Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

“And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son, and they shall say for His name, `God with us.'" For things which were incredible and seemed impossible with men, these God predicted by the Spirit of prophecy as about to come to pass, in order that, when they came to pass, there might be no unbelief, but faith, because of their prediction. But lest some, not understanding the prophecy now cited, should charge us with the very things we have been laying to the charge of the poets who say that Jupiter went in to women through lust, let us try to explain the words. This, then, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive," signifies that a virgin should conceive without intercourse. For if she had had intercourse with any one whatever, she was no longer a virgin; but the power of God having come upon the virgin, overshadowed her, and caused her while yet a virgin to conceive. And the angel of God who was sent to the same virgin at that time brought her good news, saying, "Behold, thou shalt conceive of the Holy Ghost, and shalt bear a Son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins,"--as they who have recorded all that concerns our Saviour Jesus Christ have taught, whom we believed, since by Isaiah also, whom we have now adduced, the Spirit of prophecy declared that He should be born as we intimated before. It is wrong, therefore, to understand the Spirit and the power of God as anything else than the Word, who is also the first-born of God, as the foresaid prophet Moses declared; and it was this which, when it came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, caused her to conceive, not by intercourse, but by power. And the name Jesus in the Hebrew language means Saviour in the Greek tongue. Wherefore, too, the angel said to the virgin, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." And that the prophets are inspired by no other than the Divine Word, even you, as I fancy, will grant.”

“For the one and the same Spirit of God, who proclaimed by the prophets what and of what sort the advent of the Lord should be, did by these elders give a just interpretation of what had been truly prophesied; and He did Himself, by the apostles, announce that the fulness of the times of the adoption had arrived, that the kingdom of heaven had drawn nigh, and that He was dwelling within those that believe on Him who was born Emmanuel of the Virgin. To this effect they testify, [saying,] that before Joseph had come together with Mary, while she therefore remained in virginity, "she was found with child of the Holy Ghost;" [Matthew 1:18] and that the angel Gabriel said unto her, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God;" [Luke 1:35] and that the angel said to Joseph in a dream, "Now this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, Behold, a virgin shall be with child." [Matthew 1:23] But the elders have thus interpreted what Esaias said: "And the Lord, moreover, said unto Ahaz, Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord thy God out of the depth below, or from the height above. And Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And he said, It is not a small thing for you to weary men; and how does the Lord weary them? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son; and ye shall call His name Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall He eat: before He knows or chooses out things that are evil, He shall exchange them for what is good; for before the child knows good or evil, He shall not consent to evil, that He may choose that which is good." [Isaiah 7:10-17] Carefully, then, has the Holy Ghost pointed out, by what has been said, His birth from a virgin, and His essence, that He is God (for the name Emmanuel indicates this). And He shows that He is a man, when He says, "Butter and honey shall He eat;" and in that He terms Him a child also, [in saying,] "before He knows good and evil;" for these are all the tokens of a human infant. But that He "will not consent to evil, that He may choose that which is good,"— this is proper to God; that by the fact, that He shall eat butter and honey, we should not understand that He is a mere man only, nor, on the other hand, from the name Emmanuel, should suspect Him to be God without flesh.”

“What is the sign? "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." In fact, a virgin did conceive and gave birth to "Emmanuel, God with us." This is the new birth: a man born from God. God was born in the man, taking the flesh of the old human race without the help of the old human seed. God took the flesh in order to reform the old human race with a new seed. In other words, he spiritually cleansed the old human race by removing its old stains.”

“Humanity was blended with God, and he was one. The more powerful predominated in order that I might become god just as he became human. Although he was already begotten, he was born of a woman, who was a virgin. Because his birth was from a woman, it was human. Because she was a virgin, it was divine. He had neither a human father nor a divine mother.”

“You have heard, therefore, that the Father is called Lord. Come now, and let me show you that the Son is called God. "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means, 'God is with us.' " Did you see how both the name Lord is given to the Father and the name God is given to the Son? In the psalm, the sacred writer said, "Let them know that Lord is your name." Here Isaiah says, "They shall call his name Immanuel."”

“Christ was born a visible man of a human virgin mother, but he was a hidden God because God was his Father. So the prophet had foretold: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son; and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us." To prove that he was God, Christ worked many miracles, some of which—as many as seemed necessary to establish his claim—are recorded in the Gospels. Of these miracles the very first was the marvelous manner of his birth; the very last, his ascension into heaven in his body risen from the dead.”

