Expert: Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - 12/16/2011

Question
Dear Rabbi,
I was reading about the debate among Jews and Christians concerning Isaiah 7:14. How is it a sign if a young woman, who is not a virgin, bears a son?

Thanks,
Kevin

Answer
Dear Kevin,

Thanks for writing.

The most important answer is not one of polemics or apologetics but rather basic Biblical Hebrew - the translation of the word from Isaiah 7:14.

Even the Catholic Church has now revised its translation, replacing "a young woman" for the  word "virgin."  The "Jerome Biblical Commentary" writes: "Isaiah does not use the technical word for 'virgin' (betulah) but a word (ha-alma) that signifies a young woman of marriageable age...."

From a Jewish point of view, chronological considerations exclude the mother of Hezekiah, and the fact that the birth mentioned would be a sign to King Ahaz to convince him of the continuing protection of God over the kingdom of Judah is unanimously accepted by Jewish tradition and commentary that it could not mean anyone living hundreds of years later. "The" young woman could have been - suggest different commentaries - the wife of Isaiah, a wife of king Ahaz, or any woman in the royal family, or even any young woman in Judah. Birth means continuity. For that reason the name is "God IS with us" encouraging Judah not to fear their enemies.

I hope that this is helpful in explaining why these verses and the others used as proof-texts are not accepted by Jews as any Biblical prophecy of the birth of Jesus or Christian interpretations.

I am attaching a comment from the updated Encyclopedia Judaica regarding the Book of Isaiah including comments reflecting modern Jewish Biblical scholarship.

Best wishes

Rabbi Dov

The virtually unanimous opinion in modern times is that Isaiah is to be considered the work of two distinct authors: First Isaiah (chs. 1–39) whose prophetic career in Jerusalem covers the years c. 740–700 B.C.E., and that of an unknown prophet (Deutero-Isaiah, chs. 40–66; see below) whose prophecies reflect the experience and events of the Babylonian Exile (c. 540 B.C.E.).

The beginning of (First) Isaiah's prophetic career (6:1; "the year of the death of King Uzziah," c. 740 B.C.E.) coincided with the onset of a highly critical period in the fortunes of both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and the events of this period furnish the immediate background of Isaiah's prophecies. The march of conquest of both Babylonia and Syria, launched by Tiglath-Pileser III upon his accession to the Assyrian throne (745 B.C.E.), raised a looming threat to the future independence and, indeed, to the very existence of both kingdoms. The coming to power of the usurper Pekah (736 B.C.E.) in Israel marked a concerted effort, in which he was joined by Rezin, king of Damascus, and a few other neighboring principalities, to throw off the yoke of Assyrian domination. Upon King Ahaz of Judah's refusal to join the alliance, his kingdom was invaded by the leaders of the anti-Assyrian alliance who proposed to depose him and replace him with a pro-Aramean puppet, the "son of Tabeel" (II Kings 15:37; 16:5; Isa. 7:1ff.). In that critical hour, in a meeting with the panic-stricken monarch, Isaiah urged the king to be confident and calm. Ahaz spurned the prophet's quietistic counsel and, instead, sent an urgent appeal for help, accompanied by tribute, to Tiglath-Pileser (II Kings 16:7). Thus, the independence of Judah was surrendered. For Isaiah, the fateful act, while buying temporary security for Judah, ultimately invited disaster at the hands of its rescuer. King *Hezekiah (c. 715–687 B.C.E.), Ahaz's son and successor to the throne, cautiously stayed aloof, for a time, from abortive attempts initiated by Egypt to throw off the Assyrian yoke. Perhaps it was the insistence of the prophet on the futility of an alliance with Egypt that prompted this attitude; Isaiah dramatized his insistence by going about barefoot and naked for three years as a symbol of the fate that would overtake Egypt and its ally Nubia at the hands of the Assyrians (ch. 20). Some years later, internal troubles in Assyria apparently persuaded Hezekiah that, despite the prophet's warnings and dire predictions (39:5–7), the hour was ripe to break the yoke of vassalage. Isaiah's warning that dependence upon Egyptian aid could only lead to disaster went unheeded (31:3). In 701 B.C.E. Sennacherib invaded Palestine, after defeating an opposing Egyptian and Nubian force at Eltekeh. The countryside was quickly overrun (22:7), and much of its population deported. Soon afterward Jerusalem was besieged. Isaiah, prompted by his faith in the inviolability of Jerusalem, encouraged Hezekiah to refuse to surrender the city to the invader despite the threats and demands of Sennacherib's high officer (36:4ff.; II Kings 18:17ff.). The prophet predicted that Jerusalem would not be taken and that God would "turn back the invader the way by which he came" (37:22–29). The siege of Jerusalem was lifted, an event credited to a divine visitation (37:36; II Kings 19:36) that devastated the camp of Sennacherib. (For Sennacherib's account see Pritchard, Texts, 287–8; COS II: 302–3; L.L. Honor, Sennacherib's Invasion of Palestine, 1926.) Though the political and military events of the prophet's time, briefly described above, help to illuminate a number of passages in Isaiah (essentially, those already cited), the major portion of the book is devoted not to Judah's foreign policy but to the inner state of the nation, its social order, and its religious situation. Isaiah's career began at a time of growing prosperity that brought comfort and luxury. Material growth was accompanied by the territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Judah, achieved by military power cultivated by King Uzziah (II Chron. 26:6–15). The economic and political situation never seemed brighter. A national sense of complacent self-satisfaction and pride could hardly be avoided. Isaiah, however, saw that wealth had been purchased at the price of oppression. Corruption was rife in high places (1:23); the guilty were acquitted for bribes and the innocent were denied justice (5:23); the fatherless went undefended (1:23); the mansions of the rich contained the spoils of the poor (3:14); the poor farmer was evicted from his land to make room for the estate of the plutocrat (5:8). The aristocratic women of Jerusalem, in their elaborate attire and jewelry, especially served the prophet as target for his denunciations and predictions of doom (3:16–24). Foreign trade and imports apparently brought with them idolatrous religious practices and superstitions; at least, the prophet links the two (2:6–8) and he charges that "Everyone worshippeth the work of his own hands" (10:10f.). The prophet does not repudiate the sacrificial cult carried out in the Temple; indeed, he seems to have been a frequent Temple visitor, for it is here that he receives the divine call to prophecy in a vision. However, sacrifice and oblations brought by hands "full of blood" are "vain" and an  "abomination" (1:11–15). If the divine demand "to seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow" (1:17) is heeded, "ye shall eat the good of the land"; if not, "ye shall be devoured by the sword" (1:19, 20). The coming of God in His fierce anger to punish Israel and the nations is a recurrent theme (5:15, 16, 24, 25; 9:14–19; 13:11–13; 30:27, 28; cf. 9:20; 10:4). Yet, the divine anger is but an instrument where-with to humble the arrogant and punish the evildoers. Once it has accomplished its purpose, God will show His graciousness and mercy (10:25; 26:30; 30:18).