Immanuel Judaism And The Hebrew Bible Context Of Isaiah 7 14

Judaism reads the verse in Isaiah 7:14 as: "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman (Ha-Almah) shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanu-el". See the original Hebrew with English translation [1] . There is no mention of a "virgin birth" as in Hebrew as virgin is a betulah, and not a almah. The word almah means "young woman" and there is no mention of "virginity" or "virgins".

1.1 Context of Isaiah 7:14 acording to Judaism

יא שְׁאַל-לְךָ אוֹת, מֵעִם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ; הַעְמֵק שְׁאָלָה, אוֹ הַגְבֵּהַּ לְמָעְלָה. 11 'Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God: ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.' יב וַיֹּאמֶר, אָחָז: לֹא-אֶשְׁאַל וְלֹא-אֲנַסֶּה, אֶת-יְהוָה. 12 But Ahaz said: 'I will not ask, neither will I try the LORD.' יג וַיֹּאמֶר, שִׁמְעוּ-נָא בֵּית דָּוִד: הַמְעַט מִכֶּם הַלְאוֹת אֲנָשִׁים, כִּי תַלְאוּ גַּם אֶת-אֱלֹהָי. 13 And he said: 'Hear ye now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that ye will weary my God also? יד לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא, לָכֶם--אוֹת: הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה, הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן, וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ, עִמָּנוּ אֵל. 14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. טו חֶמְאָה וּדְבַשׁ, יֹאכֵל--לְדַעְתּוֹ מָאוֹס בָּרָע, וּבָחוֹר בַּטּוֹב. 15 Curd and honey shall he eat, when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good. טז כִּי בְּטֶרֶם יֵדַע הַנַּעַר, מָאֹס בָּרָע--וּבָחֹר בַּטּוֹב: תֵּעָזֵב הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה קָץ, מִפְּנֵי שְׁנֵי מְלָכֶיהָ. 16 Yea, before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings thou hast a horror of shall be forsaken. יז יָבִיא יְהוָה עָלֶיךָ, וְעַל-עַמְּךָ וְעַל-בֵּית אָבִיךָ, יָמִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא-בָאוּ, לְמִיּוֹם סוּר-אֶפְרַיִם מֵעַל יְהוּדָה: אֵת, מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר. {פ} 17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria'. [2]

Thus this states that God will send a "sign" in the days of Ahaz who lived many centuries before Jesus.

1.2 Hebrew translation

The word alamah is not used in Hebrew to refer to a virgin. The word for virgin is betulah. Betulah, meaning virgin, is used in Genesis 24:16, Exodus 22:15, Leviticus 21:14, and most explicitly in Deuteronomy 22:13-21.

Jewish tradition states that the "young woman" was in fact Isaiah;s wife and the birth of the child is recorded later in Isiah 8:3.

Almah is definitely not a "virgin" in the instance of Proverbs 30:18-20: :18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:

יט דֶּרֶךְ הַנֶּשֶׁר, בַּשָּׁמַיִם-- דֶּרֶךְ נָחָשׁ, עֲלֵי-צוּר; דֶּרֶךְ-אֳנִיָּה בְלֶב-יָם-- וְדֶרֶךְ גֶּבֶר בְּעַלְמָה. 19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a young woman.

כ כֵּן, דֶּרֶךְ אִשָּׁה-- מְנָאָפֶת: אָכְלָה, וּמָחֲתָה פִיהָ; וְאָמְרָה, לֹא-פָעַלְתִּי אָוֶן. 20 So is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith: 'I have done no wickedness.' [3]

Thus "the way of a man with a young woman (i.e. alamah) is not referring to a virgin in Proverbs.

2 Christian interpretation

In the King James Bible, the relevant verse runs like this:
Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
There is considerable dispute about the precise meaning and application of this verse, but Christians believe it to be a prophecy of the birth of JesusImages of Jesus in which a halo is used to represent divinity. 6 4 BCE to c. 29 33 CE) is the central figure in Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ (from the Hebrew Yehošua , and Greek Chi;ριστ&sigmaf Chris, who is therefore sometimes called Immanuel or Emmanuel.
It is used as first name among Christians. Examples are Immanuel KantImmanuel Kant ( April 22, 1724 February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment, having a major impact on the Romantic and Idealist philosophies of the 19th century, and as one of history, Vittorio Emmanuele I of Italy , the bullfighter Manolete and the Emmanuelle erotic films.

3 See also

Gospel of MatthewThe Gospel of Matthew is one of the four Gospels of the New Testament. The gospels are traditionally printed with Matthew first, followed in order by Mark, Luke and John. Synopsis The book is divided into four parts: # Containing the genealogy, the birth,
Virgin birth
BibleThe Bible (From Greek βιβλια biblia meaning "books", which in turn is derived from βυβλος byblos meaning "papyrus", from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus) Hebrew Bible/Tanakh Jesus

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Home > Immanuel

1 Judaism and the Hebrew Bible

1.1 Context of Isaiah 7:14 acording to Judaism

1.2 Hebrew translation

2 Christian interpretation

3 See also

Topics: Immanuel, Judaism And The Hebrew Bible, Context Of Isaiah 7 14...