Introduction
This essay will discuss the identity and significance of the “virgin” (עַלמָה ‘almah, in Hebrew), as well as the child for whom the ‘almah will bear. It will be contended that identity of ‘almah and the child, known as “Immanuel,” in Isaiah 7:14, are actually contrary to the prevalent view within the church, today. After a plain reading of an English version of Isaiah 7, many Christians would quickly deduce that “Immanuel” must refer to Jesus, while “the virgin” must refer to Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is most likely due to Matthew’s usage of Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23. However, it will be the position of this essay that, according to the context of Isaiah 7, ‘almah refers to a sexual partner of Ahaz and “Immanuel” refers to a child born to that woman, via a sexual encounter with Ahaz. It will also be contended that the significance of the child’s name is that it serves as the actual sign of God’s protection. As far as Matthew 1:23 is concerned, all hope of attaching Isaiah 7:14 to Jesus is not lost. It will also be argued that Matthew handles Isaiah 7:14 in a typological fashion.
Context of Isaiah 7
The actual timeframe is provided to us in the first section of Isaiah 7: Ahaz is the king of Judah; Syria and Israel have formed an alliance and are attacking Jerusalem. These events are believed to have taken place during the Syro-Ephraimite war (733 B.C.), in which Syria, under Rezin, and Israel, led by Pekah, were attempting to take advantage of a, perceived to be, weak Assyria. It is believed that Pekah and Rezin attempted to coax Ahaz to join forces with them. When this failed, they decided to overthrow Ahaz and place a puppet ruler on the throne in Jerusalem.[1] This news, according to the text, caused “the heart of Ahaz… [to shake] as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Isa. 7:2b). It was in response to this that the Lord sent His prophet, Isaiah, as well as Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub, to meet with Ahaz (7:3). It was during this meeting that God, as the consistent keeper of His covenants, promised to be with Ahaz (7:7-9). As a form of a down-payment on that promise, Ahaz was told to ask the Lord for a sign (7:10-11).
Isaiah’s son is significant to this meeting because of his name. One of the two possible ways to understand the meaning of Shear-jashub is, “a remnant shall repent.”[2] Therefore, Ahaz as the bearer of the Davidic Covenant, was being challenged by God to repent and turn to God. Ahaz had was faced with three choices: 1.) he could join with the Syrian-Israel coalition; 2.) he could fight against the Syrian-Israel coalition; 3.) he could put his trust in the Lord. There is nothing in the immediate text that suggests that he joined with or actively fought against the coalition. However, this does not mean that Ahaz put his trust in the Lord. In Isaiah 7:12, Ahaz’s response to the promise of a sign was, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” While this may sound like a statement of humility from someone who already trusts in the Lord; in reality, it was a statement of faithlessness.[3] In response to Ahaz’s faithlessness, God, through Isaiah, stated, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin (‘almah) shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel” (7:14).
Interpreting ‘Almah (עַלמָה) from Isaiah 7:14
Lexical studies reveal that ‘almah refers to a young woman of reproductive age; this woman may or may not be married. ‘Almah could be used to refer to a female virgin, but this is not required. The Septuagint (LXX; original Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses parthenos* in its place; which refers to an unmarried virgin.[4] Matthew (1:23) seems to offer little help, as he seems to use Isaiah 7:14 as a predictive prophecy finding its fulfillment in the Virgin Mary (parthenos) and Jesus (Immanuel). For Christians who tend to read Isaiah 7:14 from the perspective of Matthew 1:23, the ‘almah of the Hebrew text and the parthenos of the LXX must be a virgin. Any other view, regardless of how faithful may be to the context of Isaiah 7:14, seems to, at a minimum, chip-away at Matthew’s handling of the Old Testament.
