Isaiah 7:14 vs Isaiah 8:8

Question

How do you interpret Isaiah 7:14, given that Isaiah 8:8 calls the entire land Immanuel’s land?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    I am not sure that I exactly understand what you are asking. In any event, in 7:14 the Hebrew states “hinei ha’almah harah veyoledet ben” – “behold (hinei) the young woman (ha – the almah – young woman) is pregnant (harah) and shall give birth (ve-and yoledet-shall give birth) to a son (ben).” Christians generally translate this as “behold a virgin shall give birth.” They have made two mistakes in the one verse. They mistranslate “ha” as “a” instead of “the”. And they mistranslate “almah” as “virgin,” when in fact the Hebrew word for virgin is “betulah”. All this is besides the fact that if you read the context of that prediction you will clearly see that it is predicting an event that was supposed to happen and be seen by King Achaz who lived 700 years before Jesus!

    If that was not the premise of your question, please feel free to write again and Just Ask! will try again!

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team