“The blessed Hezekiah then, who was King of the Jews, and a very pious and virtuous man and an object of God's especial care, entertained the idea that the blessed David had spoken of him prophetically in many of the Psalms, such as the nineteenth, the twentieth, and many others besides, and having moreover applied to himself the prophecy which had once been made in his father's time by Isaiah: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, he was uplifted in mind by the workings of human passion, and imagined himself to be the Christ who had been predicted. He was in consequence at first unwilling to take a part in the common offices of life, through the existence of another opinion among the Jews, that Christ when He comes, never dies, but abides for ever, as they also said in the Gospel: We have heard out of the Law that Christ abideth for ever. So Hezekiah being of this opinion abstained from taking a wife and providing for the succession of his line by having children, being under the belief that he would live always”

“the Lord, of His own, shall give you a sign He will give you a sign by Himself, against Your will. is with child This is actually the future, as we find concerning Manoah’s wife, that the angel said to her (Judges 13:3): “And you shall conceive and bear a son,” and it is written, “Behold, you are with child and shall bear a son.” the young woman My wife will conceive this year. This was the fourth year of Ahaz. and she shall call his name Divine inspiration will rest upon her. Immanuel [lit. God is with us. That is] to say that our Rock shall be with us, and this is the sign, for she is a young girl, and she never prophesied, yet in this instance, Divine inspiration shall rest upon her. This is what is stated below (8:3): “And I was intimate with the prophetess, etc.,” and we do not find a prophet’s wife called a prophetess unless she prophesied. Some interpret this as being said about Hezekiah, but it is impossible, because, when you count his years, you find that Hezekiah was born nine years before his father’s reign. And some interpret that this is the sign, that she was a young girl and incapable of giving birth.”

“Therefore the Lord himself etc. Though you do not ask a sign, He will give it you. It is to me a matter of surprise that there are those who say the prophet here refers to Jesus, since the sign was given to Ahaz, and Jesus was born many years afterwards; besides, the prophet says, For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land shall be forsaken; but the countries of Ephraim and Syria were wasted in the sixth year of Hezekiah, and it is distinctly said of whose two kings, etc. Many make the mistake of identifying Immanuel with Hezekiah; they cannot be the same, granting even this prophecy to have been uttered at the beginning of the reign of Ahaz; he reigned only sixteen years, and Hezekiah was at the death of Ahaz twenty-five years old. According to others, Immanuel is another son of Ahaz, and others again take the names (Immanuel, Maher Shalal and Shear Yashub) as symbolical of the kingdom; but if so, what meaning would be in the child’s knowing good and evil and in Maher Shalal calling father and mother? (8:4). I think that Immanuel is the son of Isaiah, as well as Maher Shalal; the latter is proved by And I went unto the prophetess, etc. (8:3). Shear Yashub is similarly related to the prophet (ver. 3); each of the three sons received a name that contained some hint at future events; Immanuel implied that God would help them and be with them during the troubles caused by the two kings; Maher Shalal, that the time for the exile of Samaria had arrived; and Shear Yashub, that the remnant of Israel would repent; this explanation is well borne out by the words, Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for wonders. Comp. The children which the Lord hath graciously given to thy servant (Gen. 33:5). Those that in the former passage regard children as equivalent to pupils must produce us some analogy from Scripture. Isaiah himself was a sign and an example concerning Egypt (20:3).—The Gaon says that the sign consisted in the child being a male child; but in my opinion the sign was that the child was to eat butter and honey; for it is not usual that children eat these things immediately after their birth. after its birth. We know that a male child is called נער, a female child נערה or עלמה—the feminine of עֶלֶם—whether she be a virgin or not; for עלמה signifies a person of a certain age, like the masculine עלם; and in דרך גבר בעלמה the way of a man with a young woman (Prov. 30:19) עלמה is certainly not a virgin; because at the beginning of that passage it is said, which I know not (ibid. 18). וקראת And shall call. Subject is, העלמה; comp. וחטאת And it sinneth (Ex. 5:16).”

“And he continued to speak to Achaz. Here the sign of liberation is set forth: and first the choice of choosing a sign is granted; second, the sign is conferred so that it may be believed: therefore he will give. Concerning the first, three things are set down. First, the choice of choosing a sign is granted: and the Lord said to Achaz. Because he despised the prophets, he himself spoke in person. Because it seemed harsh that such powerful kings should be destroyed so quickly: ask thee a sign, that you may believe, of the Lord thy God. From this it seems that it is the speech of the prophet; and it must be said that it is the custom of Hebrew speech to use nouns in place of pronouns. Hence, of the Lord thy God, that is, of me. Or it is the word of the Lord by inspiration, and of the prophet by proclamation. Below, 8: Is not the prophet, of his God. Unto the depth of hell, that the earth may be opened, and hell laid open, as in the overthrow of Dathan and Abiron: Numbers 16. Or by hell, the lower elements, as with Moses: locusts and gnats from the earth, Exodus 9: or unto the height above, as Joshua at the standing of the sun: 10: for the Jews seek signs: 1 Corinthians 1. Second, the refusal of what was offered: and he said, I will not ask: either because he trusted in idols, or in the king of the Assyrians, or begrudging the glory of God, or because, set in distress, he feared to offend God. Below, 26: Lord, in distress they have sought thee. Hence he says, I will not tempt: relying on what is said, Deuteronomy 6: thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. But he understood badly, because it was lawful for him, by the authority of the Lord, to ask for a sign, as Gideon did with the fleece; Judges 6. Third, the rebuke of the one refusing is set down: and he said, namely Isaiah: therefore, since you are so rebellious, hear ye therefore, O house of David, on account of consent in wickedness, of the king; or because Christ was promised to David, a sign is given, Psalm 131: of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon the seat. Is it a small thing for you, to merit divine wrath, to be troublesome to men, whom you