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.
Fulfillment
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary
was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with
child of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 1:18, 24, 25
(Also see Luke 1:26-35.)
The Hebrew word used of virgin here is Alma.
Rabbis say that this word Alma does not mean 'virgin' but a young woman.
Many quote from Rash (Rabbi Shalom Izaaki- 1040-1105,
lived in France, and considered the founder of the modern school of
Jewish interpretation ) today, saying that he said Alma should
mean 'young woman' in this passage. But Rash did not always translate
Alma as 'young woman'. The word Alma is found in the Song
of Solomon 1;3 and 6:8. Here Rash says Alma means 'virgin'. As
we can see, Rash did use the word Alma to mean 'virgin' in other places
regardless of how he dealt with Isaiah 7:14. During Rashi's time he
was going with the traditional view of Isaiah 7:14 as viewed by Jewish
scholars. They translated almah as 'virgin'. Rashi was essentially trying
to counteract Christian polemics when he translated almah this way.
The Septuagint (LXX) (Greek 250 B.C. translation
of the Old Testament) made almah to read parthenos , which in
Greek means 'virgin'.
Babylonian Talmud
"...this man is the King Messiah of
whom it is said, (Psalms 2:7), This day
have I begotten thee."
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
Fullfilment
"And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 3:17
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto himthe throne of his father David:"
Luke 1:32
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshdow thee: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God."
Luke 1:35
Jewish sources on this verse comment as follows:
Rabbi Moses Ben Maim on (Maimonides, born 1135
in Spain, and died
1204 in Egypt) wrote,"God named
Him ( the Messiah) with six names as He says
concerning Him:.. That He calleth Him God in a distinctive manner, it
is to
say with it, that His glory surpasses that of all other children of
man."
Rabbi Abraham Ben Ezra ( born 1093 in Spain, died
1167 in Rome ) wrote,
" There are some interpreters who say that åWonderful, Everlasting
Father1are names of God and only åPrince of Peace1 is the name of the
child. But according to my view the interpretation is right ( which
says ) :
all are the names of the child."
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