Isaiah 7:14–16
Almah, parthenos and Immanuel
"Behold, a virgin (ha-almah, 'the young woman') shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Hebrew almah, Greek parthenos, Latin virgo; the Masoretic Text "she (or you) will call," the Great Isaiah Scroll "he (or one) will call," the Greek "you will call," Matthew 1:23 "they will call." The sign's time frame (vv. 15–16) is the reign of Ahaz. Matthew reads it of Jesus' birth.
Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently
The family tree
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✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
- Uncertain connection
- The oracle as first spoken or written8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
- Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
- Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
Every witness, in order
8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
The oracle as first spoken or written
No original survives. The oldest copies of Isaiah are the Qumran scrolls: the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a, about 125 BC, nearly complete), 1QIsa-b (1Q8) and some twenty other fragmentary manuscripts.
c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)
Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1
How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XXXII not yet checked.
…the young woman is pregnant and bears a son, and he (or one) will call his name Immanuel
Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 7:14–16. Reads "YHWH himself" where the Masoretic Text has "the Lord (Adonai) himself"; ha-almah exactly as the Masoretic Text; and the verb "call" without the final letter that makes it "she (or you) will call," so it can be read "he (or one) will call." Otherwise the differences are of spelling (fuller use of vowel letters) and small grammatical forms.
1st century AD; edition 2010s
Matthew 1:23 (Greek New Testament; library: Statistical Restoration text)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: the Greek New Testament editions in the library (Textus Receptus, Byzantine Textform, Statistical Restoration).
“Ἰδοὺ, ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ”, ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον, “Μεθʼ ἡμῶν ὁ ˚Θεός”.
Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which is translated, God with us
Matthew's citation, presented as fulfilled in Jesus' birth (1:22). KJV: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592
Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Propter hoc dabit Dominus ipse vobis signum: ecce virgo concipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel. Butyrum et mel comedet, ut sciat reprobare malum, et eligere bonum. Quia antequam sciat puer reprobare malum et eligere bonum, derelinquetur terra quam tu detestaris a facie duorum regum suorum.
Latin numbering: Isaiah 7:14–16. Jerome translated Isaiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400). "Vocabitur": he will be called.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
לָ֠כֵן יִתֵּ֨ן אֲדֹנָ֥י ה֛וּא לָכֶ֖ם א֑וֹת הִנֵּ֣ה הָעַלְמָ֗ה הָרָה֙ וְיֹלֶ֣דֶת בֵּ֔ן וְקָרָ֥את שְׁמ֖וֹ עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל׃ חֶמְאָ֥ה וּדְבַ֖שׁ יֹאכֵ֑ל לְדַעְתּ֛וֹ מָא֥וֹס בָּרָ֖ע וּבָח֥וֹר בַּטּֽוֹב׃ כִּ֠י בְּטֶ֨רֶם יֵדַ֥ע הַנַּ֛עַר מָאֹ֥ס בָּרָ֖ע וּבָחֹ֣ר בַּטּ֑וֹב תֵּעָזֵ֤ב הָאֲדָמָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אַתָּ֣ה קָ֔ץ מִפְּנֵ֖י שְׁנֵ֥י מְלָכֶֽיהָ׃
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, the young woman (ha-almah) is (or will be) pregnant and will bear a son, and will call his name Immanuel (v. 14)
Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 7:14–16.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872
Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
C’est pourquoi le Seigneur lui-même vous donnera un signe. Voilà que la Vierge concevra dans son sein, et elle enfantera un fils, et tu lui donneras le nom d’Emmanuel. Il mangera du beurre et du miel, avant de savoir discerner le mal ou choisir le bien. Aussi même avant de connaître le bien et le mal, cet enfant rejettera le mal, pour choisir le bien. Et cette terre, que tu crains, elle sera abandonnée de la présence de ces deux rois.
Greek (digital file) numbering: Isaiah 7:14–16. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check only); a C check needs Ziegler's Göttingen Isaiah or Rahlfs–Hanhart. "Tu lui donneras le nom": you (singular) will call.
What changed, and why
Classification: almah/parthenos is a translation difference; qarat/qara (she/he calls) is a manuscript variant between MT and 1QIsa-a; Matthew's "they shall call" is a later quotation with its own wording; the meaning of the sign (8th-century child, messianic prediction, or both) is interpretation.
Almah occurs nine times in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Genesis 24:43 of Rebekah; Exodus 2:8 of Miriam; Song 6:8); it denotes a young woman of marriageable age. Betulah is the usual word for virgin, though it too can be qualified (Genesis 24:16). The Greek parthenos usually means virgin, but Genesis 34:3 (Greek) uses it of Dinah after she was violated.
The scroll reads "YHWH" for "Lord (Adonai)" in v. 14 and ha-almah like the Masoretic Text. See "The Sign of Immanuel" for Jewish and Christian interpretation.
What the evidence shows
- The Great Isaiah Scroll reads ha-almah and "he/one will call." In the transcription.
- The Greek reads parthenos.
- Matthew 1:23 has "they shall call."
- Almah means "virgin." It means a young woman; virginity is not specified by the word.
Sources
Related lessons
- Isaiah 7: The Sign of Immanuel →Rezin of Aram and Pekah of Israel march on Jerusalem; the hearts of King Ahaz and his people shake "as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind" (7:1–2). Isaiah meets Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, with his son Shear-jashub ("a remnant shall return"): "Take heed, and be quiet; fear not… for these two tails of smoking firebrands"; their plan will fail; "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established" (vv. 3–9). Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign (vv. 10–12). Isaiah answers: "the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin (ha-almah, the young woman) shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel"; before the child knows good from evil, the two kings' lands will be deserted (vv. 13–16). But Assyria, the "razor that is hired," will come on Judah too, and cultivated land will return to briers and grazing (vv. 17–25).
- Investigation: The Sign of Immanuel →"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Few verses have been argued over longer. The Hebrew says ha-almah, "the young woman"; the Greek translation known as the Septuagint says parthenos, usually "virgin"; Matthew cites the Greek of Jesus' birth. This investigation separates four questions that are often merged: what the words mean, what the sign meant for Ahaz, how Jews read it, and how Christians read it.
- Investigation: Jesus and Isaiah →Isaiah is quoted in the Gospels more than any other prophet. This study registers 55 uses that involve Jesus: 20 in Matthew, 14 in Mark, 12 in Luke and 9 in John. For each it records who speaks (Jesus as the Gospel reports him, the narrator, John the Baptist, a heavenly voice, Simeon, or a later scribe), the Isaiah passage and its original setting, the Gospel's Greek wording, whether the use is an explicit quotation, a quotation without formula, an allusion, a proposed allusion, or a later Christian connection, and how that Gospel uses it. Each Gospel is kept separate.
- Investigation: The Great Isaiah Scroll →Found in a cave near the Dead Sea in 1947, the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a) is the only complete book of the Hebrew Bible among the Dead Sea Scrolls, about a thousand years older than the medieval codices behind printed Hebrew Bibles. It agrees with the Masoretic Text in most of its words and differs in thousands of small ways: spelling, grammar, scribal slips, corrections, and a few real variants. This investigation explains what the scroll is, how its differences are classified, and which ones matter.