighty/

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  • Rather than giving so many links to us, can you please explain here how having a role in God's plan means that Jesus can be referred to as a god even though he is not the one God.
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Dec 17, 2014 at 10:11
  • Here is the most complete answer we can find in their site : wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002451#h=14:0-20:883
    – Ob1lan
    Dec 17, 2014 at 10:37
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    As I said, please summarise the answer here rather than just posting links.
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Dec 17, 2014 at 10:41
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The first thing to understand is the JW believe there are multiple Gods. Jesus is A God, but not The God. This verse is actually used to separate Jesus Christ from Jehovah. Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus Mighty God. Exodus 6:3 Declares Jehovah as God Almighty. Each distinct and separate titles.

Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.

Jesus Christ is "Mighty God" Jehovah is "God Almighty" Almighty is clearly a higher title than simply Mighty, which could include anybody who is considered Mighty, and a God, as JW consider Jesus.

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  • You sure about the "multiple Gods" thing? So much as I recall from my 4 year stint with them they were pretty adamant about saying there is only one God. It's been a while but I'd say they probably chalk that up to some kind of generalized statement of what the world will refer to him as and not that he holds those titles exactly. Also, NWT says "Mighty God" and not "THE Mighty God" which they might also be particular about emphasizing... whatever the implication of the word "the" may be.
    – Bubbles
    Dec 15, 2014 at 21:55
  • PS, here's a link to NWT online showing their wording: jw.org/en/publications/bible/nwt/books/isaiah/9
    – Bubbles
    Dec 15, 2014 at 22:02
  • @Bubbles And the Bible also says that some men's god is their bellies. Yes, Witness theology admits of many gods, with the caveat that words may have different meanings in different contexts.
    – TRiG
    Dec 15, 2014 at 22:31
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    They're very literal, but men saying their bellies are their Gods doesn't mean JWs accept that statement as evidence there are more than one God. The Bible makes mention of a lot of things people identify as Gods. JWs will still argue that there is only one God. Given that, you're right also. They do admit that people revere other things as Gods, but they will argue those people are wrong in as much as the claims of the world do not supersede their reality that there is only one true God.
    – Bubbles
    Dec 15, 2014 at 22:47
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    @atherises The nomenclature that JWs use is to use a capital "G" when referring to Jehovah, the one true God, and a lowercase "g" when referring to any other kind of god. The title "Mighty God" is capitalized because it's used like a proper name.
    – user32540
    Feb 27, 2018 at 23:08

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