What does Isaiah 7:14
predict?
In the King James Bible, Isaiah 7:14 reads:
"
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. "
In discussing the events related to the birth of Jesus, the
Gospel of Matthew says:
"All
this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and his name shall
be called Emmanuel...."
(Matthew
1:22)
First and foremost, the author of the first Gospel
deliberately mistranslated the Hebrew word ha’almah as “a virgin.” This Hebrew word ha’almah does not
mean “a virgin.” It means “the young
woman,” with no implication of virginity. In fact, 14 Christian bibles have
corrected this error in their translation. It has been advanced by Strong's
concordance that the word "almah" does imply virginity, as
there is nowhere in Scripture that the word is used where the maiden in
discussion is not a virgin.
Strong is wrong. He clearly overlooked Proverbs 30:19.
"
The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a
ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. "
In context, the author is discussing events which leave no
trace. Clearly the almah in this verse does not mean virgin.
The word alam simply means youth, as seen in this verse:.
"Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our youthful [sins] in the light of thy countenance". "
Here the word alumenu means [sins of] our youth. I doubt that Strong would translate it as "Thou hast set our virginity before thee:..."
(Psalms 90:8)
Another point that's raised is if almah means
"young woman" in Hebrew why did the scholar who translated the Book
of Isaiah into Greek use a Greek word for "virgin," parthenos (παρθενος)?
It should be mentioned that the Septuagint is far from an
accurate translation, and particularly in the book of Isaiah. But even so, it
is clear from other verses that parthenos is not always a virgin, such as in
Gen 34:3.
" And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob,
and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. "
What remains to be discussed is what is the sign being given
if not for some outstanding miracle such as a virgin birth?
To answer that, the context of Isaiah 7 must be looked at as
a whole.
The seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah begins by
describing the military crisis that was confronting King Ahaz of the Kingdom of
Judah. In about the year 732 B.C.E. the
House of David was facing imminent destruction at the hands of two warring
kingdoms: the northern Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Syria. These two armies had laid siege to Jerusalem. The Bible relates that the House of David
and King Ahaz were gripped with fear.
Chapter seven relates how God sent the prophet Isaiah to reassure King
Ahaz that divine protection was at hand -- the Almighty would protect him,
their deliverance was assured, and these two hostile armies would fail in their
attempt to subjugate Jerusalem. In
Isaiah 7:1-16 we read,
“And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz son of
Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah son
of Remaliah, king of Israel, marched on Jerusalem to wage war against it, and
he could not wage war against it. It
was told to the House of David, saying, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim,”
and his heart and the heart of his people trembled as the trees of the forest
tremble because of the wind. The Lord
said to Isaiah, “Now go out toward Ahaz, you and Shear-Yashuv your son to the
edge of the conduit of the upper pool, to the road of the washer’s field, and
you shall say to him, ‘Feel secure and calm yourself, do not fear, and let your
heart not be faint because of these two smoking stubs of firebrands, because of
the raging anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. Since Aram planned harm to you, Ephraim and
the son of Remaliah, saying: “Let us go up against Judah and provoke it, and
annex it to us; and let us crown a king in its midst, one who is good for
us.” So said the Lord God, “Neither
shall it succeed, nor shall it come to pass . . . .” ’ ” The Lord continued to speak to Ahaz, saying,
“Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord, your God; ask it either in the depths,
or in the heights above.” Ahaz said, “I
will not ask, and I will not test the Lord.”
Then he said, “Listen now, O House of David, is it little for you to
weary men, that you weary my God as well?
Therefore the Lord, of His own, shall give you a sign: Behold the young
woman is with child, and she shall bear a son, and she shall call his name
Immanuel. Cream and honey he shall eat
when he knows to reject bad and choose good; for, when the lad does not yet
know to reject bad and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread, shall
be abandoned.”
It is clear from this chapter that Isaiah’s declaration was
a prophecy of the unsuccessful siege of Jerusalem by the two armies of the
Kingdoms of Israel and Syria, not a virgin birth more than 700 years
later. If we interpret this chapter as
referring to Jesus’ birth, what possible comfort and assurance would Ahaz, who
was surrounded by to overwhelming military enemies, have found in the birth of
a child seven centuries later? Both he and
his people would have been long dead and buried. Such a sign would make no sense. Moreover, nowhere in the New
Testament do we find Jesus referred to as Immanuel.
Verses 15-16 state that by the time this child reaches the
age of maturity (“he knows to reject bad and choose good”), the two warring
kings, Pekah and Rezin, will have been removed. We see, in II Kings 15-16, that this prophecy was fulfilled when
these two kings were suddenly assassinated.
With an understanding of the context of Isaiah 7:14 alone, it is evident
that the child born in Isaiah 7:14 is not referring to Jesus or to any future
virgin birth. Rather, it is referring
to the divine protection that Ahaz and his people would enjoy from their impending
destruction at the hands of these two enemies, the northern Kingdom of Israel
and Syria.