Isaiah 9:3

“Thou hast multiplied the nation, &c.] With light, knowledge, honour, and glory, even Galilee of the nations before mentioned, the land of darkness, and of the shadow of death, where the people dwelt; on whom Christ, the light, shone in the ministration of his Gospel to them; whereby the number of believers in Christ were multiplied; and indeed, as he conversed, preached, and wrought his miracles most here, he had here the greatest number of disciples and followers; here were the five hundred brethren by whom he was seen at once, after his resurrection, (<461506>1 Corinthians 15:6 <402807>Matthew 28:7,10,16) for this is not to be understood of the Assyrian nation, whose army under Sennacherib…”

“multiplied . . . nation--primarily, the rapid increase of Israelites after the return from Babylon; more fully and exhaustively the rapid spread of Christianity at first. not increased the joy--By a slight change in the Hebrew, its (joy) is substituted by some for not, because "not increased the joy" seems opposite to what immediately follows, "the joy," &c. HENGSTENBERG, retains not thus: "Whose joy thou hadst not increased," (that is, hadst diminished). Others, "Hast thou not increased the joy?" The very difficulty of the reading, not, makes it less likely to be an interpolation. HORSLEY best explains it: The prophet sees in vision a shifting scene, comprehending at one glance the history…”

“Thou hast multiplied the nation - Thou hast rendered the nation strong, powerful, mighty. Several interpreters, as Calvin, Vitringa, and Le Clerc, suppose that the prophet here, and in the two following verses, speaks in the first instance of the prosperity near at hand, and of the rapid increase of the Israelites after the return from the Babylonian exile, in which the inhabitants of Galilee must have participated, as may be inferred from the accounts of Josephus respecting the great population of that province in his time; see Jewish Wars, i. 20, 23. Vitringa also directs our attention to the fact, that the Jewish people, after the exile, not only filled Judea, but spread themselves into…”

“Thou hast - Thou hast made good thy promise to Abraham concerning the multiplication of his seed, by gathering in the Gentiles to the Jews. Before thee - In thy presence, and in the place of thy worship. Isaiah 9:4”

“hast multiplied: Isa 26:15, Isa 49:20-22; Neh 9:23; Psa 107:38; Hos 4:7; Zac 2:11, Zac 8:23, Zac 10:8 not increased the joy: or, to him increased the joy they joy: Isa 12:1, Isa 25:9, Isa 35:2, Isa 35:10, Isa 54:1, Isa 55:12, Isa 61:7, Isa 61:10, Isa 65:18, Isa 66:10; Psa 4:7; Psa 126:5, Psa 126:6; Jer 31:7, Jer 31:12-14; Act 8:8; Phi 4:4; Pe1 1:8 according: Isa 16:9, Isa 16:10 and as men: Jdg 5:3; Sa1 30:16; Ch2 20:25-28; Psa 119:162; Luk 11:22 Isaiah 9:4”

“In Isa 9:3 he says, in words of thanksgiving and praise: "Thou multipliest the nation, preparest it great joy; they rejoice before Thee like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they share the spoil." "The nation" (haggoi) is undoubtedly Israel, reduced to a small remnant. That God would make this again into a numerous people, was a leading feature in the pictures drawn of the time of glory ( Isa 26:15; Isa 66:8; Zac 14:10-11), which would be in this respect the counterpart of that of Solomon ( Kg1 4:20). If our explanation is the correct one so far, the only way to give an intelligible meaning to the chethib לא, taking it in a negative sense, is to render it, as Hengstenberg, Hitzig, and…”