‘Almah as a Sexual Partner of Ahaz
Under this interpretation, ‘almah, in Isaiah 7, cannot be referring to a virginal female. ‘Almah has at least two masculine forms that have been used in the Old Testament and in neither case is the issue of sexual status an interpretive consideration. Furthermore, it is employed in Isaiah 54:4 to refer to a barren and abandoned wife. Also, the noun root of ‘almah, ‘lm (pronounced, alm), refers to someone in the age of adolescence; in other words, a young person, probably unmarried.[5]
As previously mentioned, the LXX utilizes a word (parthenos, “virgin”) with an apparent divergent meaning of ‘almah (“young female of reproductive age”). But, which word is the most consistent with the context of Isaiah 7? Based on the Hebrew lexicon, it is most likely that ‘almah lends the preferred meaning, as it originates from older material versus the LXX. It is possible that the interpreters of the LXX employed parthenos due to their own exegetical (interpretational) tendencies.[6] Also, it must be remembered that the woman in Isaiah 54:4 was most likely not a virgin, as she was known to be barren (the only way to know this is for multiple acts of intercourse not to have resulted in the conception of a child). Furthermore, the LXX fails to use parthenos to describe this woman, while the Hebrew text does use ‘almah. Therefore, the view presented in the LXX is weak, at best.
Within this view, the ‘almah cannot be referring to the prophetess in Isaiah 8. Evidence for this view is locked within the grammatical context of Isaiah 7. Due to the presence of verbless Hebrew clauses, the event being described in Isaiah 7 is one that is currently occurring.[7] In other words, the ‘almah is currently pregnant and will bear a son. However, the prophetess does not become pregnant until the next chapter. Therefore, since Isaiah is directing this sign toward Ahaz, and the context eliminates Isaiah’s wife as being the ‘almah, this woman is likely someone with whom Ahaz has recently been in a sexual relationship with and this sign is confirming that she is indeed with child.[8]
‘Almah as a Bride in a Marriage Ceremony
One view sees the ‘almah pronouncement of Isaiah 7:14 as a type of marriage announcement between Isaiah and the prophetess of Isaiah 8:3. It treats ‘almah as referring to an unmarried virgin and believes its usage in Genesis 24:43, to describe Rebekah just prior to marrying Isaac, justifies this position. This interpretation looks ahead to the events described in Isaiah 8:1-4 as the actual ceremony, as well as, a marital contract being made, post-ceremony. If this is the case, the usage of the “reliable witness, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest” (Isa. 8:2) strengthens this view. If this Uriah the priest as a witness between the union of Isaiah the prophet and a prophetess would be most appropriate.[9] An apparent weakness of this interpretation, however, is that Isaiah seems to direct the sign toward Ahaz. Therefore, one should ask if it would have been more appropriate for the sign to be directly involved with Ahaz, in some way. Furthermore, based upon the discussion within the previous interpretation, this view should be rejected.
The Sign of Immanuel
As previously noted, this sign would serve as a type of down-payment of the promise of God to be consistent with His side of the Covenant that He made with His people. He would be their God if they would be His people. However, during this time, the bearer of the Davidic Covenant, Ahaz, was not known to be faithful to his end of the Covenant that placed his family on the throne.[10] Therefore, this sign may also have served as a type of judgment against Ahaz. Since he was given the opportunity to turn to God, which may have been signified by a request for a sign from God, and, since Ahaz seemingly has failed to place his trust in the Lord, God initiated a sign that may have had a double meaning.
The first meaning is obvious, God will protect Judah against the Syria-Israel coalition. The second meaning may be related to a few themes: suffering of the nation, as symbolized in the pains of labor; the birth of a faithful remnant, as symbolized by the birth of the child; the absence of Ahaz within this remnant (likely, a future remnant), as his lack of faith and trust in the Lord displayed.[11]
The identity of the child to be named Immanuel is not known. From this, we may assume that their exact identity lacks significance. What is significant is that he is known to Ahaz, for if not, the sign loses its meaning; and that when he is born, he is named Immanuel.[12] Therefore, it is the name of the child that is central to the meaning of the sign. Within the Old Testament, there is a pattern to the name of a child serving as a sign to the nation. One such example is found in the children of the prophet Hosea. Each of his three children were assigned a name that served as a sign of God’s attitude toward His people during that time: Jezreel (refers to, judgment and future restoration), Lo’-ruhama (“not-pitied,”), and Lo’-‘ammi (“not-my-people”).[13] Therefore, the sign of the Immanuel, serves to judge Ahaz and the faithless of the nation, and it serves as a sign of hope for the faithful[14]—i.e. God will honor His Covenant with His people who are faithful.
