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INCREASE OR GREATNESS?
Isaiah 9:7 (NKJV)
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
This passage has been misunderstood by me for decades.
The RSV, NASB and KJV also use the word increase. The word translated increase here is number 4766. That word is only found in one other passage in the Bible, Isaiah 33:23, where it is translated as great. I thought that increase meant increase in population or area or expanse but if you read the two translations below you get quite a different understanding and most probably a better one.
Isaiah 9:7 (GNB)
His royal power will continue to grow;
his kingdom will always be at peace.
Isaiah 9:7 (NIV 2011)
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
This understanding fits in much better with the idea that the number of saints in the first resurrection is a finite number and those in the second resurrection is also a finite number. There is no mention in the Bible of any others who will enter the kingdom of God.
2014 Jacques Gauvin
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