Isaiah 9:6 Variant in the LXX

I was intrigued by a variant reading in Isaiah 9:6 today:

Here is the normal reading from the Masoretic Text (MT) as translated in the NRSV:

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Here is the variant reading that occurs in the Septuagint (LXX) translated in to English in the New English Translation of the LXX:

Isaiah 9:6 "Because a child was born to us, a son was also given to us, whose sovereignty was upon his shoulder, and he is named Angel of mighty council, for I will bring peace upon the rulers, peace and health to him".

Interesting is the use of "Angel of mighty council". Several church fathers seem to have had a preference for the LXX rendering (and some even seem aware of the MT reading):

"“A Son,” they say, has been given to us, on whose shoulder the government is from above; and His name is called the Angel of great counsel, Wonderful, Counsellor, the strong and mighty God.” (Ignatius, Epistle to the Antiochians, 3)

"The Spirit calls the Lord Himself a child, thus prophesying by Esaias: “Lo, to us a child has been born, to us a son has been given, on whose own shoulder the government shall be; and His name has been called the Angel of great Counsel.” Who, then, is this infant child? He according to whose image we are made little children. By the same prophet is declared His greatness: “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, 1.5)

"And when Isaiah calls Him the Angel of mighty counsel," (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 76)

"He has been, it is true, called “the Angel of great counsel,” that is, a messenger, by a term expressive of official function, not of nature. For He had to announce to the world the mighty purpose of the Father, even that which ordained the restoration of man. But He is not on this account to be regarded as an angel, as a Gabriel or a Michael." (Tertullian, [Against Marcion] On the Flesh of Christ, 14)

"To him the names of Captain, and great High Priest, Prophet of the Father, Angel of mighty counsel, Brightness of the Father’s light, Only begotten Son, with a thousand other titles, are ascribed in the oracles of the sacred writers. And the Father, having constituted him the living Word, and Law and Wisdom, the fullness of all blessing, has presented this best and greatest gift to all who are the subjects of his sovereignty." (Eusebius, the Oration of Eusebius, 3.7)

"Well then, He says by the prophet, ‘A Son is born and given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Angel of Great Counsel, mighty God, Ruler, Father of the coming age’ "(Athanasius, On Luke 10:22, section 5)

"But Isaiah also says: “His name is called Angel of Great Counsel" (Origen, Commentary on John, 1.34)

"For the Spirit Himself is Power, as you read: “The Spirit of Counsel and of Power (or might).” And as the Son is the Angel of great counsel, so, too, is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Counsel (Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit 2.2.20)

"For there, in clear and uncontrovertible terms, there is indicated by the prophecy the dispensation of His Humanity; for “unto us,” he says, “a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name is called the Angel of mighty counsel.” And it is with an eye to this, I suppose, that David describes the establishment of His kingdom" (Gregory of Nyssa, Dogmatic Treatises, 11.3)

(see also: John Cassian, Against Nestorius, 2.3. Novatian, Concerning the Trinity, 18, 28. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 3.2.Question 83.Article 4.)



Worth exploring is the possibility that this LXX variant reflects an earlier Hebrew text and what light this might shed on understanding 9:6