Names of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6: what Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace mean
The names of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6 explained: meaning, New Testament echoes, the Everlasting Father question, and a four-week SOAP devotional for December.
In this article
- The four names at a glance
- Why did Isaiah write Isaiah 9:6?
- Wonderful Counsellor: wisdom you can't get anywhere else
- The Mighty God: the child in the manger is God
- Everlasting Father: does this mean Jesus is the Father?
- Prince of Peace: peace with God first
- A four-week SOAP devotional on the names in Isaiah 9:6
- How to use Isaiah 9:6 in a small group
- Frequently asked questions
Isaiah 9:6 gives four titles for the promised child: Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. Christians read them as names of Jesus. Together they say he has perfect wisdom, is fully God, cares for his people forever, and brings peace with God. The New Testament never quotes the verse, but it echoes each idea.
Isaiah wrote these words to a nation at war, and the titles were never meant as greeting-card language. Each one answered a real fear. That's why they still work on a hard December.
This guide explains each name from the text, shows where the New Testament picks it up, deals with the question almost everyone asks about "Everlasting Father," and ends with a four-week SOAP devotional you can start on Sunday, November 29, 2026.
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. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
The four names at a glance
| KJV title | Hebrew | Plain meaning | What it answers | New Testament echo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wonderful, Counsellor | Pele Yoetz | A king whose wisdom is beyond human | "I don't know what to do" | Colossians 2:3 |
| The mighty God | El Gibbor | This child is God, and God is strong | "This is bigger than me" | John 20:28 |
| The everlasting Father | Avi Ad | A forever, fatherly care for his people | "Who will stay?" | John 10:27-28 |
| The Prince of Peace | Sar Shalom | The ruler who brings real peace | "I have no peace" | Romans 5:1 |
Why did Isaiah write Isaiah 9:6?
Isaiah spoke during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, when Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel marched against Jerusalem. Ahaz's heart shook "as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind" (Isaiah 7:2). Soon Assyria invaded the north and took "Galilee, all the land of Naphtali" captive (2 Kings 15:29).
Isaiah 8 ends with "trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish" (Isaiah 8:22). Then chapter 9 turns: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9:2). That same Galilee would see it first. Matthew 4:13-16 quotes these lines when Jesus settles in Capernaum.
So Isaiah's answer to war, invasion and a shaky king is not a better army. It's a baby: "unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." The next verse says his government and peace will have "no end," on "the throne of David" (Isaiah 9:7). Gabriel uses the same language with Mary:
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Christians haven't all read every detail of this verse the same way. Jewish interpretation has often applied it to King Hezekiah, and some Jewish translations render the long name as a sentence about God. We cover that in our guide to prophecies about the birth of Jesus. Evangelical readers see Jesus as the one king who fits all four titles, since no king of Judah had a government with "no end."
Is it one name or four? The KJV says "his name shall be called" and then lists the titles with commas, including one between "Wonderful" and "Counsellor." Many modern translations print "Wonderful Counselor" as a single title, which gives four pairs and fits the rhythm of the Hebrew. Either way, the meaning stays close. In the Bible, a name often describes a person's character, as with "JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
Wonderful Counsellor: wisdom you can't get anywhere else
A counsellor in Isaiah's day was a royal advisor, the person a king trusted when the decision could cost lives. The king in Isaiah 9:6 doesn't need an advisor. He is one.
The word "wonderful" is stronger than it sounds in English today. Crossway's article on this verse notes that the Hebrew word is used uniquely for the acts of God himself. Isaiah uses the same pairing elsewhere, of "the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working" (Isaiah 28:29). So this title already hints that this child's wisdom belongs to God.
Two chapters later, Isaiah says the Spirit will rest on this king as "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might" (Isaiah 11:2).
In the New Testament. People who heard Jesus were astonished and asked, "Whence hath this man this wisdom?" (Matthew 13:54). Officers sent to arrest him came back saying, "Never man spake like this man" (John 7:46). Jesus said "a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42). Paul adds that in Christ "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).
What it means for you this month. Maybe you're deciding about a job, a move, a relationship or whether to change majors. You can bring that decision to Jesus in prayer and read what he actually said. James 1:5 promises that if you lack wisdom and ask, "it shall be given." That won't always come as a clear answer by Tuesday, but you're not asking a stranger.
