Isaiah 7:14

Last updated

Isaiah 7:14 is a verse in the seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah in which the prophet Isaiah, addressing king Ahaz of Judah, promises that God will destroy the king's enemies before a child born to an almah is weaned. The Hebrew word עַלְמָה‎‘almāh refers to a "young woman of childbearing age", but it was translated in the Koine Greek Septuagint as παρθένοςparthenos, meaning virgin, and was subsequently picked up by the gospel of Matthew and used as a messianic prophecy of the Virgin birth of Jesus. [1] Isaiah 7:14 continues to be one of the most controversial Bible verses. [2]

Contents

Isaiah's prophesy to Ahaz

Context: Isaiah 7:1-25

The Book of Isaiah was assembled over several centuries, beginning in the 8th century BCE. [3] Chapters 1-39 refer mostly to events of the 8th century, [3] but Isaiah 7:1-25 are the product of a 7th century Josianic redaction (i.e., an editing in the reign of King Josiah, c. 640–609 BCE). [4] They present the 8th century King Ahaz (reigned c. 732–716 BC) as a faithless monarch who rejects God's promise of protection for his dynasty and city, but the purpose of the original 8th century narrative was to dissuade Ahaz' son, Hezekiah, from entering into alliance with other kingdoms to oppose the Assyrian Empire, the regional hegemon of the day. [4]

The oracle: Isaiah 7:1-10

Isaiah 7:1–8:15 deals with the prophet Isaiah's attempt to persuade King Ahaz not to join the kings of Israel (also called Ephraim) and Syria (Aram-Damascus) in their rebellion against their Assyrian overlord. [3] Isaiah 7:1-8 make up a prologue explaining that Israel and Syria have laid siege to Jerusalem in an effort to replace him with a non-Davidic king who will join them. [3]

When Ahaz ... was king of Judah, Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah ... king of Israel, marched on Jerusalem, they were unable to prevail against it. When the House of David was told that Syria had allied itself with Ephraim, their hearts and the hearts of their people trembled ... But the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shearjashub your son, ... and say to him, 'Be firm and keep calm ...' [5] In the face of the threat God announces to Ahaz: 'It will not succeed, it will not happen.' [6]

God's sign: Isaiah 7:11-16

Having delivered God's message Isaiah tells Ahaz to ask for a sign to confirm that it is a true prophecy, meaning that Ahaz is being called upon to affirm the divine covenant made with the house of David and threatened by the coalition of enemy kings, but Ahaz refuses, and Isaiah replies that he will have a sign whether he asks for it or not: [7]

7:11 יא שְׁאַל-לְךָ אוֹת, מֵעִם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ; הַעְמֵק שְׁאָלָה, אוֹ הַגְבֵּהַּ לְמָעְלָה.‎
"Ask a sign from the Lord your God, from lowest Sheol or from highest heaven."
7:12 יב וַיֹּאמֶר, אָחָז: לֹא-אֶשְׁאַל וְלֹא-אֲנַסֶּה, אֶת-יְהוָה.‎
But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not test the Lord."
7:13 יג וַיֹּאמֶר, שִׁמְעוּ-נָא בֵּית דָּוִד: הַמְעַט מִכֶּם הַלְאוֹת אֲנָשִׁים, כִּי תַלְאוּ גַּם אֶת-אֱלֹהָי. ‎
Then he retorted: "Listen, house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?
7:14 יד לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא, לָכֶם--אוֹת: הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה, הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן, וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ, עִמָּנוּ אֵל.‎
therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: the maiden is with child and she will bear a son, and will call his name Immanuel.
7:15 טו חֶמְאָה וּדְבַשׁ, יֹאכֵל--לְדַעְתּוֹ מָאוֹס בָּרָע, וּבָחוֹר בַּטּוֹב.‎
By the time he learns to reject the bad and choose the good, he will be eating curds and honey.
7:16 טז כִּי בְּטֶרֶם יֵדַע הַנַּעַר, מָאֹס בָּרָע--וּבָחֹר בַּטּוֹב: תֵּעָזֵב הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה קָץ, מִפְּנֵי שְׁנֵי מְלָכֶיהָ.‎
For before the child knows to reject the bad and choose the good, desolation will come upon the land of the two kings before whom you now cower." [8]

A sign, in this context, means a special event which confirms the prophet's words. [9] Ahaz's sign is to be the birth of a son to an almah , who will name him Immanuel, "God is with us"; the significance of the sign is not the identity of the child or his mother (scholars agree that "almah" refers to a woman of childbearing age and has nothing to do with virginity) but the meaning of his name ("God is with us") and the role it plays in identifying the length of time before God will destroy the Ephraimite-Syrian coalition (before the child learns right from wrong). [10]