despoil; or to the prophets, whom you do not believe; because through rebellion you are troublesome to my God, not yours, whom you have not obeyed? Jeremiah 23: why is the burden to you? For I will cast you off, saith the Lord. Therefore. Here the sign is given for believing: and first the sign of liberation is conferred; second, he threatens unbelievers with the punishment of destruction, the Lord shall bring. This sign, however, is concerning the incarnation of Christ. But against this the Jews object in many ways. First, because the Lord was giving a sign of that liberation, to which the incarnation of Christ has no correspondence. To this it must be said that the incarnation of Christ signifies it, by an argument from the greater: for if God will give his own Son for the salvation of the whole world, much more can he save you from these enemies. Romans 8: who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. Or as a moving cause: for this, as it were, moved the Lord, that many good things should be granted to that people, although unjust, because he had provided that his Son should be incarnate from it. Again they object, because a sign that follows is given for those present; but the incarnation was not accomplished in their times; and so it seems that this is no sign. To this it must be said that the incarnation, although it was not accomplished while those men were present, was nevertheless while the house of David remained: hence he says, hear, O house of David, and not, hear, Achaz. Again they object, because a sign ought to precede the thing signified; but the incarnation was long after that liberation; therefore it was not a sign of it. To this it must be said that a sign sometimes follows the thing signified, as Deuteronomy 18: this shall be the sign: that which that prophet shall have foretold in the name of the Lord, and it shall not come to pass; the Lord hath not spoken this. Sometimes it is simultaneous. 2 Kings 5: when thou shalt hear the sound of one walking in the tops of the pear trees, then shalt thou join battle. Sometimes it precedes, as in Judges 7, concerning Gideon, where a sign was given that he was to conquer by those who had lapped the water with their hands. And it is necessary of necessity that this sign should follow, even according to how they themselves expound it. For if it precedes, then the boy was born only shortly before the death of Phacee, who reigned twenty years, in whose seventeenth year Achaz began to reign, who reigned sixteen years: therefore Achaz reigned thirteen years after his death. And Osee began to reign in the twelfth year of Achaz, in whose ninth year Samaria was captured, which was the sixth year after the death of Achaz: therefore at the captivity of Samaria the boy was at least nineteen years old: therefore it is false what is said below, that the boy did not know how to call father and mother. Again they object that in the Hebrew it is not virgin, but alma, which among them signifies a young girl of marriageable age, as is found in Genesis 24, concerning Rebecca, where we have, a girl exceedingly comely, and they have, alma. And even if bethula were used, which among them signifies a virgin, it would not follow that she conceived while remaining a virgin, because it could be that she who was then a virgin afterward conceived, corrupted by the seed of a man. To this it must be said that it would be no sign if a young girl conceived, or even a virgin who had been corrupted. But the Lord wished to signify something great, when he said: unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. But among us, alma is rendered rather than young girl, because alma signifies a virgin, according to the origin of the word, and further still, one kept guarded, concerning whom there can be no suspicion of evil. But bethula signifies according to a later usage of speech. But the Jews expound it in two ways. Some, of Hezekiah; some, of the son of Isaiah, whom they pretend was called Manuel. But that the first cannot stand is shown thus: because Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, 2 Kings 18, and Achaz reigned sixteen years, 4 Kings 16; therefore Hezekiah was ten years old when his father began to reign; and thus he is not here promised as one yet to be born. Moreover, how could he not have known how to call father and mother, since Samaria was captured in the sixth year of his reign? Likewise that the second cannot stand is shown, because this would have been no sign at all. And besides, the son of Isaiah was not lord of Judea, whereas it is said below, 8, that the land of Judea belongs to Emmanuel, possessively. And therefore it must be understood of the Son of God. According to this, then, he does three things. First he promises the sign: therefore, because you do not wish to ask, he himself will give the sign to you, of your liberation. This sign, too, was given to the shepherds, Luke 2: and this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, et cetera. Second, the sign itself is set down, behold a virgin: and first the miraculous conception is set down: behold a virgin, remaining a virgin, shall conceive, in childbirth shall bring forth a son. Second, the wondrous naming of the one begotten: and first as to his divinity: she shall call, namely the virgin, or thou shalt call, O Judah, in your dangers, his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us. Matthew 1: thou shalt call his name Emmanuel. And this whole thing has no likeness among other things, because it is new. Jeremiah 31: the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall compass a man; that is, a perfect man in the very conception, although not according to perfect quantity, as Augustine says upon that word of John 2: forty and six years was it in building, et cetera. And therefore it is above man, because there is nothing new under the sun, Ecclesiastes 1. Hence no other agreement can be had of this prophecy except the history itself. Luke 1: behold thou shalt conceive, and bring forth a son: signified in Ezekiel 44: this gate shall be shut, and shall not be opened; and no man shall pass through it, because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it. Second, as to his humanity: butter and honey shall he eat: literally, manly foods, because from infancy he conducted himself in the manner of others. Wisdom 7: and I being born drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, that is made alike, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, like all others. Or from part to whole, according to the fourth rule of Tyconius. For by these he understands all human foods. That he may know. Here that is consecutive, because feeding on such things while still a boy, he might know to reprobate the evil, without experience, and to choose the good, without counsel, having perfect knowledge of all things. This the Devil had promised, but did not deliver, Genesis 3: but God gave it freely. Wisdom 7: for he hath given me the true knowledge of the things that are, that I may know the disposition of the whole world, and the virtues of the elements. Or that is causal: that he may know, that is, that he might show himself to know, because through these foods he was brought to the full measure of age, in which he showed himself to know. Augustine: by butter, humanity, because it comes from the nourishment of the earth; by honey, divinity, because it is gathered from the dew of heaven. (Upon that word of Canticles 4: honey and milk.) He had, however, a nature without corruption, like butter without cheese; and he bore consolation without judgment, as it were honey without the sting. Bernard: our boy chose to be newly conceived, because he received the nature of our flesh without corruption. Likewise, as a bee, he brought us honey, not mixing in the sting. For he came not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved by him: John 3. And thus it is also causal. And this is a sign from below on the part of the virgin bringing forth, and from above on the part of God being born. Psalm 84: the Lord will give goodness, and our earth shall yield her fruit. Third, the application of the sign is set down: for before he shall know, that is, before, by being born, he assumes created knowledge. The land, of Samaria and Syria: 4 Kings 16 and 17: the Lord shall bring. Here he sets down the threat against those not believing the sign: and first he shows the gravity of the punishment; second, the order of the punishment, and it shall come to pass in that day; in the third, the effect of the punishment, and it shall come to pass in that day, a man shall nourish. He shows the gravity, however, from the authority of the one commanding: the Lord shall bring, who is powerful. Exodus 15: the Lord Almighty is his name. From the universality of the punishment: upon thee, through Teglathphalasar, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, as to your descendants, through tyrant sons; from the comparison of what has gone before. Days, so evil; and they are called evil on account of fault. Matthew 6: sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. Ephesians 5: redeeming the time, because the days are evil. On account of punishment: which have not come since the days of the separation: 3 Kings 12: from the power of the one carrying it out: with the king of the Assyrians, Nebuchadnezzar, because the kingdom of the Chaldeans and of the Assyrians was one under him, and had been one from the beginning. For the Assyrians came forth from the Chaldeans: Genesis 10. Jeremiah 25: Nebuchadnezzar my servant. And it shall come to pass. Here he sets down the manner and order of the punishment: and he sets down three things. First, the summoning of enemies. He shall hiss, that is, he shall inspire, for the fly, that is, for the king of Egypt, who killed Josiah: 4 Kings 23: and he is compared to a fly on account of the uncleanness of idols, and of luxury, which flourishes in Egypt; in the uttermost part of the rivers, because they came even from the farthest parts of Egypt, and for the bee, namely for the Chaldeans and Assyrians, because from the front they had the honey of protection, and from behind the sting of persecution. Above, 5: he shall hiss unto him from the ends of the earth. Second, the multitude of enemies: and they shall come, and shall all rest in the torrents of the valleys: because waters are accustomed to run in valleys, for the convenience of water; in the caves, for fortification; in the thickets, for wood; in all the holes, for the sites of houses. Below, 8: and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land. Third, captivity: in that day the Lord shall shave with a razor, that is, by means of the king, in these, that is, by means of these, namely the Assyrians. A sharp razor, concerning which Ezekiel 5: take thee a sharp knife that shaveth the hair, and cause it to pass over thy head. The head, the king; the feet, craftsmen; the beard, the soldiers, who are for the adornment of the king: 4 Kings, last; above, 3. Every man of war, judge, and prophet. Or he speaks against the Egyptians, who were helpers. In these, that is, in the Egyptians, hired. Ezekiel 29: and he shall carry off her spoils, and it shall be a reward for his army, and for the work for which he served against her. And it shall come to pass in that day, he shall nourish. Here he sets down the effect of the punishment, or the sign of destruction. First, in the scarcity of animals: two sheep, a cow, which will be because of the fewness of the animals. Above, 5: and the deserts turned into plenty, strangers shall eat. Second, from the scarcity of provisions: butter and honey, because of the lack of bread. Lamentations 4: they that were fed delicately have died in the streets. Third, from the scarcity of men. First, in the worthlessness of possessions: in the place where there were a thousand vines. Jeremiah 32: buy the field with money, and take witnesses, though the city be given into the hands of the Chaldeans. Proverbs 24: I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man; and behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof. In the multitude of robbers: with arrows and bow, namely, when you flee, they shall enter in. Below, 24: fear, and the pit, and the snare, upon thee, and upon the inhabitants of the earth, fourth, in the fear of enemies, because they shall cultivate the mountains, and abandon the plains: and all the mountains. Jeremiah 49: and all her cities shall be desolate. And below, 49: and thou shalt strive to seize the height of the hill. It should be noted, upon that word, his name shall be called Emmanuel, that is, God with us, that Christ is with us in many ways. First, as a brother, through fellowship of nature. Canticles 8: who shall give thee to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother, that I may find thee without, and kiss thee? Second, as a bridegroom, through the bond of love. John 14: if any one love me, he will keep my word. Third, as a shepherd, through the comfort of interior consolation. Apocalypse 3: behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him. Fourth, as savior, through the help of protection. Jeremiah 30: therefore fear thou not, my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed, Israel, for behold I will save thee from a far country. Fifth, as guide, through the example of his work. Exodus 32: the Lord alone was his leader. It should be noted, upon that word, behold a virgin, that behold is said on account of a singular excellence: first, because above women, on account of virginity: hence he says, behold a virgin. Second, above virgins, on account of fecundity: hence he says, shall conceive. Third, above all the angels, on account of the dignity of the fruit: hence he says, shall bring forth a son. Hebrews 2: never doth he take hold of the angels, but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold.”

