| Isaiah 7:14 is a verse commonly used as a "proof text" for showing that Jesus is the Messiah. But, is this verse being used accurately or is it being mistranslated and misapplied? A brief review of this verse will bring light to this issue.
Isaiah 7:14 is generally used as a "proof text" to show that the Messiah will be born from a virgin. According to the King James translation of the text, the verse reads: "Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." So, where does Judaism disagree on this verse? The answer is surprisingly simple. The term in the Hebrew that the King James Version renders "virgin" does not actually translate as "virgin." In Hebrew, the word in Isaiah 7:14 is "almah", a "young woman." There is no sexual conotation for this word. The word for "virgin" in Hebrew is "betulah", which does not appear in this verse. So, we see that the verse does not speak of a virgin at all, and therefore cannot be used as a proof that the Messiah would be from a virginal birth. Naturally, this then leads to the question, where does the "virgin" reading come from? The word "virgin" comes from a Greek translation of the Bible, known as the Septuagint. The history of the Septuagint is checkered at best. Josephus described a story that the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, were translated into the Greek approximately 2300 years ago (It is common that individuals mistakingly think that Josephus said that the whole Bible was translated 2300 years ago. Josephus described the translation as being of "the books of the law", which would have been universally understood at his time as only referring to the Five Books of Moses. See the following link for more details: Click Here ) Following the original translation, other translations were made of the books of the Jewish Bible. These translations were made by unknown translators (whether Jewish or non-Jewish, no one knows) and later compiled by Christians into the Septuagint of today. Multiple changes were made by early Church fathers to the various Septuagint texts that began to proliferate, such as by Origen and St. Lucien. Currently, there are three codexes of the Septuagint from which all existing versions derive. All three of these codexes are the property of Christianity. In sum, the idea of a "virgin" comes from the Greek text knowns as the "Septuagint", which is a Christian text. Judaism does not claim to have translated the Isaiah seen in the Septuagint. Similarly, many modern Christian translations, such as the Revised Standard Version, translate "almah" as "young woman", just like the Jewish translations. They have completely dropped the "virgin" from this verse. Also, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest Hebrew texts of the Jewish Bible that we have today. The only book that was found in its entirety is the Book of Isaiah, currently on display in a museum in Israel. Notably, the Dead Sea Scroll also says "almah", "young woman." There is no "betulah", "virgin", in the text, again demonstrating the accuracy of the modern Hebrew texts and the Jewish understanding of this verse.
This brings us to another important point, namely, whether the text has anything to do with the Messiah or if it discussing another issue. Let's look at the text in context: 10: And the L-RD spoke again unto Ahaz, saying: 11: 'Ask thee a sign of the L-RD thy G-d: ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.' 12: But Ahaz said: 'I will not ask, neither will I try the L-RD.' 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 G-d also? 14: Therefore the L-rd Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Curd and honey shall he eat, when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 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. When Isaiah 7:14 is read in context, we see that the sign is specifically for King Ahaz, the King of Judah. During his reign, King Ahaz was under attack from both Assyria and Israel, the Northern Jewish kingdom (The land of Israel split into two separate countries soon after the death of King Solomon). The sign for King Ahaz is that prior to the boy of verse 14 learning the difference between good and evil, the Kingdom of Judah will no longer be attacked by Assyria and Israel. In fact, we read that the kings of these two hostile kingdoms were killed, in 2 Kings 15:29-30 and 2 Kings 16:9, bringing peace to the Kingdom of Judah. So, the prophecy was fulfilled just as predicted. Overall, this verse has nothing to do with the Messiah. It was a prophecy that was fulfilled for King Ahaz, thus, it cannot be used logically as a "proof text" regarding the Messiah. There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them: Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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