"Pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom" ( ''Peleʾ yōʿēṣ ʾēl gībbōr ʾáḇīʿaḏ śar-šālōm'') is a prophetic name or title which occurs in in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

or Isaiah 9:6 in English Bibles. It is one of a series of prophetic names found in chapters 7, 8 and 9 of the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

, including most notably

Immanuel Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the H ...

"God with us", and

Maher-shalal-hash-baz "Maher-shalal-hash-baz" (; he, מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז, ' – "Hurry to the spoils!" or "He has made haste to the plunder!") was the second prophetic name mentioned in Isaiah chapter 8– 9. Biblical accounts The name is menti ...

(Hebrew: ) - "He has made haste to the plunder!" - in the previous chapter (), which is a reference to the impending plunder of

Samaria Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first- ...

and

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

by the king of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

. The meaning of Pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom is sometimes interpreted as "Wonderful in counsel is God the mighty, the Everlasting Father, the Ruler of Peace" (Hertz 1968).

Translation

The name is translated in the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

and most English Bibles. The name could be left untranslated, and is so in the

Jewish Publication Society of America Version The Jewish Publication Society of America Version (JPS) of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) was the first Bible translation published by the Jewish Publication Society of America and the first translation of the Tanakh into English by a committee o ...

(1917), though this caused discussion among the translators and led to an English translation in the

New Jewish Publication Society of America Version The New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh, first published in complete form in 1985, is a modern Jewish 'written from scratch' translation of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible into English. It is based on revised editions of earli ...

(1985). The Latin Vulgate reads that his name will be called ''"Admirabilis consiliarius, Deus fortis, Pater futuri saeculi, Princeps pacis"'' (the Douay-Rheims version translates this as 'Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace'). The

Masoretic The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

cantillation marks Hebrew cantillation is the manner of chanting ritual readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services. The chants are written and notated in accordance with the special signs or marks printed in the Masoretic Text of the Bible, to complem ...

imply pauses after ''Pele'', ''gibbor'', and ''ad'', perhaps for the meaning, "Wonder, adviser to the mighty God. . ."; however the Versions and the traditional rabbinic commentaries agree that ''Pele yoetz'' should be read as a phrase, "Designer of wonders."

El-gibbor

The uncommon term "El-gibbor" is typically translated into English as "Mighty God" (e.g.

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

; cf. Isaiah 10:21) or occasionally as "Powerful God" (e.g.

New Century Version The New Century Version (NCV) is a revision of the International Children's Bible (ICB). The ICB is a translation of the Bible that was aimed at young readers and those with low reading skills/limited vocabulary in English. It is written at a 3rd ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

translated "El gibbor" as "hero" (Held): :''Denn uns ist ein Kind geboren, ein Sohn ist uns gegeben, und die Herrschaft ist auf seiner Schulter; er heißt Wunderbar, Rat, Held, Ewig-Vater Friedefürst.''

Jewish interpretation

Edersheim (1883) notes that this verse is applied to the Messiah in the Aramaic

Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

. In rabbinical interpretation, such as

Joseph Herman Hertz Joseph Herman Hertz (25 September 1872 – 14 January 1946) was a British Rabbi and biblical scholar. He held the position of Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1913 until his death in 1946, in a period encompassing both world wars and the ...

(1968) citing

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

and

Luzzatto Luzzatto (or Luzzato) is an Italian surname. According to a tradition communicated by S. D. Luzzatto, the family descends from a German Jew who immigrated into Italy from the province of Lusatia, and who was named after his native place.

, the name is taken as referring to the 'crown prince.' Rashi, having applied

Emmanuel Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the ...

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

also applies the Pele Yoez, "Wonderful Counsellor" prophecy to Hezekiah, saying that God "called the name of Hezekiah "Prince of Peace"." In the Greek

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

the name is translated, "Messenger of Great Counsel" as a description of the prince: "he shall be named Messenger of Great Counsel, for I will bring peace upon the rulers, peace and health to him."

Christian interpretation

In Christian interpretation, based partly on the proximity of a quote of Isaiah 9:2 found in

Matthew 4 Matthew 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of Christian Bible.Halley, Henry H (1962) ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House.Holman Illustrated Bibl ...

, the name is taken as referring to

Jesus and Messianic prophecy The New Testament frequently cites Jewish scripture to support the claim of the Early Christians that Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah, but few of these citations are actual predictions in their original context. The majority of these quotat ...

. The

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologian ...

argues that the term "Hero-God" is preferable to "Mighty God" here and similarly in Isaiah 10:21. The full verse (as it appeared in the

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

) "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" is quoted in the libretto of Handel's ''Messiah''.

In popular culture

* Brazilian football legend

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

got the nickname from the Hebrew letter "Pele", meaning "miracle". He initially knew nothing as it didn't have any meaning in Portuguese, until 2000s when he discovered the Jewish intepretation of the word.

References

{{Book of Isaiah Hebrew Bible content Book of Isaiah