In the NIV, Isaiah 9:6f reads:

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Summary

It is tempting to read the title ‘Wonderful Counsellor’ through the lens of modern psychotherapy.  The text then becomes an anticipation of Christ’s extraordinary way of dealing with people: his wisdom, compassion and insight.  But it is better to understand the word ‘counsellor’ in a regal, rather than a therapeutic, sense.

In detail

According to this sermon,

‘There’s certainly nothing wrong with seeking counseling when you have a particular need in your life.’

After all, Prov 11:14 says:

‘Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.’

But, the preacher goes on to say, Jesus is the most wonderful counsellor imaginable.  He understands (Heb 4:15); he cares (1 Pet 5:7); he is faithful (Isa 25:1).  And he still counsels today, through his Word (Psa 110:24).

Now, I don’t see anything heretical in any of this.  In fact, it’s quite helpful.  There is truth here, but it is not the truth taught in this particular text.

It is anachronistic to understand wonderful counsellor in this way (this mistake is made in the Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counseling, art. ‘Counseling and psychotherapy: Biblical themes’; and also in the Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, art. ‘Counseling’).

The ‘counsel’ here is that of a wise ruler or judge, rather than that of a psychologist or therapist.

In English the legal use of the word dates back to the 1530s, whereas the psychological use is as recent as the 1940s.

A couple of things to note about the word translated ‘wonderful’:

Firstly, it not a separate epithet.  This approach has been immortalised in the AV (‘His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller’) and also in Handel’s Messiah.  It has also been followed in NASB.  But modern translations (NRSV, NIV, REB, NJB, NLT, ESV, etc) and interpreters are in pretty much agreement in regarding the word ‘wonderful’ as an adjective, modifying ‘Counsellor’.

Secondly, it carries the sense of ‘wonder-working’; ‘supernatural’.  Motyer remarks that in the great majority of cases where the underlying word is used, it applies to the Lord.  Indeed, in Isa 28:29 it is the Lord himself who is described as one who ‘ commands armies, who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom.’

Harmer puts it like this:

‘The…word, “wonderful,” is most significant, as in Hebrew it comes from a root that is almost exclusively used of the things that only God can do. Immediately Hebrew readers saw the word or auditors heard the word pele’, it would alert them to the fact that something is being described that is beyond human capability. Therefore when it is linked with “counsellor” the meaning is that the child will be a divine counsellor, who will instruct with the wisdom that comes only from God.’

The 19th-century commentator Barnes argues that the word ‘wonderful’ includes, but is not exhausted by, the notion of the miracle-working.:

‘It is rendered marvellous, Ps. 118:23; 139:14; 98:1; Job 5:9; wonderful, 2 Sam. 1:26; Ps. 139:14; Prov. 30:18; Job 42:3; Ps. 72:18; 86:10; hidden, Deut. 30:2; things too high, Ps. 131:1; miracles, Judg. 6:13; Ex. 15:2; Ps. 77:14; 88:10; 89:5; the word is translated wonders, in the sense of miracles, in several places; and hard, Deut. 17:8; Jer. 32:17.’

Barnes concludes:

‘It is clear that it may denote that which is miraculous, but that this idea is not necessarily connected with it. Anything which is fitted to excite wonder and amazement, from any cause, will correspond with the sense of the Hebrew word. It is a word which expresses with surprising accuracy everything in relation to the Redeemer. For the Messiah was wonderful in all things. It was wonderful love by which God gave him, and by which he came; the manner of his birth was wonderful; his humility, his self-denial, his sorrows were wonderful; his mighty works were wonderful; his dying agonies were wonderful; and his resurrection, his ascension, were all fitted to excite admiration and wonder.’

Matthew Poole comments on Christ as a ‘wonderful counsellor’:

‘To call Christ simply a Counsellor, may seem too mean a character, being common to many others with him; but to say he is a wonderful Counsellor, is a singular commendation. And so Christ is, because he hath been the Counsellor of his church in all ages, and the author and giver of all those excellent counsels delivered not only by the apostles, but also by the prophets, as is evident from 1 Pet. 1:10, 11, and hath gathered, and enlarged, and preserved his church by admirable counsels and methods of his providence, and, in a word, hath in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Col. 2:3.’

To sum up:

Smith (NAC):

‘“Wonderful Counselor” combines the idea of doing something “wonderful, extraordinary, miraculous” (peleʾ) with the skill of “giving wise advice, making plans, counsel.”’