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign,.... Whether they would ask one or not; a sign both in heaven and earth, namely, the promised Messiah; who being the Lord from heaven, would take flesh of a virgin on earth; and who as man, being buried in the heart of the earth, would be raised from thence, and ascend up into heaven; and whose birth, though it was to be many years after, was a sign of present deliverance to Judah from the confederacy of the two kings of Syria and Israel; and of future safety, since it was not possible that this kingdom should cease to be one until the Messiah was come, who was to spring from Judah, and be of the house of David; wherefore by how much the longer off was his birth, by so much the longer was their safety. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son; this is not to be understood of Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, by his wife, as some Jewish writers interpret it; which interpretation Jarchi refutes, by observing that Hezekiah was nine years old when his father began to reign, and this being, as he says, the fourth year of his reign, he must be at this time thirteen years of age; in like manner, Aben Ezra and Kimchi object to it; and besides, his mother could not be called a "virgin": and for the same reason it cannot be understood of any other son of his either by his wife, as Kimchi thinks, or by some young woman; moreover, no other son of his was ever lord of Judea, as this Immanuel is represented to be, in Isa 8:8 nor can it be interpreted of Isaiah's wife and son, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi think; since the prophet could never call her a "virgin", who had bore him children, one of which was now with him; nor indeed a "young woman", but rather "the prophetess", as in Isa 8:3 nor was any son of his king of Judah, as this appears to be, in the place before cited: but the Messiah is here meant, who was to be born of a pure virgin; as the word here used signifies in all places where it is mentioned, as Gen 24:43 and even in Pro 30:19 which is the instance the Jews give of the word being used of a woman corrupted; since it does not appear that the maid and the adulterous woman are one and the same person; and if they were, she might, though vitiated, be called a maid or virgin, from her own profession of herself, or as she appeared to others who knew her not, or as she was antecedent to her defilement; which is no unusual thing in Scripture, see Deu 22:28 to which may be added, that not only the Evangelist Matthew renders the word by "a virgin"; but the Septuagint interpreters, who were Jews, so rendered the word hundreds of years before him; and best agrees with the Hebrew word, which comes from the root which signifies to "hide" or "cover"; virgins being covered and unknown to men; and in the eastern country were usually kept recluse, and were shut up from the public company and conversation of men: and now this was the sign that was to be given, and a miraculous one it was, that the Messiah should be born of a pure and incorrupt virgin; and therefore a "behold" is prefixed to it, as a note of admiration; and what else could be this sign or wonder? not surely that a young married woman, either Ahaz's or Isaiah's wife, should be with child, which is nothing surprising, and of which there are repeated instances every day; nor was it that the young woman was unfit for conception at the time of the prophecy, which was the fancy of some, as Jarchi reports, since no such intimation is given either in the text or context; nor did it lie in this, that it was a male child, and not a female, which was predicted, as R. Saadiah Gaon, in Aben Ezra, would have it; for the sign or wonder does not lie in the truth of the prophet's prediction, but in the greatness of the thing predicted; besides, the verification of this would not have given the prophet much credit, nor Ahaz and the house of David much comfort, since this might have been ascribed rather to a happy conjecture than to a spirit of prophecy; much less can the wonder be, that this child should eat butter and honey, as soon as it was born, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi suggest; since nothing is more natural to, and common with young children, than to take down any kind of liquids which are sweet and pleasant. And shall call his name Immanuel; which is, by interpretation, "God with us", Mat 1:23 whence it appears that the Messiah is truly God, as well as truly man: the name is expressive of the union of the two natures, human and divine, in him; of his office as Mediator, who, being both God and man, is a middle person between both; of his converse with men on earth, and of his spiritual presence with his people. See Joh 1:14.”

“Virgin, halma, (Haydock) one secluded from the company of men. Alma in Latin signifies “a holy person,” and in Punic “a virgin.” The term is never applied to any but “a young virgin.” If it meant a young woman, what sort of a sign would this be? (St. Jerome) — It was indeed above the sagacity of man to declare that the child to be born would be a boy, and live till the kings should be destroyed. But the prophet undoubtedly speaks of Jesus Christ, the wonderful, &c., (chap. ix. 5.) as well as of a boy, who should prefigure him, and be an earnest of the speedy destruction of the two kings. He was to be born of Isaias, (chap. viii. 4.) and of all the qualities belonging to the true Emmanuel, only that regards him, which intimates that the country should be delivered before he should come to years of discretion, ver. 16. (Calmet, Diss.) (Bossuet) — The Fathers generally apply all to Christ. — Called. Or shall be in effect, chap. i. 26. (Calmet) — The king hardly trusted in God’s mercies, whereupon the incarnation of Christ, &c., is foretold. (Worthington)”

“himself--since thou wilt not ask a sign, nay, rejectest the offer of one. you--for the sake of the house of believing "David" (God remembering His everlasting covenant with David), not for unbelieving Ahaz' sake. Behold--arresting attention to the extraordinary prophecy. virgin--from a root, "to lie hid," virgins being closely kept from men's gaze in their parents' custody in the East. The Hebrew, and the Septuagint here, and Greek (Mat 1:23), have the article, the virgin, some definite one known to the speaker and his hearers; primarily, the woman, then a virgin, about immediately to become the second wife, and bear a child, whose attainment of the age of discrimination (about three years) should be preceded by the deliverance of Judah from its two invaders; its fullest significancy is realized in "the woman" (Gen 3:15), whose seed should bruise the serpent's head and deliver captive man (Jer 31:22; Mic 5:3). Language is selected such as, while partially applicable to the immediate event, receives its fullest, most appropriate, and exhaustive accomplishment in Messianic events. The New Testament application of such prophecies is not a strained "accommodation"; rather the temporary fulfilment of an adaptation of the far-reaching prophecy to the present passing event, which foreshadows typically the great central end of prophecy, Jesus Christ (Rev 19:10). Evidently the wording is such as to apply more fully to Jesus Christ than to the prophet's son; "virgin" applies, in its simplest sense, to the Virgin Mary, rather than to the prophetess who ceased to be a virgin when she "conceived"; "Immanuel," God with us (Joh 1:14; Rev 21:3), cannot in a strict sense apply to Isaiah's son, but only to Him who is presently called expressly (Isa 9:6), "the Child, the Son, Wonderful (compare Isa 8:18), the mighty God." Local and temporary features (as in Isa 7:15-16) are added in every type; otherwise it would be no type, but the thing itself. There are resemblances to the great Antitype sufficient to be recognized by those who seek them; dissimilarities enough to confound those who do not desire to discover them. call--that is, "she shall," or as Margin, "thou, O Virgin, shalt call;" mothers often named their children (Gen 4:1, Gen 4:25; Gen 19:37; Gen 29:32). In Mat 1:23 the expression is strikingly changed into, "They shall call"; when the prophecy received its full accomplishment, no longer is the name Immanuel restricted to the prophetess' view of His character, as in its partial fulfilment in her son; all shall then call (that is, not literally), or regard Him as peculiarly and most fitly characterized by the descriptive name, "Immanuel" (Ti1 3:16; Col 2:9). name--not mere appellation, which neither Isaiah's son nor Jesus Christ bore literally; but what describes His manifested attributes; His character (so Isa 9:6). The name in its proper destination was not arbitrary, but characteristic of the individual; sin destroyed the faculty of perceiving the internal being; hence the severance now between the name and the character; in the case of Jesus Christ and many in Scripture, the Holy Ghost has supplied this want [OLSHAUSEN].”

“"Therefore the Lord, He will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin conceives, and bears a son, and calls his name Immanuel. Butter and honey will he eat, at the time that he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good." In its form the prophecy reminds one of Gen 16:11, "Behold, thou art with child, and wilt bear a son, and call his name Ishmael." Here, however, the words are not addressed to the person about to bear the child, although Matthew gives this interpretation to the prophecy; (Note: Jerome discusses this diversity in a very impartial and intelligent manner, in his ep. ad Pammachium de optimo genere interpretandi.) for קראת is not the second person, but the third, and is synonymous with קראה (according to Ges. 74. Anm. 1), another form which is also met with in Gen 33:11; Lev 25:21; Deu 31:29, and Psa 118:23. (Note: The pointing makes a distinction between קראת (she calls) and קראת, as Gen 16:11 should be pointed (thou callest); and Olshausen (35, b) is wrong in pronouncing the latter a mistake.) Moreover, the condition of pregnancy, which is here designated by the participial adjective הרה (cf., Sa2 11:5), was not an already existing one in this instance, but (as in all probability also in Jdg 13:5, cf., Jdg 13:4) something future, as well as the act of bearing, since hinnēh is always used by Isaiah to introduce a future occurrence. This use of hinneh in Isaiah is a sufficient answer to Gesenius, Knobel, and others, who understand hâ‛almâh as referring to the young wife of the prophet himself, who was at that very time with child. But it is altogether improbable that the wife of the prophet himself should be intended. For if it were to her that he referred, he could hardly have expressed himself in a more ambiguous and unintelligible manner; and we cannot see why he should not much rather have said אשׁתּי or הנּביאה, to say nothing of the fact that there is no further allusion made to any son of the prophet of that name, and that a sign of this kind founded upon the prophet's own family affairs would have been one of a very precarious nature. And the meaning and use of the word ‛almâh are also at variance with this. For whilst bethulâh (from bâtthal, related to bâdal, to separate, sejungere) signifies a maiden living in seclusion in her parents' house and still a long way from matrimony, ‛almâh (from ‛âlam, related to Châlam, and possibly also to אלם, to be strong, full of vigour, or arrived at the age of puberty) is applied to one fully mature, and approaching the time of her marriage. (Note: On the development of the meanings of ‛âlam and Châlam, see Ges. Thes., and my Psychol. p. 282 (see also the commentary on Job 39:4). According to Jerome, alma was Punic also. In Arabic and Aramaean the diminutive form guleime, ‛alleimtah, was the favourite one, but in Syriac ‛alı̄mto (the ripened).) The two terms could both be applied to persons who were betrothed, and even to such as were married (Joe 2:16; Pro 30:19 : see Hitzig on these passages). It is also admitted that the idea of spotless virginity was not necessarily connected with ‛almâh (as in Gen 24:43, cf., Gen 24:16), since there are passages - such, for example, as Sol 6:8 - where it can hardly be distinguished from the Arabic surrı̄je; and a person who had a very young-looking wife might be said to have an ‛almah for his wife. But it is inconceivable that in a well-considered style, and one of religious earnestness, a woman who had been long married, like the prophet's own wife, could be called hâ‛almâh without any reserve. (Note: A young and newly-married wife might be called Callâh (as in Homer νύμφη = nubilis and nupta; Eng. bride); and even in Homer a married woman, if young, is sometimes called κουριδίη ἄλοχος, but neither κούρη nor νεῆνις.) On the other hand, the expression itself warrants the assumption that by hâ‛almâh the prophet meant one of the ‛alâmoth of the king's harem (Luzzatto); and if we consider that the birth of the child was to take place, as the prophet foresaw, in the immediate future, his thoughts might very well have been fixed upon Abijah (Abi) bath-Zechariah (Kg2 18:2; Ch2 29:1), who became the mother of king Hezekiah, to whom apparently the virtues of the mother descended, in marked contrast with the vices of his father. This is certainly possible. At the same time, it is also certain that the child who was to be born was the Messiah, and not a new Israel (Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, ii. 1, 87, 88); that is to say, that he was no other than that "wonderful" heir of the throne of David, whose birth is hailed with joy in chapter 9, where even commentators like Knobel are obliged to admit that the Messiah is meant. It was the Messiah whom the prophet saw here as about to be born, then again in chapter 9 as actually born, and again in chapter 11 as reigning - an indivisible triad of consolatory images in three distinct states, interwoven with the three stages into which the future history of the nation unfolded itself in the prophet's view. If, therefore, his eye was directed towards the Abijah mentioned, he must have regarded her as the future mother of the Messiah, and her son as the future Messiah. Now it is no doubt true, that in the course of the sacred history Messianic expectations were often associated with individuals who did not answer to them, so that the Messianic prospect was moved further into the future; and it is not only possible, but even probable, and according to many indications an actual fact, that the believing portion of the nation did concentrate their Messianic wishes and hopes for a long time upon Hezekiah; but even if Isaiah's prophecy may have evoked such human conjectures and expectations, through the measure of time which it laid down, it would not be a prophecy at all, if it rested upon no better foundation than this, which would be the case if Isaiah had a particular maiden of his own day in his mind at the time. Are we to conclude, then, that the prophet did not refer to any one individual, but that the "virgin" was a personification of the house of David? This view, which Hofmann propounded, and Stier appropriated, and which Ebrard has revived, notwithstanding the fact that Hofmann relinquished it, does not help us over the difficulty; for we should expect in that case to find "daughter of Zion," or something of the kind, since the term "virgin" is altogether unknown in a personification of this kind, and the house of David, as the prophet knew it, was by no means worthy of such an epithet. No other course is left, therefore, than to assume that whilst, on the one hand, the prophet meant by "the virgin" a maiden belonging to the house of David, which the Messianic character of the prophecy requires; on the other hand, he neither thought of any particular maiden, nor associated the promised conception with any human father, who could not have been any other than Ahaz. The reference is the same as in Mic 5:3 ("she which travaileth," yōlēdah). The objection that hâ‛almâh (the virgin) cannot be a person belonging to the future, on account of the article (Hofmann, p. 86), does not affect the true explanation: it was the virgin whom the spirit of prophecy brought before the prophet's mind, and who, although he could not give her name, stood before him as singled out for an extraordinary end (compare the article in hanna‛ar in Num 11:27 etc.). With what exalted dignity this mother appeared to him to be invested, is evident from the fact that it is she who gives the name to her son, and that the name Immanuel. This name sounds full of promise. But if we look at the expression "therefore," and the circumstance which occasioned it, the sign cannot have been intended as a pure or simple promise. We naturally expect, first, that it will be an extraordinary fact which the prophet foretells; and secondly, that it will be a fact with a threatening front. Now a humiliation of the house of David was indeed involved in the fact that the God of whom it would know nothing would nevertheless mould its future history, as the emphatic הוּא implies, He (αὐτός, the Lord Himself), by His own impulse and unfettered choice. Moreover, this moulding of the future could not possibly be such an one as was desired, but would of necessity be as full of threatening to the unbelieving house of David as it was full of promise to the believers in Israel. And the threatening character of the "sign" is not to be sought for exclusively in Isa 7:15, since both the expressions "therefore" (lâcēn) and "behold" (hinnēh) place the main point of the sign in Isa 7:14, whilst the introduction of Isa 7:15 without any external connection is a clear proof that what is stated in Isa 7:14 is the chief thing, and not the reverse. But the only thing in Isa 7:14 which indicated any threatening element in the sign in question, must have been the fact that it would not be by Ahaz, or by a son of Ahaz, or by the house of David generally, which at that time had hardened itself against God, that God would save His people, but that a nameless maiden of low rank, whom God had singled out and now showed to the prophet in the mirror of His counsel, would give birth to the divine deliverer of His people in the midst of the approaching tribulations, which was a sufficient intimation that He who was to be the pledge of Judah's continuance would not arrive without the present degenerate house of David, which had brought Judah to the brink of ruin, being altogether set aside. But the further question arises here, What constituted the extraordinary character of the fact here announced? It consisted in the fact, that, according to Isa 9:5, Immanuel Himself was to be a פּלא (wonder or wonderful). He would be God in corporeal self-manifestation, and therefore a "wonder" as being a superhuman person. We should not venture to assert this if it went beyond the line of Old Testament revelation, but the prophet asserts it himself in Isa 9:5 (cf., Isa 10:21): his words are as clear as possible; and we must not make them obscure, to favour any preconceived notions as to the development of history. The incarnation of Deity was unquestionably a secret that was not clearly unveiled in the Old Testament, but the veil was not so thick but that some rays could pass through. Such a ray, directed by the spirit of prophecy into the mind of the prophet, was the prediction of Immanuel. But if the Messiah was to be Immanuel in this sense, that He would Himself be El (God), as the prophet expressly affirms, His birth must also of necessity be a wonderful or miraculous one. The prophet does not affirm, indeed, that the "‛almâh," who had as yet known no man, would give birth to Immanuel without this taking place, so that he could not be born of the house of David as well as into it, but be a gift of Heaven itself; but this "‛almâh" or virgin continued throughout an enigma in the Old Testament, stimulating "inquiry" (Pe1 1:10-12), and waiting for the historical solution. Thus the sign in question was, on the one hand, a mystery glaring in the most threatening manner upon the house of David; and, on the other hand, a mystery smiling with which consolation upon the prophet and all believers, and couched in these enigmatical terms, in order that those who hardened themselves might not understand it, and that believers might increasingly long to comprehend its meaning. In Isa 7:15 the threatening element of Isa 7:14 becomes the predominant one. It would not be so, indeed, if "butter (thickened milk) and honey" were mentioned here as the ordinary food of the tenderest age of childhood (as Gesenius, Hengstenberg, and others suppose). But the reason afterwards assigned in Isa 7:16, Isa 7:17, teaches the very opposite. Thickened milk and honey, the food of the desert, would be the only provisions furnished by the land at the time in which the ripening youth of Immanuel would fall. חמאה (from המא, to be thick) is a kind of butter which is still prepared by nomads by shaking milk in skins. It may probably include the cream, as the Arabic semen signifies both, but not the curds or cheese, the name of which (at least the more accurate name) if gebı̄nâh. The object to ידע is expressed in Isa 7:15, Isa 7:16 by infinitive absolutes (compare the more usual mode of expression in Isa 8:4). The Lamed prefixed to the verb does not mean "until" (Ges. 131, 1), for Lamed is never used as so definite an indication of the terminus ad quem; the meaning is either "towards the time when he understands" (Amo 4:7, cf., Lev 24:12, "to the end that"), or about the time, at the time when he understands (Isa 10:3; Gen 8:11; Job 24:14). This kind of food would coincide in time with his understanding, that is to say, would run parallel to it. Incapacity to distinguish between good and bad is characteristic of early childhood (Deu 1:39, etc.), and also of old age when it relapses into childish ways (Sa2 19:36). The commencement of the capacity to understand is equivalent to entering into the so-called years of discretion - the riper age of free and conscious self-determination. By the time that Immanuel reached this age, all the blessings of the land would have been so far reduced, that from a land full of luxuriant corn-fields and vineyards, it would have become a large wooded pasture-ground, supplying milk and honey, and nothing more. A thorough devastation of the land is therefore the reason for this limitation to the simplest, and, when compared with the fat of wheat and the cheering influence of wine, most meagre and miserable food. And this is the ground assigned in Isa 7:16, Isa 7:17. Two successive and closely connected events would occasion this universal desolation.”