Introduction to Isaiah 7

Structure and Formatting

See the introduction to chapter 6 for a description of where this chapter fits within the overall structure of Part One of the book of Isaiah, which presents oracles about the kingdom of Judah. 1. Narratives about Isaiah 1. A sign for Ahaz: a child will be born (7:1–24)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Descriptive term for the woman who is going to have a son

In verse 14, Isaiah tells King Ahaz that Yahweh is going to give him a sign. As he speaks of a woman who is going to have a son, Isaiah uses a term from his culture that describes a young woman of marriageable age. It could describe a woman who was not yet married or a woman who was married but had not yet had children. Interpreters believe that in context, Isaiah is referring either to the primary wife of King Ahaz, whose first son would become the next king and continue the dynasty of David, or to his own wife, whom he describes in the next chapter. Either way, the original point of the sign was that before this boy was old enough to know right from wrong, the countries whose kings were invading Judah would be destroyed. The boy’s name, Immanuel, which means “God with us,” was a further guarantee from Yahweh that he would help the Judeans. However, in the New Testament, we learn that there was a deeper fulfillment of the sign that Isaiah described. Matthew relates in his gospel how Mary conceived Jesus while she was still a virgin and how Jesus literally was “God with us.” So that your readers can appreciate this connection, if at all possible, use a term in your translation here that could describe either a young wife who had not yet had children or an unmarried woman who had never had sexual relations. The ULT does that by using the term “maiden.”