And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: Yahweh’s spirit will bless the new king from David’s family in a special way. The Hebrew word translated Spirit can also mean “breath” and sometimes “wind.” Here the Hebrew word refers to the power of God given to equip a person with special gifts. Revised Standard Version, like a number of English translations, uses a capital letter to refer to this spirit of Yahweh. In normal English practice, capitalization suggests that it is a divine person. However, translators should not bring the New Testament theology of the Trinity into the Old Testament. Therefore they should not capitalize this word (see Good News Translation). The divine spirit, power or gift will rest upon this Davidic person. The Hebrew verb for rest upon (nuach) sounds like the word for Spirit (ruach) and has probably been used deliberately for that reason. If it is difficult to speak of a spirit “resting upon” someone in the receptor language, Good News Translation provides an alternative model: “The spirit of the LORD will give him….” The Good News Translation rendering also highlights the role of the spirit in various activities, which is not the case with the static verb rest upon. The Hebrew verb for rest upon contains the idea of settling down permanently, so Bible en français courant renders this line as “The Spirit of the Lord is constantly with him.”
The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD: This lists six gifts in three pairs, explaining what the “spirit of Yahweh” does (see Good News Translation). It spells out the results of Yahweh’s power in dwelling or resting upon the king. The list is not a new sentence, but is placed in apposition to the first line. Good News Translation links the gifts of the spirit of the LORD directly to the king’s ability to rule, but this is not necessary.
The first pair is wisdom and understanding. These two terms are used together in 10.13, where the Assyrian king proudly claims that he has both qualities. In contrast to this self-centered boast, the prophet tells us that Yahweh is the one who gives them. Wisdom and understanding both result from life experience and reflection on it. They should not be confused with learning. They imply mature reflection and understanding of life.
The second pair, counsel and might, is linked with wisdom. The wise men in Israel gave advice or counsel to the king (Jer 18.18), but since counsel is a quality of the Messianic king himself, the model of Bible en français courant is useful: “ability to decide [well].” Another possibility is “ability to give good advice.” A translation should not imply that it is the spirit counseling the king. The term might does not necessarily refer to physical strength, but rather to “greatness” or “importance.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Bible en français courant say “valor.” The new ruler will give sound advice, and the spirit of Yahweh will also bring greatness to the king and his kingdom.
The third pair is knowledge and the fear of the LORD. Knowledge refers to information or things we can learn about various matters. If no single word is available in the receptor language, the spirit of knowledge may be rendered “a spirit that makes him know about many things,” if it is not too wordy. However, many translations associate knowledge with fear, and the LORD is the object for both of them (see 11.9). Bible en français courant is a good example of this interpretation: “the Spirit that makes the Lord known and teaches one to honor him.” This is also the approach of Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. In this context we should not confuse the fear of the LORD with being scared of Yahweh. It rather describes an attitude of profound awe and deep respect. In Isaiah the expression the fear of the LORD occurs only in this passage (verses 2-3), and in 33.6.
For the translation of this verse consider the following possibilities:
• Yahweh’s power will come upon him, giving him wisdom and understanding, greatness and the ability to make good decisions, knowledge and respect for Yahweh.
• Upon him will come Yahweh’s spirit, the spirit that gives wisdom and understanding, the spirit that enables him to give good advice and makes him great, the spirit that makes him know Yahweh and respect/fear him.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .