Book of isaiah virgin birth

Many compelling arguments can be brought against any attempt to remove the idea of a virgin mother from isaiah 7. The second jewish book of why by alfred kolatch 1985 based on isaiah 7. It is clear from the context of isaiahs seventh chapter that the child born in isaiah 7. We welcome you who are listening on radio and now watching on television this service in the first baptist church in dallas. So you see the new testament was quoting from the septuagint, not from the hebrew old testament. The hebrew word alma actually translates as a young woman of childbearing age who had not yet given birth and who might or might not be a virgin, whereas the hebrew betulah, used elsewhere in isaiah, is the. The passage does not speak of a virgin who would marry thus surrendering her virginity and then conceive. And this is the pastor bringing the message entitled the sign of immanuel, the sign of the virgin birth, god with us. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name immanuel. Here is what the book of matthew says about the virgin birth.

Christians have maligned the virgin conception and birth of messiah yeshua jesus that the prophet isaiah seems to speak of. Isaiah lived about 700 years before the birth of jesus christ. Isaiah is the first of the 17 books of the prophets. Jps tanakh 1917 therefore the lord himself shall give you a sign.

Added to this is the fact that the greek old testament which matthew quotes in his gospel translates alma with the greek word parthenos, which does mean virgin. The virgin is conceiving a child, and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called immanuel. Yet men, under the sway of modernism, do not hesitate to so charge gods inspired apostle in the case of the virgin birth. After all, isaiah says that a virginyoung woman will give birth to a son and his name will mean god with us. Believers will of course accept matthews interpretation of isaiah as inspired by the spirit and therefore valid, but in any case the historical fact of the virgin birth does not ultimately depend on the precise meaning of alma. The book contains two of the most famous prophecies in hebrew scripture, that of the virgin birth of the messiah 7. If this alluded to some contemporary of isaiah, who was his mysterious lady. Isaiah 7 niv bible when ahaz son of jotham, the son of. When ahaz son of jotham, the son of uzziah, was king of judah, king rezin of aram and pekah son. The greek septuagint and some later christian translations, following the application of isaiah 7 in matthew 1, use the word virgin.

And were looking this evening at verses 18 to 25 of this first chapter. And joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the lord commanded him, and took mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son. The verse reads, behold, the alma shall conceive and bear a son and shall call him immanuel literally, god is with us. The church fathers were of one mind that jesus was born of a virgin, and isaiah 7. With panoramic insight, isaiah preaches about the virgin birth of christ, the bride of christ, and the new jerusalem. Rather, it is referring to the divine protection that king ahaz and his people would enjoy during the syroephraimite war. Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the lord commanded him, and took mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son. A critical and exegetical commentary on the book of isaiah, ixxxix. An angel of the lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, joseph, son of david, do not be afraid to take mary as your wife. Isaiah 7 march 20 israel and syria are mounting a new offensive against judah, either sometime later in 734 b. Open your bible with me, if you will, to matthew chapter 1. But haalmah, the virgin, would be a very strange title for isaiah to have given his wife, and the rank assigned to immanuel in isaiah 8. The book s 66 chapters correspond to the 66 books of the bible.

Isaiah, of course, did not preach or write in greek, and therefore throughout his life the word parthenos never emerged from the lips of the prophet. Rabbi tovia singer debunks christian claim that isaiah. The quotation belongs to the oracles of isaiah delivered. How long wilt thou go about, o thou backsliding daughter. Isaiah was best known as the hebrew prophet who predicted the coming of jesus christ to salvage mankind from sin. The messiah would be born of a virgin jews for jesus. Christians point to this virgin birth as evidence of messianic prophecy fulfilled by jesus. In isaiahs account, the southern kingdom of judah based in jerusalem faced military peril from an alliance the rival northern kingdom of israel forged with syria. In the very first verse he describes this book as a vision. Some suggest that isaiahs statement refers to a young woman not necessarily a. Try to picture the images his words paint in your minds eye. The most famous medieval jewish bible commentator, rabbi shlomo yitzchaki rashi, 10401105, who. In context isaiah is speaking about a specific young woman who will become pregnant during the life time of isaiah and king ahaz. Certainly that would be considered a fulfillment of the prophecy.

The virgin birth of jesus, which is a cornerstone of christianity and, as it happens, is important in islam as well, is described in clear terms in the gospels of matthew and luke. The gospel of matthew claims that jesus conception by the virgin mary is the fulfillment of this promise, citing isaiahs prophecy explicitly. The word that christians translate as virgin doesnt mean virgin, but a young woman, implying that she had known a man. Hence the prophecy of this virgin birth was given not only to ahaz but to all the descendants of david, referred to as the house of david. Jews and christians consider the book of isaiah a part of their biblical canon. In the first twenty verses of his book, isaiah masterfully sets the main themes of law and gospel before us. After all, liberal protestant theologians had long treated the miraculous virgin birth as a nonessential belief, a myth, or a mistake. Liberal critics have strained mightily to explain this verse.

Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name immanuel nasb. A christian defends matthew by insisting that the author of. Nov 17, 2018 this is a short podcast in response to a question i received about the virgin birth. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8thcentury bce prophet isaiah ben amoz, but there is extensive evidence that much of it was composed during the babylonian captivity and later. A miraculous virgin birth that supposedly took place over 560 years later would be irrelevant to ahaz, who required a sign prior to an imminent military invasion. This was pointing to both his human birth and his divine nature. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him immanuel. This scripture points to the manner in which he will born, and also to one of the names given to christ.

These prophecies also present a description of the cataclysmic judgments, the survival of a holy remnant emerging in zion, and the canopy of glory that is coming to earth. It remains to regard the almah as some young woman actually present, name, rank, and position unknown, and immanuel as her son, also otherwise unknown cheyne. The first hint in the old testament that the coming christ would be born of a virgin occurs right at the beginning. Although they misinterpreted it, many of the rabbis exegeted jere. The question was the english translation of the hebrew version of the book of isaiah clearly states that a. Some suggest that isaiahs statement refers to a young woman not necessarily a virgin of his day, who would conceive and give birth to a child, and that this event would be a sign to hezekiah. Book of isaiah overview insight for living ministries. Particularly at christmastime, several passages from the prophet are read during mass that are understood as references to the birth of christ. Dec 23, 2016 isaiah thus used the word which, among those available to him, came nearest to expressing virgin birth and which, without linguistic impropriety, opens the door to such a meaning.

Is virgin or young woman the correct translation of isaiah 7. Historically, isaiah wrote during the period of 4 kings of judah when the assyrian empire was at its height. May 30, 2012 the basis for the teaching of the virgin birth is in the birth accounts of yshua in the new testament, which state that mary had not had sexual relations with a man. No student of the old testament need apologize for a treatment of isaiah 7. Skinner, the book of the prophet isaiah, chapters i. Isaiahs text plainly says the virgin note the definite article, denoting a specificvirgin shall conceive. More than a hundred years after isaiah, the hebrew prophet jeremiah uttered another prophecy of christs virgin birth. 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. Christians believe that isaiah prophesied the virgin birth of jesus christ isaiah 7. Again, for more detail, see browns book referred to above.

Controversy has long raged over the word rendered virgin in the kjv of isaiah 7. A christian defends matthew by insisting that the author. In the book of matthew, one of the 1stcentury accounts of the life and times of jesus, the miraculous nature of jesuss birth is of paramount importance. Dec 21, 2020 this old testament verse is quoted in the new testaments matthew 1.

Among the prophets who left behind books, isaiah is generally considered the greatest. They laugh and say, its not only impossible, but that isnt what isaiah meant at all. Demonstration that the prophecy refers to a virgin birth. December 24, 2019 dave armstrong the dispatch 8 print. The prophecy of the virgin birth here is what the book of matthew says about the virgin birth. Jesus virgin birth as described in the gospel of matthew is based in part on a. Notice his striking language and imagery throughout the book. Restoration of virgin in isaiah became a motivation behind evangelical translations such as the new international version and english standard version. A defense of the virgin birth against a biblebashing. The author of the gospel of matthew used it to suggest that jesus was born to a. So what happened in the translation, almah was lost and the word that replaced almah was parthenos, which means virgin. Matthew loudly makes the point that it was specifically the prophets own words that proclaimed the virgin birth, not the words of any translator. At the time of isaiah 7, she had already given birth to shearjashub isa.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him immanuel. At the time of marys pregnancy, the idea of a virgin birth was not completely foreign to the jews understanding of their scripture. The virgin birth is an underlying assumption of everything the bible says about jesus. The author of the gospel of matthew used it to suggest that jesus was born to a parthenos, a virgin. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name. The book of isaiah is one of the major prophets in the old testament. After surveying various scholarly opinions, two key hebrew words. Now in those days a decree went out from caesar augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. To throw out the virgin birth is to reject christs deity, the accuracy and authority of scripture, and a host of other related doctrines that are the heart of the christian faith. According to the septuagint, isaiah predicts that a parthenos a virgin will conceive a child. Dual prophecy and the virgin birth outreach judaism.