# Isaiah 7.14 **Book:** [Isaiah](/codex/isaiah-the-prophet/) · NASB95 ## Verse > Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14, NASB95) ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **NASB95** ([NASB95](/codex/nasb95/)) > 12. But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!' > > 13. Then he said, 'Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?' > > **14. Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.** > > 15. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. > > 16. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. (Isaiah 7:12-16, NASB95) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Isaiah the prophet, addressing King Ahaz of Judah on behalf of YHWH. - **Audience:** "the house of David", Ahaz specifically, by extension the Davidic dynasty as a whole. - **Location:** Jerusalem, at "the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller's field" (Isaiah 7:3). - **Time period:** the Syro-Ephraimite War, c. 734-732 BC. Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Aram (Syria) had allied against Judah, attempting to depose Ahaz and replace him with a puppet king. Ahaz, against Isaiah's counsel, was preparing to seek aid from Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria. ## Theological reading The verse is one of the **most contested Christological prophecies** in the OT, central to the Christian apologetic for the virgin birth and central to Jewish-Christian disputes over translation and fulfillment. **The lexical question, *almah* vs *bethulah*:** The Hebrew is *ha-almah* (הָעַלְמָה, H5959, "the *almah*"). Two competing translations: - **"Virgin"** (LXX *parthenos*, traditional Christian): the *almah* is sexually inviolate. - **"Young woman"** (modern critical / Jewish): *almah* simply means a young woman of marriageable age, with virginity *implied* but not *lexically required*, Hebrew has another word for "virgin" specifically: *bethulah* (H1330). The case for "virgin": 1. **LXX (c. 250 BC)**, Jewish translators chose *parthenos* (the unambiguous Greek word for virgin), pre-Christian, pre-controversy. The LXX is the strongest early witness. 2. **Every other OT use of *almah*** (Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:8; Psalm 68:25; Proverbs 30:19; Song 1:3; 6:8) is consistent with virginity, there is no clear case where *almah* names a non-virgin. 3. **The "sign"** demanded by the context: a sign from God to the house of David would be unimpressive if it were merely "a young woman will get pregnant" (which happens daily). The sign requires something exceptional, a *virgin* conceiving. The case for "young woman": 1. *Almah* is **not** the technical term for "virgin" (*bethulah* is). If virginity were the point, *bethulah* would be expected. 2. The original 8th-century context required a near-fulfillment in Ahaz's lifetime, the boy must reach age-of-discernment before the threat is removed (v. 16, fulfilled c. 732 BC). A miraculous virgin birth doesn't fit the timeline. The Christian harmonization: **dual fulfillment** (typological / sensus plenior). Isaiah 7 has a near-term fulfillment (perhaps Isaiah's own son in Isaiah 8:3, *Maher-shalal-hash-baz*, or Ahaz's son Hezekiah), and a far-term, fuller fulfillment in Christ. Matthew 1:23 explicitly identifies Christ as Isaiah 7:14's fulfillment, citing the LXX *parthenos*. The pattern of dual fulfillment is well-attested in OT-NT use (e.g., Hosea 11:1 quoted in Matthew 2:15). **Patristic.** Justin Martyr (*Dialogue with Trypho* 67-68, 84, c. AD 160) writes one of the earliest Christian-Jewish exchanges on this verse. Trypho argues that *almah* doesn't mean *parthenos*; Justin appeals to the LXX and to the demand of "a sign" from God. The patristic majority (Tertullian *Against the Jews* 9; Eusebius *Demonstration of the Gospel* VII.1) follows Justin: the LXX *parthenos* is decisive, and Matthew's NT use confirms the Christian reading. **Reformed.