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Isaiah 7:14 - The Virgin Birth, Part 1

The Virgin Birth

The New Testament claims that Jesus was born from a Virgin, proving that he was divine. It quotes the verse Isaiah 7:14 as the prophecy which this supposed virgin birth is fulfilling. Here, we see the two passages:

Matthew 1:22-23

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us”.

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and will call his name Immanuel.

לכן יתן ה' הוא לכם אות הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראת שׁמו עמנו אל

There are many problems with this prooftext, but we will just take a look at two problems. First, the verse is taken out of context. When read in context, one quickly discovers that this is not a messianic prophecy at all – it doesn’t have either of the two necessary characteristics – it doesn’t speak of a time of world-wide peace, nor does it speak of a time of universal belief in God. If after reading the entire chapter 7 of Isaiah, we go on to chapter 8, we even see that Isaiah himself tells us exactly who the child is.

Second, we have the problem of mistranslation. In the Christian translation into English, there are at least three words that are mistranslated either literally or conceptually. We will look at the mistranslation issue after first exploring the passage in context..

Isaiah 7

(1) Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it.
(2) And it was told to the house of David, saying, "Syria's forces are deployed in Ephraim." So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
(3) Then Hashem said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller's Field,
(4) and say to him: 'Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.
(5) Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying,
(6) "Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel"—
(7) thus says Hashem God: "It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass.
(8) For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people.
(9) The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established." ' "
(10) Moreover Hashem spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
(11) "Ask a sign for yourself from Hashem your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above."
(12) But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test Hashem!"
(13) Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?
(14) Therefore Hashem Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
(15) Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.
(16) For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.
(17) Hashem will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father's house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah."
(18) And it shall come to pass in that day that Hashem will whistle for the fly that is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
(19) They will come, and all of them will rest in the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all thorns and in all pastures.
(20) In the same day Hashem will shave with a hired razor, with those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, The head and the hair of the legs, and will also remove the beard.
(21) It shall be in that day that a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
(22) So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, that he will eat curds; for curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.
(23) It shall happen in that day, that wherever there could be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, it will be for briers and thorns.
(24) With arrows and bows men will come there, because all the land will become briers and thorns.
(25) And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; but it will become a range for oxen and a place for sheep to roam.

Isaiah 8

(3) Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then Hashem said to me, "Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz;
(4) for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria."

Context

Now that we’ve looked at the entire passage in context, we’ll break it into pieces to get a better understanding of what is actually happening.

(1) Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it.
(2) And it was told to the house of David, saying, "Syria's forces are deployed in Ephraim." So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

Verses 1 and 2 tell the story of the King of Judah (Ahaz) who finds out that the King of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) has conspired with the King of Syria to march south and attack and conquer the Southern Kingdom (Judah). When Ahaz finds out that the Syrian forces have made their way into the heart of Israel, he and the residents of Judah became very scared.

(3) Then Hashem said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller's Field,
(4) and say to him: 'Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.
(5) Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying,
(6) "Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel"—
(7) thus says Hashem God: "It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass.”

In verses 3-7, G-d tells the Prophet Isaiah that he needs to pay a visit to Ahaz, and that he should take his son with him. It is also possible, depending on the age of the child, that this included his wife, although that is certainly not specified in the passage, but may be relevant later. Isaiah is told that he needs to tell King Ahaz not to fear the two kings, even though they are threatening to invade, because, as it says in verse 7, “It shall not stand, nor shall it come to pass.” Not gonna happen, Ahaz.

(8) For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people.
(9) The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established." ' "

In verse 8 we see that God says that within 65 years the Northern Kingdom will be destroyed, obliterated – “So that it will not be a people”, but, warns the Prophet, you’re not going to make it if you don’t have faith. After all, 65 years is a long time to be quaking in your boots waiting for a prophecy to be fulfilled.

(10) Moreover Hashem spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
(11) "Ask a sign for yourself from Hashem your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above."
(12) But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test Hashem!"
(13) Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?
(14) Therefore Hashem Himself will give you a sign:

So, Isaiah tells Ahaz to ask G-d for a sign, any sign, the fulfillment of which will give Ahaz the strength to believe for the 65 years it will take to see the fulfillment of the prophecy. Remember, G-d Himself said that if Ahaz doesn’t believe, he’s not going to make it. Ahaz, out of a moment of humility, whether pure or feigned, says he’s not going to test G-d, G-d forbid. When Ahaz says he’s not going to ask for a sign, Isaiah tells Ahaz that G-d’s going to give him a sign anyway. (It must have been very important to G-d that Ahaz have the strength to endure the long period he would have to wait).

(14) Therefore Hashem Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman (Christian translation: virgin) shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
(15) Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.
(16) For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.

Reading verses 14-16 as a whole, what do we see is the sign that G-d is giving Ahaz? Is the sign that a young woman (or virgin – it doesn’t matter for the sake of this part of the discussion, we will address the translation in the next section) is going to conceive? Is the sign that she is going to give birth to a son? Is the sign that his mother will call him Immanuel? Is the sign that the child will eat curds and honey, or that he will know good from evil? NO, NO, NO!!!!! The sign, as clearly pointed out in verse 16 is that before the child is old enough to know good from evil (3-5 years old), the King of Syria and the King of Israel are going to abandon their countries. That’s the sign!

Isaiah is telling Ahaz that he doesn’t have to wait 65 years to know that he’s not going to be conquered, he only needs to wait 3-5 years, then, even before the time is up, the land will be abandoned by its kings and he can rest assured for the next 60 years that G-d will fulfill his word. The child is not the sign – not his birth, not his gender, not his name or his diet – the child is only a marker for the sign. That is, the King just needs to watch the child grow and develop and he will know that the fulfillment of the prophecy is at hand.

The rest of the chapter uses the phrase, “in that day” many times, indicating that this is a prophecy concerning what exactly is going to happen when the kings abandon the land. No, Ahaz, it’s not going to be pretty – life’s going to get nasty, but don’t worry, as hard as it is, you will not be destroyed. That’s the reason that G-d told him that he wouldn’t make it if he didn’t have faith – it’s not going to be a cake walk.

There is no indication, anywhere in the chapter that there is a second, future fulfillment of this prophecy having to do with a virgin conceiving and giving birth to a divine god-man who would save his people from their sins. It’s just not there. In fact, even if you could read a “miraculous” birth into the story, there is nothing in the text indicating that this child will be a messiah (of ANY sort). Now, let’s briefly look at chapter 8: