KJV - [verse 14] ...the Lord <0136> himself <01931> shall give <05414> you a sign <0226>; Behold <02009>, a virgin <05959> shall conceive <02030>, and bear <03205> a son <01121>, and shall call <07121> his name <08034> Immanuel <06005>. [verse 15] Butter <02529> and honey <01706> shall he eat <0398>, that he may know <03045> to refuse <03988> the evil <07451>, and choose <0977> the good <02896>.

NRSV - 14 ...the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse evil and choose the good.

TEV - "The Sign of Immanuel" - 13 To that Isaiah replied, "Listen, now, descendants of King David. It's bad enough for you to wear out the patience of men -- do you have to wear out God's patience too? 14 Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him 'Immanuel.' 15 By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. 16 Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted.

• KJV wording: virgin
  • Old Testament Hebrew text: Strong's Hebrew # 05959 (English meaning: young woman)
  • Old Testament Greek Septuagint text: Strong's Greek # 3933 (English meaning: virgin, unmarried girl, fiancee)
  • New Testament Greek text: Strong's Greek # 3933 (English meaning: virgin, unmarried girl, fiancee)

• 1. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version (edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, page 876 OT) states:

Young woman, Hebrew " 'almah," feminine of " 'elem," young man (1 Sam 17:56; 20:22); the word appears in Gen 24:43; Ex 2:8; Ps 68:25, and elsewhere, where is is translated "young woman," "girl," "maiden."

• 2. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (edited by Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, page 235) states:

the young woman: Ha'alma is not the technical term for a virgin (betula). This is best understood as a wife of Ahaz; the child promised will guarantee the dynasty's future (note again "the house of David" in v 13; cf. v 2) and for this reason can be called Immanuel ("with us is God").

• 3. The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 5 (edited by George Arthur Buttrick, Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1956, page 218) states:

Behold, a [or "the"] young woman shall conceive and [or "has conceived and shall"] bear a son. Young woman, "maiden," is the only correct translation of the Hebrew 'almah, as is recognized by Aq., Symm., and Theod., who render it by neanis. Virgin is taken from the Greek word parthenos, found in the LXX [the Greek Old Testament Septuagint], although this corresponds rather to the Hebrew word bethulah. The quotation in Matthew 1:23 is taken from the LXX, not from the Hebrew, and is one of a number of such quotations used by the author of that Gospel [Matthew] to show that the O.T.[Old Testament] foreshadowed the life of Jesus Christ. That he uses these without particular regard to their meaning in their original context is clear from the quotation of Hos. 11:1 in Matt. 2:15. This later "messianic interpretation" is derived from the conviction that the messianic hope had been fulfilled in Jesus. This conviction we may firmly retain, while recognizing that the N.T.'s use of Isa. 7:14 is based on an inaccurate translation of the Hebrew text, which must not prejudice our interpretation of this verse in its original setting...

• 4. The Text of the Old Testament, Second Edition, by Ernst Wurthwein, translated by Erroll F. Rhodes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995, page 54) states:

[The Septuagint] made it possible for Jews living in the Greek diaspora to read their Holy Scriptures in their own familiar language. But is also provided an opportunity for non-Jews to study the Old Testament (cf. Acts 8:26f.). This was very important for the early church, because it gave wide currency to ideas with which the Christian message could be related. Furthermore, [the Septuagint] became the holy book of the Christians of the early centuries. This placed the Jewish community in a peculiar situation with regard to the version it had produced and held in honor. In disputes between Jews and Christians the Christians would often appeal to [the Septuagint], as in the discussion of Isa. 7:14. The Jews claimed that this passage refers to a young woman (neanis), not to a virgin (parthenos). The Christians could respond by pointing out that even the version the Jews themselves had produced read parthenos. In the course of time Christian insertions crept into the text, as in [the Septuagint] Ps. 95, Ps. 13, and elsewhere. This appropriation of the Greek Old Testament by the Christian church led the Jews to disown [the Septuagint] and create for themselves new forms of the text in Greek, whether by revision or by independent translation..

• 5. The Old Testament Library: Isaiah 1-12, by Otto Kaiser (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1972, see pages 100-106), comments (page 103):

I cannot see that there is any doubt that the whole sense of the sign of God [in Isa 7:10-17] which Isaiah is proclaiming is that of a prophecy of doom. Yet it would be too simple to see the passage as merely a warning. Rather, the divine sign has a double aspect. On the one hand it confirms the promise of vv. 4 ff., given to Isaiah with regard to the existing situation, and in addition it serves as a warning for the future...

A refusal of the king to ask for a sign, and thereby to place his trust in God who gives his promise and demands obedience, does not simply result in the abrogation of what Isaiah said previously concerning the fall of the coalition against Judah. Here, as in 8:1-4, Isaiah holds firmly in the first instance to the view that its attack is doomed to fail. The danger will disappear so rapidly that women who are now with child will name their sons, in thankfulness for being saved, 'Immanuel', 'God with us' (cf. Judg. 6:16; Ps. 46:7, 11)

Kaiser's translation below of Isa 7:10-17 (page 96) is very consistent with the context and with the exegesis that he and other notable biblical authorities offer:

10 Again Yahweh [Jehovah, the Lord] spoke to Ahaz: 11 'Ask a sign of Yahweh your God. Go deep into the <underworld> or high into the heavens.' 12 But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask, and I will not tempt Yahweh.' 13 And he said: 'Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: if a young woman, who is now pregnant, bear a son, she will call his name Immanuel. 15 Cream and honey shall he eat, when he knows how to refuse evil and choose good. 16 For before the child knows how to refuse evil and choose good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. 17 Yahweh will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house days such as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah -- the king of Assyria.'

Regarding Isa 7:15 -- eat curds and honey (NRSV) or drinking milk and eating honey (TEV ) -- Kaiser comments (pages 103-105):

The life of the children who were born in what was apparently so fortunate a time will be lived in utter contrast to what is implied by their name [Immanuel, God with us]. When they know how to distinguish betweengood and evil, when their conscious freedom of choice based on personal experience is fully developed, which is the case at about the twntieth year, they shall eat cream and honey (v. 15). Although even for the later Deuteronomic historian milk and honey may have seemed splendid and desirable food for those who lived in the desert (cf. Ex. 3.8, 17; Deut. 6.3; 11.9; etc.), they would not have been so to anything like the same extent for children who had grown up in a cultivated region... The development which was apparently so favourable for Jerusalem, and which led to the giving of the name Immanuel, will first be confirmed in the fate which is to come uon the Aramaean state and the northern kingdom of Israel. Both countries will be devastated before the children who are being born now have reached the twentieth year of their lives (v. 16)... In twenty years at the most, god's judgment upon the king's unbelief will be realized in new wars and terrible defeats. Then the population that remains will be reduced to the level of nomads and shepherds (cf. v. 15). Because Ahaz did not accept the offer of the God of grace, he will not escape his punishment.

Kaiser continues beyond his exegesis into some very insightful exposition of Isa 7:10-17 (page 105):

The prophet now pronounces that the sinner does not escape his punishment and that God's word prevails. We are meant to observe that God's time is his own. Man may often think that God's time is finally concluded and that he has lost his control over the world or never possessed it, but he nevertheless still rules and in good or evil holds firm to the word he has once uttered (cf. Hab. 1.3; II Peter 1:19; 3.9). The reality of life and the judgment of God is so hard that there are events, the consequences of which never cease to exist. In the crisis of the Davidic kingdom the end of the old covenant is prophesied. The word of judgment upon the son [Ahaz] who dared not be a son, receiving what was offered, arouses the expectation of one who is the Son [Christ Jesus] (cf. 10.33-11.9)... Thus the Christian knows only that it is better for him in every case to remain faithful to his God rather than to save himself without trust in God and in alleged self-reliance... Faith, as an infinite trust, demands the self-abandonment of the whole man, for in this alone can God be experienced as his helper in the struggle.

Kaiser's commentary on Isa 10:33-11:9 (pages 156-162) explains the truly prophetic nature of Isaiah's message:

[10.33-34] ...The king and the people , who do not believe, will not endure (7.9).

[11.1-5] The righteous ruler of the future. But the judgment is not God's last word. Behind it lies his purpose of salvation, his resolve to consummate the work he has begun. Of course the royal house itself is condemned to ruin. but just as David was once chosen in a truly miraculous way from the inginificant family of Jess (cf. I Sam. 16:1-13; II Sam 7:18) to receive the highest honour, once again a new shoot will spring up from the root stump of the family, a second David (v.1). Just as the spirit of Yahweh once rested upon David (cf. I Sam. 16:13; II Sam. 23.2 f.), the second David will also be equipped for his office by the spirit, which will bring about agreement between the will of God and that of the king (v.2). [page 157]

Christian faith has always asserted that the prophetic oracles concerning the future king from the time of David were fufilled in Jesus of Nazareth... Because it is God's creation, it will not relapse into nothingess; it will itself be transformed and consummated (cf. Rom. 8:19-22; Rev. 21:1). [page 162]

See also Bible dictionary explanations, "Virgin & Virgin Birth," at http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/virgin.htm.

See also Bible dictionary explanations, "Son of God," at http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/sonofgod.htm.