Christmas Season · Nativity of the Lord - Christmas Midnight · Year A
Isaiah 9:1-6
A Child Is Born to Us
December 25, 2025
Overview & Insights
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” (Isaiah 9:1)
Verse numbering diverges here: the Hebrew text and the Catholic lectionary begin the oracle at 9:1, while most English Bibles print it as 9:2-7. The poem answers the gloom of the preceding chapter, where those who consult the dead are consigned to distress and thick darkness, and it names the region that suffered first under Assyrian pressure, the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. What follows is cast in completed tenses, a child has been born, a son has been given (v. 5), a usage prophets favor for what is certain rather than past. The four titles of that verse read like a throne name taken at accession, and the promise is dynastic, the throne of David upheld by judgment and justice without end (v. 6). Sung at midnight, the passage sets the birth in Bethlehem against a darkness that is political before it is poetic.
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Commentary
Commentary on Isaiah 9:2-7Commentary on Is 9:2-7 Working Preacher
Luther Seminary reading of the great light and the child born to us with royal titles (the Protestant versification of this reading).
Isaiah 9:2-7 CommentaryIs 9:2-7 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
Reformed preaching commentary on the Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9 Commentary: Unto Us A Child Is BornIs 9 Commentary: Unto Us A Child Is Born Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse by verse notes on the messianic child and his titles.
Isaiah 9 CommentaryIs 9 Commentary Precept Austin
Verse by verse study library with Hebrew word notes on the messianic prophecy.
Isaiah 9:1 CommentariesIs 9:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentators compiled on the light dawning in Galilee of the Gentiles.
Background & Word Study
Isaiah 9:1 InterlinearIs 9:1 Interlinear BibleHub
Hebrew text of the prophecy word by word with parsing and Strong's numbers.
Isaiah 9 | Sefaria LibraryIs 9 | Sefaria Library Sefaria
Hebrew and English text of Isaiah 9 with classical Jewish commentaries.
The Messiah Biblical Theme BibleProject
Animated theme video tracing the biblical hope of a messianic king that Isaiah 9 announces.
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