📖 Biblical Definition
Third of four Messianic titles in Isaiah 9:6: "his name shall be called... The everlasting Father." Hebrew avi-ad — literally "Father of eternity." Applied to the Messianic Son, the title raises Trinitarian questions: how can the Son be called Father? Standard reading: He is Father in His care for His people, the eternally-loving fatherly-shepherd of the redeemed; or, He is Father-of-eternity in the sense of being the source/sustainer of eternal life for His people. Not a confusion of Persons within the Godhead.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Isa 9:6 third Messianic title; Father-of-eternity / eternally-fatherly toward His own.
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Third of four Messianic titles in Isaiah 9:6: "his name shall be called... The everlasting Father." Hebrew avi-ad — literally "Father of eternity" or "Father everlasting." Applied to the Messianic Son (the prophecy says "unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given"), the title raises Trinitarian questions: how can the Son be called Father? Standard interpretations: (1) Father in His ongoing care for His people — He is the eternally-loving fatherly-shepherd of the redeemed; (2) Father-of-eternity in the sense of being the source/sustainer of eternal life for those who belong to Him. The title does not confuse the Persons within the Godhead (Father and Son are eternally distinct Persons), but applies a fatherly-eternality predicate to the Son's relation to His people.
📖 Key Scripture
Isaiah 9:6 — "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given... his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
Hebrews 2:13 — "And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me."
John 14:18 — "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Cited by anti-Trinitarian groups (Oneness Pentecostalism) to collapse Father and Son into one Person; orthodox reading preserves distinct Persons.
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Oneness Pentecostalism (modalism) cites Isaiah 9:6 to argue Father and Son are the same Person. Orthodox Trinitarian theology reads it differently: the Son is given a fatherly-eternality predicate in His relation to His people, but Father and Son remain eternally distinct Persons. Hebrews 2:13 supports: Christ speaks of "the children which God hath given me" — relational fatherliness toward the redeemed without confusion of Persons.
Recover the precision: He is Everlasting Father in His relation to His people, not in His relation to the Father within the Trinity. Persons distinct; relations to people fatherly.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew avi-ad.
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['Hebrew', 'H1', 'ab', 'father']
['Hebrew', 'H5703', 'ad', 'perpetuity, eternity']
Usage
"Father-of-eternity to His people."
"Fatherly-eternality predicate, not Person-confusion."
"Anti-Trinitarian misreading rejected."