This question comes up very often, especially when talking to Jews who question Yeshua’s claim to be Messiah, or when a person is being converted to Judaism and the rabbis they are listening to question the validity of Yeshua virgin birth. We have seen and read many commentaries of this question and some are very scholarly and some are rather simple to understand. We want to answer this question properly, so we are going to quote from an article called, “Is “virgin” or “young woman” the correct translation of Isaiah 7.14?” This came be found on the internet in the website called “Gotquestions.Org.” We believe that this is a very good explanation of this issue and we agree with it conclusion.
“Isaiah 7.14 reads, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and he will call him Immanuel.” Quoting Isaiah t.14, Matthew 1.23 reads, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel-which means ‘God with us.’ ” Christians point to this “virgin birth” as evidence of Messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus. Is this a valid example of fulfilled prophecy? Is Isaiah 7.14 predicting the virgin birth of Jesus? Is “virgin” even the proper translation of the Hebrew word used in Isaiah 7.14?
“The Hebrew word used in Isaiah 7.14 is “almah” and its inherent meaning is “young woman.” “Almah” can mean “virgin”, as young unmarried women in ancient Hebrew culture were assumed to be virgins. Again, though, the word does not necessarily imply virginity. “Almah” occurs seven times in the Hebrew Scriptures (Genesis 24.43; Exodus 2.8; Psalm 68.25; Proverbs 30.19; Song of Solomon 1.3, 6.8; Isaiah 7.14). None of these instances demands the meaning of “virgin.” There is no conclusive argument for “almah” in Isaiah 7.14. being either “young woman” or “virgin.” However, it is interesting to note, that in the 3rd century B.C., when a panel of Hebrew scholars and Jewish rabbis began the process of translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, they used the specific Greek word for virgin, “parthenos,” not the more generic Greek word for “young woman.” The Septuagint translators, 200+ years before the birth of Christ, and with no inherent belief in a “virgin birth,” translated “almah” in Isaiah 7.14 as “virgin”, not “young woman.” This gives evidence that “virgin” is a possible, even likely, meaning of the term.
With all that said, even if the meaning “virgin” is ascribed to “almah” in Isaiah 7.14, does that make Isaiah 7.14 a Messianic prophecy about Jesus, as Matthew 1.23 claims? In the context of Isaiah chapter 7, the Aramites and Israelites were seeking to conquer Jerusalem, and King Ahaz was fearful . The Prophet Isaiah approaches KIng Ahaz and declares that Aram and Israel would not be successful in conquering Jerusalem (verses 7-9). The Lord offers Ahaz the opportunity to receive a sign (verse 10), but Ahaz refuses to put God to the test (verse 11. God responds by giving the sign Ahaz should look for, the “virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son…but before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” In this prophecy, God is essentially saying that within a few years’ time, Israel and Aram will be destroyed. At first glance, Isaiah 7.14 has no connection with a promised virgin birth of the Kessiah. However, the Apostle Matthew, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, connects the virgin birth of Jesus (Matthew 1.23) with the prophecy in Isaiah 7.14. Therefore, Isaiah 7.14 should be understood as being a “double prophecy,” referring primarily to the situation King Ahaz was facing, but secondarily to the coming of Messiah who would be the ultimate deliverer.”
So, this article says that the “sign” to Ahaz was that a “virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, but before the boys knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” This “son” was going to be born to Isaiah the prophet and his wife in Isaiah 8.1-4. But if Miraim the mother of Yeshua is a virgin, what was the sign to be given for her? We suggest that there was a “sign, or a way to prove to anyone in the first century that Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, was a virgin
We know that Miriam was a virgin and that was what she told Joseph after the visit of Gabriel in Luke 1.26-38 and said she was with child (Matt 1.18-25). Joseph, who did not believe her at first, was going to divorce her privately (they were considered married at their engagement), but an angel appeared to him in a dream and said that he should not be afraid to take Miriam as his wife (full marriage) because she has conceived under the power of God. This happened during the month of Kislev, which was the sixth month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy with John. This was the month of Chanukah and so John was born three months later, around Passover. That means that Yeshua was born in the fall, round the festival of Sukkot.
Now, what we are going for is the “sign” mentioned in Isa 7.14 and how it could allude to another sign concerning Miriam. However, at face value, a young woman having a baby wasn’t much of a sign outside of how it applied to the time of Ahaz. If Miriam was a virgin, how could that be proved in the first century? It is, therefore, significant that Miriam went “with haste” after the announcement by Gabriel to her cousin Elisabeth’s (God’s oath) house. Why would she do that? Elisabeth was married to Zacheriah (Yehovah remembers), an older man and a respected priest, a tzaddik, a righteous man. Was she told to go to a respected kohen’s house? We know she stayed there for three months until Passover, when specific ceremonies were conducted. She was beginning to show.
