{"id":8273,"date":"2016-03-07T07:47:14","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T15:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=8273"},"modified":"2016-05-28T19:44:01","modified_gmt":"2016-05-29T02:44:01","slug":"a-virgin-will-conceive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/07\/a-virgin-will-conceive\/","title":{"rendered":"A Virgin Will Conceive\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Isaiah 7:11, <i>A sign \u2026 either in the depth, or in the height above.<\/i><\/b><b><i> <\/i><\/b><i>Sign <\/i>is the Hebrew word <i>owth <\/i>(<i>Strong\u2019s <\/i>H226) meaning \u201csign, token, signal, a beacon, a monument, evidence, prodigy or omen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Traditionally, Christians have viewed this passage along with the following verses as a prophecy concerning the Messiah would be born of a virgin.<\/p>\n<p>Some who are opposed to the virgin birth interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 will say that <i>owth <\/i>is never used in Scripture in reference to a <i>miraculous sign.<\/i> To the contrary, there are numerous examples in the Scriptures where <i>owth <\/i>is indeed used in reference to a <i>miraculous sign<\/i> (e.g., Exod 4:8, 9, 17, 28, 30; 7:3; 8:23; 10:1, 2; Num 14:22; Deut 4:34; 6:22; 7:19; 11:3; 2 Kgs. 20:8\u201311; Neh 9:10; Isa 20:3; Jer 32:20, 21). For example, <i>owt <\/i>describes such supernatural occurrences as rods becoming serpents, the Nile turning to blood, the death of the Egypt\u2019s first born, the splitting of the Red Sea or time moving backward ten degrees on Hezekiah\u2019s sundial. So when Isa 7:11\u201314 uses the word <i>owth <\/i>to describe a virgin miraculously giving birth to a child, such an interpretation is not a biblical hermeneutical twist on this scripture.<\/p>\n<p>The word <i>depth <\/i>is the Hebrew masculine noun <i>aymek <\/i>(<i>Strong\u2019s <\/i>H6009 from H6010) meaning \u201cvalley or depression.\u201d<i> <\/i>This same Hebrew word in its adjective form (same spelling, different vowel points) refers to the <i>depths<\/i> of <i>sheol<\/i> or hell (Prov 9:18; Job 11:8). In Psalm 139:15, David in reference to his formation in his mother\u2019s womb (verse 13) says, \u201cI \u2026 was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth (Heb. <i>aretz<\/i>). <i>Aretz <\/i>(<i>Strong\u2019s <\/i>H776) is the commonly used word for <i>earth <\/i>or <i>land<\/i> in Scripture. A valley or depression is the lowest part of the earth. Here David figuratively likens his mother\u2019s womb to a low place or depression in the earth. Though the Hebrew words for <i>depth <\/i>in Isaiah 7:11 and <i>lowest parts <\/i>in Psalm 139:15 are different, the Hebraic concepts seem connected and analogous.<\/p>\n<p><i>Height <\/i>is the Hebrew word <i>gabahh <\/i>(<i>Strong\u2019s <\/i>H1361) and means \u201cto soar, to be lofty, to exalt<i>.\u201d <\/i>This root word in its adjective form is also <i>gabahh <\/i>(<i>Strong\u2019s <\/i>H1362)<i> <\/i>with the only difference between the two words being a slight vowel pronunciation difference in the second syllable. This word means \u201clofty or high<i>.\u201d <\/i>We see this adjective used in Job 35:5 as a poetic reference to heaven (Heb. <i>shamayim<\/i>) as well as in Isaiah 55:9; Psalm 103:11 (\u201cFor as the heaven\/<i>shamayim<\/i> is high above the earth \u2026\u201d or \u201caccording to the heights of heaven\u201d (alternate Hebrew rendering, <i>KJV <\/i>marginal notes).<\/p>\n<p><i>Above,<\/i> which is opposite the word <i>height<\/i> in the passage under analysis, is the word <i>ma\u2019al <\/i>(<i>Strong\u2019s <\/i>H4605) meaning \u201cupward, above, overhead, from the top, exceedingly.\u201d<i> <\/i>Thus, the phrase in this verse could be rendered as <i>highest heaven<\/i> (where YHVH abides). The word <i>ma\u2019al<\/i> can be used as an adjective to refer to <i>heaven above <\/i>where YHVH dwells (Deut 4:39; Josh 2:11).