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.