The Mighty God: the child in the manger is God
This title is the one that should stop you. The verse opens with a newborn and then calls him God.
The easiest place to check the wording is the next chapter. Isaiah 10:21 says, "The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God." The Hebrew phrase is the same, and nobody doubts that verse is talking about God. So the KJV's "the mighty God" in 9:6 isn't an accident of translation.
The New Testament says this openly. "The Word was God" (John 1:1), and "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Thomas looked at the risen Jesus and said, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). Paul called him "the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).
The word "mighty" in the title also fits what the Gospels show. When Jesus stopped a storm with "Peace, be still," the disciples asked, "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:39-41). You can read that account on our Jesus calms the storm page.
What it means for you this month. A God who stays far away can't be hurt by your life, and a human helper can't fix it. Christmas says Jesus is both: he "was in all points tempted like as we are" (Hebrews 4:15), and he has "all power" (Matthew 28:18). Whatever you're carrying this December, you're carrying it toward someone who knows what it feels like and who can do something about it.
Quick quiz: Isaiah
In the year of which king’s death did Isaiah see the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up?
“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” Isaiah 6:1
What did the seraphim cry to one another in Isaiah’s vision?
“One cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3
What name will the virgin give to the son announced to Ahaz as a sign?
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Shear-jashub is Isaiah’s own son (7:3). Isaiah 7:14
There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start free, no card needed.
Everlasting Father: does this mean Jesus is the Father?
No. The New Testament keeps the Father and the Son distinct, and Isaiah 9:6 doesn't say otherwise. In the same verse this person is called "a son." Jesus prayed to the Father, and he spoke of "my Father, which gave them me" (John 10:29). Christians confess one God in three persons, and the Son is not the Father.
So what does the title mean? There are three helpful ways to see it, and they fit together.
- A king who acts like a father. Isaiah himself uses "father" this way. He says of the royal official Eliakim, "he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah" (Isaiah 22:21). A good ruler protects and provides. Crossway's article reads the title in this sense, as the king's fatherly care for his people.
- A care that never ends. "Everlasting" is the striking part. Human kings die and leave their people to the next ruler, sometimes a bad one. This one "ever liveth" (Hebrews 7:25) and is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8).
- The head of a new family. Open the Bible reads the title against Adam, our first father: Jesus is "the last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45), who brings life where Adam brought death.
The closest picture in Jesus' own words may be this:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Jesus also said, "I will not leave you comfortless" (John 14:18). And he could say, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9), because the Son shows us exactly what the Father is like.
What it means for you this month. Christmas isn't an easy season for everyone, and that's especially true if a parent left, a family is split, or a home has been hard. This title doesn't erase that. It does say something steady about Jesus: he's the king who stays.
Prince of Peace: peace with God first
"Peace" in the Bible means more than a quiet evening. The Hebrew word shalom carries the idea of wholeness and well-being, and Isaiah 9:7 ties it to a kingdom run "with judgment and with justice." This isn't a truce. It's things finally being put right.
The angels announced it over Bethlehem: "on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). Then the New Testament names what kind of peace Jesus brings, in three layers.
| Kind of peace | Verse | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Peace with God | Romans 5:1 | "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" |
| Peace between people | Ephesians 2:14 | "he is our peace, who hath made both one" |
| Peace inside you | John 14:27 | "my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth" |
Notice the order, and notice the cost. Isaiah 53:5 says "the chastisement of our peace was upon him." Paul says Jesus made peace "through the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20). The manger leads to the cross, and that's where this title gets paid for.
Jesus never promised a problem-free life: "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). The peace he gives holds up inside the trouble.
What it means for you this month. If you've never trusted Jesus for forgiveness, this is the first peace to settle: Romans 5:1 says it comes by faith in him, not by earning it. If you have, name the anxious thing and take it to him tonight, and then ask who you need to make peace with before you sit down at the Christmas table.
If you want to keep these meditations in one place, the app has a SOAP journal and memory verses with review.
