Isaiah 7:14

7:14 For this reason the sovereign master himself will give you a confirming sign. ¹  Look, this ²  young woman ³  is about to conceive ⁴  and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him ⁵  Immanuel. ⁶ 

Isaiah 7:16

7:16 Here is why this will be so: ⁷  Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land ⁸  whose two kings you fear will be desolate. ⁹ 

Isaiah 14:4

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ¹⁰ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ¹¹  has ceased!

Isaiah 19:12

19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? ¹² 

Let them tell you, let them find out

what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.

Isaiah 23:16

23:16 “Take the harp,

go through the city,

forgotten prostitute!

Play it well,

play lots of songs,

so you’ll be noticed!” ¹³ 

Isaiah 26:8

26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, ¹⁴ 

O Lord, we wait for you.

We desire your fame and reputation to grow. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 30:13

30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.

You will be like a high wall

that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;

it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 34:1

The Lord Will Judge Edom

34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!

Pay attention, you people!

The earth and everything it contains must listen,

the world and everything that lives in it. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 36:17

36:17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Isaiah 39:7

39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father ¹⁸  will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹⁹ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ²⁰ 

but I blessed him ²¹  and gave him numerous descendants. ²² 

[7:14]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) can refer to a miraculous event (see v. 11), but it does not carry this sense inherently. Elsewhere in Isaiah the word usually refers to a natural occurrence or an object/person vested with special significance (see 8:18; 19:20; 20:3; 37:30; 55:13; 66:19). Only in 38:7-8, 22 does it refer to a miraculous deed that involves suspending or overriding natural laws. The sign outlined in vv. 14-17 involves God’s providential control over events and their timing, but not necessarily miraculous intervention.

[7:14]  ² tn Heb “the young woman.” The Hebrew article has been rendered as a demonstrative pronoun (“this”) in the translation to bring out its force. It is very likely that Isaiah pointed to a woman who was present at the scene of the prophet’s interview with Ahaz. Isaiah’s address to the “house of David” and his use of second plural forms suggests other people were present, and his use of the second feminine singular verb form (“you will name”) later in the verse is best explained if addressed to a woman who is present.

[7:14]  ³ tn Traditionally, “virgin.” Because this verse from Isaiah is quoted in Matt 1:23 in connection with Jesus’ birth, the Isaiah passage has been regarded since the earliest Christian times as a prophecy of Christ’s virgin birth. Much debate has taken place over the best way to translate this Hebrew term, although ultimately one’s view of the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ is unaffected. Though the Hebrew word used here (עַלְמָה, ’almah) can sometimes refer to a woman who is a virgin (Gen 24:43), it does not carry this meaning inherently. The word is simply the feminine form of the corresponding masculine noun עֶלֶם (’elem, “young man”; cf. 1 Sam 17:56; 20:22). The Aramaic and Ugaritic cognate terms are both used of women who are not virgins. The word seems to pertain to age, not sexual experience, and would normally be translated “young woman.” The LXX translator(s) who later translated the Book of Isaiah into Greek sometime between the second and first century b.c., however, rendered the Hebrew term by the more specific Greek word παρθένος (parqenos), which does mean “virgin” in a technical sense. This is the Greek term that also appears in the citation of Isa 7:14 in Matt 1:23. Therefore, regardless of the meaning of the term in the OT context, in the NT Matthew’s usage of the Greek term παρθένος clearly indicates that from his perspective a virgin birth has taken place.

[7:14]  ⁴ tn Elsewhere the adjective הָרָה (harah), when used predicatively, refers to a past pregnancy (from the narrator’s perspective, 1 Sam 4:19), to a present condition (Gen 16:11; 38:24; 2 Sam 11:5), and to a conception that is about to occur in the near future (Judg 13:5, 7). (There is some uncertainty about the interpretation of Judg 13:5, 7, however. See the notes to those verses.) In Isa 7:14 one could translate, “the young woman is pregnant.” In this case the woman is probably a member of the royal family. Another option, the one followed in the present translation, takes the adjective in an imminent future sense, “the young woman is about to conceive.” In this case the woman could be a member of the royal family, or, more likely, the prophetess with whom Isaiah has sexual relations shortly after this (see 8:3).

[7:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and you will call his name.” The words “young lady” are supplied in the translation to clarify the identity of the addressee. The verb is normally taken as an archaic third feminine singular form here, and translated, “she will call.” However the form (קָרָאת, qara’t) is more naturally understood as second feminine singular, in which case the words would be addressed to the young woman mentioned just before this. In the three other occurrences of the third feminine singular perfect of I קָרָא (qara’, “to call”), the form used is קָרְאָה (qar’ah; see Gen 29:35; 30:6; 1 Chr 4:9). A third feminine singular perfect קָרָאת does appear in Deut 31:29 and Jer 44:23, but the verb here is the homonym II קָרָא (“to meet, encounter”). The form קָרָאת (from I קָרָא, “to call”) appears in three other passages (Gen 16:11; Isa 60:18; Jer 3:4 [Qere]) and in each case is second feminine singular.

[7:14]  ⁶ sn The name Immanuel means “God [is] with us.”

[7:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “for, because.” The particle introduces the entire following context (vv. 16-25), which explains why Immanuel will be an appropriate name for the child, why he will eat sour milk and honey, and why experiencing such a diet will contribute to his moral development.

[7:16]  ⁸ sn Since “two kings” are referred to later in the verse, the “land” must here refer to Syria-Israel.

[7:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “the land will be abandoned, which you fear because of its two kings.” After the verb קוּץ (quts, “loathe, dread”) the phrase מִפְּנֵי (mipney, “from before”) introduces the cause of loathing/dread (see Gen 27:46; Exod 1:12; Num 22:3).

[14:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ¹⁴ tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[19:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.

[23:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “so you will be remembered.”

[26:8]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.

[26:8]  ³² tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [is] the desire of [our?] being.”

[30:13]  ³⁷ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

[34:1]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the world and its offspring”; NASB “the world and all that springs from it.”

[39:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”

[51:2]  ⁵⁵ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ⁵⁷ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”