There is a ceremony in the Torah that could have proven that she was a virgin or not. It is called “The Sotah” and it is found in Num 5.11-31, and this portion is read between Sukkot and Chanukah in the synagogues in the first century. Sotah means “one who has strayed” and it was given because a husband may suspect his wife has been unfaithful, and this ceremony is done before the Lord to prove her innocence. The Sotah of Miriam cannot be proven because there are no records from the Temple anymore, but if she did do this, there would have been a record in the first century in the Temple. By 70 A.D., this ceremony was no longer being practiced because there were so many adulterous women in that generation, and the Temple was destroyed. This ceremony is only associated with the Temple. The Temple in the first century was a supernatural environment, just like in the time of the wilderness, and there were things that happened there all the time that were miraculous.
Now, there were two types of Sotah. First, there is the Sotah where there is no specific evidence, just a suspicion by the jealous husband. The second Sotah is one where there is specific evidence, such as the woman is pregnant. This what Miriam was and she would have been called “the presumptive Sotah.” The Mishnah has a tractate in this called “Sotah” and it says in Sotah 1.1 that the husband had to warn her before two witnesses to stay away from someone. If she didn’t, then this ceremony could be initiated. Did Miriam “volunteer” for this ceremony by going to two witnesses who could testify of her chaste behavior? Did she volunteer for the Sotah ceremony by going to her house in order to see she was a virgin? Could the Lord have told her to volunteer for this ceremony?
This is no small thing. In the Mishnah, the husband would take his wife to a local Beit Din (court) and two learned men would accompany her on the way to the Temple to prove that the husband does not cohabit with her on the way. Did Zachariah and Elisabeth perform a similar function during her three month stay with them? Both of them knew about the supernatural circumstances about the conception of their son, who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. They would have never doubted a word Miriam told her.
Once at the high court in Jerusalem, the priests tried to instill fear within her (Sotah 1.4). They wrote on paper the curse if she was not telling the truth before the Lord, and the Lord’s name Yehovah was written on it as well. Dust from the Temple is mixed with water and the paper with the curses on it, and she was made to drink it. If she dies immediately she is believed to be guilty, but this could take up to three years. She has the opportunity to say she is guilty. If so, then a certificate of divorce is written and she is divorced. Id she says she is pure, they can take her up to the eastern gate, called the “gate of the just.” It was here that the ashes of the red heifer were kept and where they purify the lepers and women after childbirth. Here, a priest takes hold of her garments, and if they were torn they were torn. They let down her hair and try to humiliate her, but this is not done in front of the younger priests if she wasa attractive. all of this was meant to get her to confess.
If she was wearing white, they dressed her in black. If she wore jewelry, they took it off. Anyone could watch these proceedings except for her male and female servants, and her parents. She was treated according to the sin. If she adorned herself to her lover for the sin, the Lord disgraced her. If she revealed herself to sin, the Lord revealed her sin. She sinned with the thigh first, then the belly, so the thigh is struck first, and then the belly if she is guilty. If she is innocent, nothing would happen to her. The Mishnah is very detailed about how exactly this is done, so if you want more information we refer you to the Mishnah, Tractate Sotah. You can also read about it in the Torah and in Alfred Edersheim’s book called “The Temple: Its Ministries and Services”, p. 361-365.
Did Miriam volunteer for this ceremony to prove she was a virgin” We don’t know, but it would have been a very powerful “sign” to the priests, the Sanhedrin, and the people. We don’t believe Joseph would have required it because he was given a dream by God, but she did talk with Zachariah and Elisabeth. They knew Messiah was coming and their son was to go before him to prepare the way as his messenger. The Sotah in the Temple, if it happened, also verified Miriam’s pregnancy as being from God fulfilling Isa 7.14.
There was a sign at the circumcision of John when Zachariah’s tongue was loosed and of course all the signs associated with the birth of Yeshua. But Miriam did not need to convince Joseph she was a virgin, he knew she was by the dream. You also have to ask this question. When Yeshua said he was the Messiah, and they interpreted Isa 7,14 as alluding to the Messiah in the first century, why didn’t his enemies, the priests, the scribes, the Temple officials, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and every other religious sect in the first century contest his mother’s virginity? If they could prove that his mother was nota virgin, it would put an end to all his claims to be the Messiah. On the other hand, Miriam could prove she was a virgin because there was proof in the Temple records that she took a “voluntary Sotah” and nothing has happened to her! Was the sign mentioned in Isa 7.14 also alluding to the Sotah of Miriam, and this Torah command was given as a way to prove it before man? We are not saying that this really happened, but the mechanism is there in the Torah for Miriam to prove that she was a virgin in regards to the birth of Yeshua if anyone had a question about it.
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