Aftermath: Isaiah 7:17-25

Ahaz turned to Assyria to fend off the threat from Israel and Syria, but the price he paid was to become an Assyrian vassal. [3] His son and successor Hezekiah (ruled c. 715-686) rebelled, but the Assyrians devastated his kingdom and put Jerusalem under siege, and Hezekiah was able to save himself only by paying tribute. [11] A century later, in the time of King Josiah, the prophecy of Isaiah was revised to present Ahaz as a faithless king who rejected God's promise of protection, with the result that God brought Assyria to devastate the land until a new and faithful king (presumably Josiah) would arise to restore peace. [4] The added prophesy, describing the devastation that would come upon Judah at some unspecified future date (future, that is, from the perspective of Isaiah and Ahaz) when God would call up Assyria, is given in verses 7:17–25: "In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines ... will be turned over to thorns and briars". [12]

Gospel of Matthew

Matthew's use of Isaiah

The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus's ministry as largely the fulfilment of prophecies from Isaiah, but in the time of Jesus the Israelite Jews no longer spoke Hebrew, and Isaiah had to be translated into Greek and Aramaic, the two commonly used languages. [13] The Greek translation, the Septuagint, translated the word almah, meaning a young woman of childbearing age who had not yet given birth, as parthenos in the Greek, which means virgin. [2] This gave the author of Matthew the opportunity to interpret Jesus as the fulfilment of prophecy: he makes Jesus Immanuel, God is with us (Matthew 1:23), the divine representative on earth, and underlines Jesus' status as "Son of God" by asserting that Joseph did not have sexual intercourse with Mary before she gave birth (Matthew 1:25). [2]

Revised Standard Version

When the Revised Standard Version translators rendered "almah" as "young woman" in 1952 it immediately became a center of controversy for conservative Christians, who believed that this passage predicted the virgin birth of Jesus. The RSV quickly replaced the KJV in many churches across America, but fundamentalist American Christians argued that nowhere in the Old Testament was an almah anything other than a young unmarried girl, and one pastor publicly burned a copy of the RSV. [14] Isaiah 7:14 became a litmus test of orthodoxy among conservatives, [15] but most modern Bible translations use "young woman". [16]

Uses

Music

The King James Version of this verse is cited as texts in the English-language oratorio "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56). [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BCE prophet Isaiah ben Amoz, but there is evidence that much of it was composed during the Babylonian captivity and later. Johann Christoph Döderlein suggested in 1775 that the book contained the works of two prophets separated by more than a century, and Bernhard Duhm originated the view, held as a consensus through most of the 20th century, that the book comprises three separate collections of oracles: Proto-Isaiah, containing the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah; Deutero-Isaiah, or "the Book of Consolation",, the work of an anonymous 6th-century BCE author writing during the Exile; and Trito-Isaiah, composed after the return from Exile. Isaiah 1–33 promises judgment and restoration for Judah, Jerusalem and the nations, and chapters 34–66 presume that judgment has been pronounced and restoration follows soon. While few scholars today attribute the entire book, or even most of it, to one person, the book's essential unity has become a focus in more recent research.

The Book of Micah is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Ostensibly, it records the sayings of Micah, whose name is Mikayahu, meaning "Who is like Yahweh?", an 8th-century BCE prophet from the village of Moresheth in Judah.

The Book of Nahum is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. It is attributed to the prophet Nahum, and was probably written in Jerusalem in the 7th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hezekiah</span> King of Judah

Hezekiah, or Ezekias, was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaiah</span> Israelite prophet

Isaiah was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahaz</span> 12th king of Judah

Ahaz an abbreviation of Jehoahaz II, "Yahweh has held" was the twelfth king of Judah, and the son and successor of Jotham. Ahaz was 20 when he became king of Judah and reigned for 16 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immanuel</span> Hebrew name that appeared in the Book of Isaiah

Immanuel or Emmanuel is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew 1:10</span> Tenth verse of the first chapter in the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 1:10 is the tenth verse of the first chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible. The verse is part of the section where the genealogy of Joseph, the father of Jesus, is listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew 1:9</span>

Matthew 1:9 is the ninth verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible. The verse is part of the non-synoptic section where the genealogy of Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is listed, or on non-Pauline interpretations the genealogy of Jesus. The purpose of the genealogy is to show descent from the line of kings, in particular David, as the Messiah was predicted to be the son of David, and descendant of Abraham.

Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from God.

<i>Almah</i> Hebrew word

Almah, from a root implying the vigour of puberty, is a Hebrew word meaning a young woman ripe for marriage. Despite its importance to the account of the virgin birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, Marvin Alan Sweeney states that scholars agree that it refers to a woman of childbearing age but that it has nothing to do with whether she is a virgin or not. H.G.M. Williamson states that that precise etymology remains unclear, and that there is widespread agreement that almah may refer to a virgin but not necessarily so. Brevard S. Childs states that, apart from one controversial reference, all the occasions of almah do actually appear to denote virgins, but while it is very unlikely that a married women would be referred to as an almah yet translating it as virgin focuses too much on virginity versus sexual maturity. It occurs nine times in the Hebrew Bible and in every usage the word is either used for a woman who is indicated to be a virgin or as indeterminate.

The books of the New Testament frequently cite Jewish scripture to support the claim of the Early Christians that Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah. Scholars have observed that few of these citations are actual predictions in context; the majority of these quotations and references are taken from the prophetic Book of Isaiah, but they range over the entire corpus of Jewish writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micah (prophet)</span> Prophet in Judaism

According to the Hebrew Bible, Micah, also known as Micheas, was a prophet in Judaism and is the author of the Book of Micah. He is considered one of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible and was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah, Amos and Hosea. Micah was from Moresheth-Gath, in southwest Judah. He prophesied during the reigns of kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.

Isaiah 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Books of the Prophets.

Isaiah 9 is the ninth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Nevi'im.

Isaiah 36 is the thirty-sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. The text, describing the invasion of the Assyrian king Sennacherib to the Kingdom of Judah under Hezekiah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2 Kings 16</span> 2 Kings, chapter 16

2 Kings 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a compiler in the seventh century BCE with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of Ahaz, the king of Judah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2 Kings 18</span> 2 Kings, chapter 18

2 Kings 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, a part of the section comprising 2 Kings 18:1 to 20:21, with a parallel version in Isaiah 36–39.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2 Kings 19</span> 2 Kings, chapter 19

2 Kings 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BC, with a supplement added in the sixth century BC. This chapter records the invasion of Assyrian to Judah during the reign of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, a part of the section comprising 2 Kings 18:1 to 20:21, with a parallel version in Isaiah 36–39.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2 Kings 20</span> 2 Kings, chapter 20

2 Kings 20 is the twentieth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of Hezekiah and Manasseh, the kings of Judah.

References

  1. ↑ Sweeney 1996, p. 161.
  2. 1 2 3 Saldarini 2001, p. 1007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Coogan 2007, p. 974.
  4. 1 2 3 Sweeney 1996, p. 159.
  5. ↑ Childs 2001, p. 60.
  6. ↑ Childs 2001, p. 64.
  7. ↑ Childs 2001, p. 64-65.
  8. ↑ Childs 2001, p. 60-61.
  9. ↑ Childs 2001, p. 65.
  10. ↑ Sweeney 1996, p. 162.
  11. ↑ Coogan 2007, p. 975.
  12. ↑ Childs 2001, p. 61.
  13. ↑ Barker 2001, p. 490.
  14. ↑ Metzger 2001, p. 120.
  15. ↑ Rhodes 2009, p. 80-82.
  16. ↑ Moyise 2013, p. 85.
  17. ↑ Block, Daniel I. (2001). "Handel's Messiah: Biblical and Theological Perspectives" (PDF). Didaskalia . 12 (2). Retrieved 19 July 2011.

Bibliography

Barker, Margaret (2001). "Isaiah". In Dunn, James D.G.; Rogerson, John (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN   9780802837110.
Childs, Brevard S (2001). Isaiah. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN   978-0664221430.
Coogan, Michael D. (2007). "Isaiah". In Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Mark Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann (eds.). New Oxford Annotated Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195288803.
Ehrman, Bart D. (1999). Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium . Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-512473-6. Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.
Metzger, Bruce M. (2001). The Bible in Translation. Baker. ISBN   9780801022821.
Rhodes, Ron (2009). The Complete Guide to Bible Translations. Harvest House Publishers. ISBN   978-0736931366.
Saldarini, Anthony J. (2001). "Matthew". In Dunn, James D.G.; Rogerson, John (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN   9780802837110.
Sweeney, Marvin A (1996). Isaiah 1–39: with an introduction to prophetic literature. Eerdmans. ISBN   9780802841001.
Moyise, Steve (2013). Was the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture?. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN   978-1621896739.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.