<\/p>\n<p>What is the point we are trying to make here? YHVH prophesies, through Isaiah, that he will give a supernatural, miraculous sign to the house of Judah from both the depths (or womb of a woman) and the highest heavens. In verse 14 Isaiah speaks of <i>the <\/i>(the Hebrew uses the definite article <i>the<\/i>) <i>virgin <\/i>or <i>the young maiden <\/i>(depending on your Bible translation) giving birth to a son named <i>Immanuel<\/i> meaning \u201cEl With Us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now great controversy has raged as to the meaning of the word <i>virgin <\/i>(Heb. <i>almah<\/i>). Does it refer simply to a young maiden or to an actual virgin? Much has been written by scholars on both sides of this hotly debated issue and it is outside the scope of this work to deal with this particular subject. Both sides (the pro-virgin birth side and the anti-virgin birth of Messiah side) have valid points to their credit. This author maintains that if Isaiah 7:14 were to stand alone, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove the virgin birth of the Messiah either way. However, with the context of verse 11 considered (not to mention the other references in the Tanakh referring to the virgin birth of the Messiah (e.g., Gen 3:15; Isa 9:6\u20137; Pss 2:7; 110:1\u20137), it seems that Isaiah had one thing in mind in penning verse 14: the Messiah would be born of a virgin. He would be formed in the womb of a woman (without the seed of a man (see Gen 3:15) and at the same time would originate from the highest heaven. This seems to be a clear reference to the incarnation, that YHVH would miraculously fuse (by the Spirit of Elohim [Matt 1:20]) with the physical egg of a woman to form the Yah-Man (God-Man) referred to in Christian theology as <i>the incarnation<\/i> or the <i>hypostatic union.<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemory\"><a href=\"javascript:\" onclick=\"Evernote.doClip({title: 'A Virgin Will Conceive\u2026',url: 'https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/07\/a-virgin-will-conceive\/',contentID: 'post-8273',suggestTags: 'Isaiah,Mary,Miriam,Virgin,Virgin Birth,Yeshua',providerName: 'Hoshana Rabbah Blog',styling: 'text' });return false\" class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryLink\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.evernote.com\/article-clipper.png\" \nclass=\"evernoteSiteMemoryButton\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryClear\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Isaiah 7:11, A sign \u2026 either in the depth, or in the height above. Sign is the Hebrew word owth (Strong\u2019s H226) meaning \u201csign, token, signal, a beacon, a monument, evidence, prodigy or omen.\u201d Traditionally, Christians have viewed this passage &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/07\/a-virgin-will-conceive\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,64],"tags":[81,580,188,1537,52,25],"class_list":["post-8273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scripture","category-weekly-readings","tag-isaiah","tag-mary","tag-miriam","tag-virgin","tag-virgin-birth","tag-yeshua"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Virgin Will Conceive\u2026 | Hoshana Rabbah Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/07\/a-virgin-will-conceive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Virgin Will Conceive\u2026 | Hoshana Rabbah Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Isaiah 7:11, A sign \u2026 either in the depth, or in the height above. Sign is the Hebrew word owth (Strong\u2019s H226) meaning \u201csign, token, signal, a beacon, a monument, evidence, prodigy or omen.\u201d Traditionally, Christians have viewed this passage &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/07\/a-virgin-will-conceive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hoshana Rabbah Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-07T15:47:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-29T02:44:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Natan Lawrence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Natan Lawrence\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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