Matthew’s Usage of Isaiah 7:14 (Matt. 1:23)
The primary issue that must be addressed in this section relates to the type of fulfillment that is viewed by the Apostle in Isaiah 7:14. If, as is the typical view in the church, Matthew intended a predictive fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 then we must assume that either Matthew was mistaken, or that the obvious context of Isaiah 7 is not so obvious. Considering the entirety of the above discussion of Isaiah 7, it is not likely the Matthew had predictive fulfillment in mind. Instead, Matthew was either viewing Isaiah 7:14 typologically, to fit the pattern of Jesus, or he may have been employing a form of Hebraic interpretation that attached an appropriate meaning to an already given name.
Matthew, in agreeance with the LXX, uses parthenos in his reference to Isaiah 7:14. However, this should come as no surprise, since it is quite likely that Matthew, along with most of the Apostles, would have used the LXX during his ministry.[15] However, even if the translators of the LXX got their word choice of parthenos right and the ‘almah was a virgin, this still does not significantly alter the overall context of Isaiah 7 to the point that it does not directly and primarily speak to Ahaz and Isaiah’s time. Therefore, this discontinuity tends to lend credence to the typological fulfillment view. In short, Matthew must have seen a particular pattern to the Immanuel sign that correlated well to a specific event in the life of Jesus.[16] Specifically, that Jesus would be conceived and born by an actual virgin (parthenos) who was young and within reproductive age (‘almah). More important than this, however, Jesus would actually be the Immanuel, “God with us,” as he is God’s Son veiled in human flesh.
Conclusion
It has been argued that the most appropriate way of viewing the ‘almah, of Isaiah 7:14, is: one who is a young woman within reproductive age; this woman was likely a sexual partner of Ahaz who would be confirmed to be pregnant in the given sign of Immanuel; and, Isaiah 7:14 is not within the realm of predictive prophecy. Isaiah 7:14 should be viewed as: addressed primarily to Ahaz; a sign both of God’s faithfulness to His Covenant; and, as a sign of judgment upon Ahaz for his lack of faithfulness to God. Matthew employed Isaiah 7:14 text typologically, as being fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s birth and by his true identity as God’s Son.
(*The full Greek alphabet would not copy over onto WordPress; thus, parthenos only occurs in its Romanized form.)
Bibliography
Hamilton, Jr., James M. “The Virgin Will Conceive: Typological Fulfillment of Matthew 1:18-23,” in Built upon the rock: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew, ed. John Nolland and Dan Gurtner. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.
Lasor, William S, Hubbard, David A., and Bush, Frederic W. Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996.
Mickelson, Johnathan K. Mickelson’s Enhanced Strong’s Dictionaries of the Greek and Hebrew Testaments: English Dictionaries of the Textus Receptus, the 1550 Stephanus, and 1525 Ben Chayyim, 2nd ed. LivingSon Press, 2015, theWord Bible Software.
Osborne, Grant R. Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010.
Walton, John H. “Isa 7:14: What’s in a Name?,” in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30:3 (September 1987): 289-306.
Webb, Barry G. The Message of Isaiah. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1997.
Wolf, Herbert M. “A Solution to the Immanuel Prophecy in Isaiah 7:14-8:22,” in Journal of Biblical Literature 91 (December 1972): 449-456.
Endnotes
[1] William S. Lasor, David A. Hubbard, and Frederic W. Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), 280.
[2] Barry G. Webb, The Message of Isaiah (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1997), Kindle electronic edition, location 1079.
[3] James M. Hamilton, Jr., “The Virgin Will Conceive: Typological Fulfillment of Matthew 1:18-23,” in Built upon the rock: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew, ed. John Nolland and Dan Gurtner (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 235.
[4] Johnathan K. Mickelson, Mickelson’s Enhanced Strong’s Dictionaries of the Greek and Hebrew Testaments: English Dictionaries of the Textus Receptus, the 1550 Stephanus, and 1525 Ben Chayyim, 2nd ed. (LivingSon Press, 2015), theWord Bible Software.
[5] John H. Walton, “Isa 7:14: What’s in a Name?,” in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30:3 (September 1987): 292.
[9] Herbert M. Wolf, “A Solution to the Immanuel Prophecy in Isaiah 7:14-8:22,” in Journal of Biblical Literature 91 (December 1972): 450-3.
[15] Grant Osborne, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 78-9.
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