** Calvin (*Isaiah* commentary, ad loc.) treats the prophecy as primarily and ultimately Christological: "let us know that Isaiah here points out something more than what was usual… he proclaims a striking miracle." Modern evangelical scholarship (J. A. Motyer, *The Prophecy of Isaiah*, 1993; John Oswalt, *Isaiah* NICOT, 1986) defends the dual-fulfillment / Christological reading against the purely-near-fulfillment alternative. **Modern apologetic.** Michael Brown (*Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus*, vol. 3, 2003), Mitch Glaser, and the apologetic tradition develop the lexical and contextual case for the virgin reading. Key argument: the LXX translators were Jewish, pre-Christian, and chose *parthenos*, a translation choice they could have avoided if "young woman" had been the obvious sense. ## "Immanuel", God with us The name itself: *Immanu El* (עִמָּנוּ אֵל), *with us* + *God*. The name is not merely a title but a theological claim. Whoever this child is, His very *name* asserts that God is with His people. Matthew 1:23 makes the connection explicit: "they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, 'God with us.'" Christ as Immanuel is the *substantial* fulfillment, God incarnate, present with humanity in flesh. The dual-fulfillment near-context name is *signifying* God's presence; Christ is the *reality* God-with-us in person. ## Key words - [H5959 - almah](/codex/h5959-almah/), *almah* (young woman / virgin) - [H1330 - bethulah](/codex/h1330-bethulah/), *bethulah* (the technical term for virgin), the contrasting term - H6005 - immanuel, *Immanu El* (God with us), composite name - [H4899 - mashiach](/codex/h4899-mashiach/), *mashiach* (anointed), broader messianic vocabulary ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Almah vs Bethulah Objection Defeater](/codex/almah-vs-bethulah-objection-defeater/) - [Argument from Prophecy Fulfillment](/codex/argument-from-prophecy-fulfillment/) - [Cumulative Case for the Deity of Christ](/codex/cumulative-case-for-the-deity-of-christ/) - [El Gibbor LXX Translation Problem Defeater](/codex/el-gibbor-lxx-translation-problem-defeater/) - [Failed Messianic Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/failed-messianic-prophecy-objection-defeater/) - [Failed Prophecy of Tyre Objection Defeater](/codex/failed-prophecy-of-tyre-objection-defeater/) - [Isaiah 7-14 Was Mistranslated Objection Defeater](/codex/isaiah-7-14-was-mistranslated-objection-defeater/) - [Virgin Birth Is Biologically Impossible Objection Defeater](/codex/virgin-birth-is-biologically-impossible-objection-defeater/) **Concepts:** - [Biblical Prophecy](/codex/biblical-prophecy/) - [Christianity](/codex/christianity/) - [Criticcom Bible Software, A Response](/codex/criticcom-bible-software-a-response/) - [Davidic Covenant](/codex/2-samuel-7-14/) - [Evilbible.com](/codex/evilbible-com/) - [Failed Messianic Prophecy Objections](/codex/failed-messianic-prophecy-objections/) - [Messianic Prophecy](/codex/messianic-prophecy/) - [Messianic Prophecy Probability](/codex/messianic-prophecy-probability/) - [Old Testament Christology](/codex/old-testament-witness-to-the-deity-of-christ/) - [Old Testament Witness to the Deity of Christ](/codex/old-testament-witness-to-the-deity-of-christ/) - [Two-Stage Messianic Prophecy](/codex/two-stage-messianic-prophecy/) - [Virgin Birth](/codex/virgin-birth/) - [Young's Literal Translation](/codex/ylt/) **People:** - [Isaiah the Prophet](/codex/isaiah-the-prophet/) - [Jesus](/codex/jesus/) - [Justin Martyr](/codex/justin-martyr/) **Lexicon:** - [G3933 - parthenos](/codex/g3933-parthenos/) - [H1330 - bethulah](/codex/h1330-bethulah/) - [H5959 - almah](/codex/h5959-almah/) **Passages:** - [Malachi 3.1](/codex/malachi-3-1/) - [Matthew](/codex/matthew-the-apostle/) - [Matthew 1.18](/codex/matthew-1-18/) - [Matthew 1.20](/codex/matthew-1-20/) - [Matthew 1.21](/codex/matthew-1-21/) - [Matthew 1.23](/codex/matthew-1-23/) - [Matthew 28.18-20](/codex/matthew-28-18-20/) - [Zechariah 12.10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/) --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_