Isaiah Chapter 9 verse 3 Holy Bible
Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased their joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
read chapter 9 in ASV
You have made them very glad, increasing their joy. They are glad before you as men are glad in the time of getting in the grain, or when they make division of the goods taken in war.
read chapter 9 in BBE
Thou hast multiplied the nation, hast increased its joy: they joy before thee like to the joy in harvest; as [men] rejoice when they divide the spoil.
read chapter 9 in DARBY
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
read chapter 9 in KJV
read chapter 9 in WBT
You have multiplied the nation, you have increased their joy: they joy before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
read chapter 9 in WEB
Thou hast multiplied the nation, Thou hast made great its joy, They have joyed before Thee as the joy in harvest, As `men' rejoice in their apportioning spoil.
read chapter 9 in YLT
Isaiah 9 : 3 Bible Verse Songs
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy. Dr. Kay defends this reading, and supposes a contrast of time between this clause and the next; he renders, "Thou didst multiply the nation" (i.e. in the days of Solomon and again in those of Uzziah) "and not increase the joy; but now," etc. The objection is that the verbs are all in the same tense, the simple preterit, and that there is nothing in the original corresponding to "but now." Almost all other recent commentators accept the solution offered by the Masoretic reading (לו for לא), which makes the passage simple and easy: "Thou hast multiplied the nation; its joy thou hast increased; they joy before thee," etc. (So many Hebrew manuscripts, the Alexandrine Septuagint, the Syriac, Gesenius, Knobel, Cheyne, etc.) According to the joy in harvest. "The joy in harvest" was to the Jews the joy of the Feast of Tabernacles, or in gathering (Exodus 23:16), held when the last fruits were brought in. But the prophet is perhaps taking a wider view, and thinking of the many harvest festivals prevailing throughout Western Asia, all of them originating in gratitude to the Giver of all good, and many of them comprising manifestations of joy more jubilant than those habitual to his sedater countrymen.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(3) Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy . . .--Better, following the marginal reading of the Hebrew: Thou hast increased its joy. The picture is one of unmingled brightness; the return as of a golden age, the population growing to an extent never attained before (comp. Isaiah 26:15; Jeremiah 31:27; Ezekiel 36:11), and scarcely admits of the dark shadow introduced by the reading of the text, unless, with some critics (Kay), we see in the words a contrast between the outward prosperity of the days of Solomon and Uzziah, in which there was no permanent joy, and the abundancy of joyfulness under the ideal king.They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest . . .--The words "before thee" are significant. The gladness of the people is that of worshippers at a sacrificial feast (Isaiah 25:6; Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:18), who find the secret spring of blessing in their consciousness of the presence of Jehovah. So the New Testament writers speak of "rejoicing in the Lord" (Philippians 3:1), of "joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). This "joy of harvest" represents the peaceful side of that gladness, thought of as the gift of God (Acts 14:17). But it had another aspect. It was the rejoicing after a conflict, historically with foes like the Assyrians, spiritually with all powers hostile to the true kingdom of God (Matthew 12:29). The joy of the conquerors on the battle-field, like that of harvest, had become proverbial (Psalm 119:162). . . .