A four-week SOAP devotional on the names in Isaiah 9:6
SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. Our SOAP Bible study method guide explains the method if it's new. Here you take one name a week, starting on the Sundays before Christmas in 2026. Spend 10 to 15 minutes on the Sunday, then reread the verse each morning that week.
| Week of | Name | Scripture | Observation question | Application question |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 29 | Wonderful Counsellor | Isaiah 11:2, Colossians 2:3 | What does Jesus have that I keep looking for elsewhere? | What decision have I not brought to him yet? |
| Dec 6 | The Mighty God | John 1:1-14 | What does John say the Word did and is? | What am I treating as too big for God? |
| Dec 13 | The Everlasting Father | John 10:27-30 | What does Jesus promise his sheep? | Where do I feel abandoned, and what do these verses say to that? |
| Dec 20 | The Prince of Peace | Romans 5:1, John 14:27 | Where does peace come from in these verses? | Who do I need to make peace with this week? |
A prayer for each week
- Wonderful Counsellor: "Jesus, I don't have this figured out. Give me your wisdom, and help me listen."
- Mighty God: "You made me and you know me. You're bigger than what I'm afraid of. Help me trust you."
- Everlasting Father: "Thank you that you don't leave. Hold onto me when my family or my faith feels shaky."
- Prince of Peace: "Thank you for the cross and for peace with God. Quiet my heart, and make me a peacemaker this Christmas."
To add a memory verse, learn the opening line of Isaiah 9:6 in week one ("For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given") and add a title each week. By Christmas Eve, you'll know the whole verse. Our guide on how to memorize Scripture gives you a review schedule.
How to use Isaiah 9:6 in a small group
For one evening, read Isaiah 9:1-7 aloud, then assign one name to each of four pairs. Each pair reads the verses in that section above, then answers two questions: "What does this title say about Jesus?" and "Where do I need that this week?" Bring everyone back after 15 minutes and let each pair report.
For a longer series, our four-week Christmas Bible study opens with this same passage. You can also pair this devotional with the 12-day Christmas devotional for young adults, and test yourself afterward with the Isaiah Bible quiz or read the overview of the book of Isaiah.
Frequently asked questions
What are the four names of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6?
The KJV reads "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Many modern translations print "Wonderful Counselor" as one title, which gives four: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Isaiah gave them to the promised king, and Christians understand that king to be Jesus, the son of David announced in Luke 1:32-33.
Why is Jesus called Everlasting Father if he is the Son?
The title describes how the king cares for his people, not which person of the Trinity he is. Isaiah 22:21 uses "father" for a ruler who looks after the people of Jerusalem. "Everlasting" means this care never ends, since Jesus "ever liveth" (Hebrews 7:25). The same verse calls him "a son," and Scripture keeps the Father and the Son distinct as persons.
Is Isaiah 9:6 about Jesus?
Christians have long read Isaiah 9:6-7 as a prophecy of Jesus, because Gabriel echoes its language in Luke 1:32-33: the throne of David and a kingdom with "no end." The verse itself is not quoted in the New Testament, though Matthew 4:15-16 quotes Isaiah 9:1-2 about Jesus. Jewish interpretation has often applied it to King Hezekiah.
What does Prince of Peace mean?
Prince of Peace means the ruler who brings real and lasting peace. In the Bible, that begins with peace with God through faith in Jesus (Romans 5:1), extends to peace between people (Ephesians 2:14), and includes the peace he gives inside believers (John 14:27). Isaiah 9:7 adds that his peace will have no end, and that it will come with justice.
What does "the mighty God" mean in Isaiah 9:6?
The phrase says the promised child is himself God, and strong to save. The same phrase appears in Isaiah 10:21, where the remnant returns "unto the mighty God," which leaves little doubt about its meaning. The New Testament says the same of Jesus in John 1:1, John 20:28 and Titus 2:13, so evangelicals read this title as a clear statement of his deity.
What is a good devotional on the names of Jesus for Christmas?
Take one name per week for the four Sundays before Christmas, using the SOAP method: read a passage, write what you see, decide on one application, and pray. In 2026, those Sundays are November 29 and December 6, 13 and 20. The table in this guide gives you the passage and the questions for each week, with a short prayer.