1. First, one has to decide whether the text is messianic in character- does this speak of a future Davidic king? I think the evidence is very strong that it does. Three times in Isaiah 7, the “house of David” is mentioned by name, and when Ahaz is given the prophesied sign, he is addressed thus: “Hear now, O house of David.” Moreover, the problem addressed by the text is that the Northern Kingdom and Syria want to come into Judah and set up a non-Davidide on the throne:
(Isaiah 7:6) "Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,“
In other words, the son of Tabeel and not the son of David. Their non-Davidic thrones are again mentioned in the leadup to 7:14:
(Isaiah 7:8-9) For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin.(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.) ”‘And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’“
Finally, concerning Immanuel himself, he is described in terms of kingly wisdom:
(Isaiah 7:15) He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
As you all know very well, language of choosing or discerning between good and evil is royal language, used by Solomon in 1 Kings 3 when praying for wisdom to rule. The evidence, then, is very strong that Isaiah 7:14 is about some kind of Davidic king. This is likewise supported by the broader context- Isaiah 6 is about the whittling down of the elect seed, and Isaiah 9-11 are all about the coming of the Davidic redeemer.
2. Second, one has to figure out the timeframe of the prophecy. This is generally understood to be the most difficult issue, because the context is apparently one relating to Ahaz’ own day. The key here, I believe, is to understand that the sign is given to confirm everything the prophet has just said- it not only confirms that Damascus and Syria will be undone, but also that "if [Ahaz] will not be firm in faith, he will not be firm at all.”
In the literary structure of 7:8-9, “Within 65 years Ephraim will be broken to pieces” corresponds with “if you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”
This is the critical point- with Ahaz’ failure of faith, the destruction of Syria and the Northern Kingdom is not a sign that Judah has been saved- rather, it becomes a sign that the same power which has just wiped them out is going to flow into Judah as well. Also crucial to understanding the timeframe is understanding what it means to say that the boy will eat curds and honey. Before he is old enough to become king (to choose good from evil), and therefore before he is old enough to deliver his people from their enemies, he will eat curds and honey. This phrase is used once more in Isaiah 7:
(Isaiah 7:20-22) In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River–with the king of Assyria–the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also. In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
People will be eating curds and honey after the land has been shaved and judged- they will be eating curds and honey after the land has become “briers and thorns” (7:23). And Isaiah 55 says that the briers and thorns will be replaced by myrtles and cypresses only after the work of the Servant.
Isaiah 8 further grounds my reading of the timeframe. First, we have the narrative of the birth of “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” or “Speed, Spoil, Haste, Booty.” There is clearly a literary reference to Isaiah 7:14, but it is a mistake to see this as the fulfillment. Whereas Immanuel is a sign of Judah’s deliverance, the child here is a sign of Judah’s judgment- Assyria will come with speed and haste to take spoil and booty. This is the manifestation of the delay of the prophecy due to the Davidic king’s lack of faith. The fourfold name of this child links to the fourfold name of the messianic child of Isaiah 9:6- Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father Forever, Prince of Peace. The literary similarities between 8:3-4, 7:14, and 9:6 are intended to draw out the sharp contrast between the two children.
Isaiah elaborates:
(Isaiah 8:6-8) "Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.“
The flood of Assyria which will accomplish the promised destruction of Israel and Syria is a sign that Judah will be judged too: the flood sweeps into Judah. The land belongs to Immanuel because he is the Davidic heir of the inheritance. Then, in Isaiah 8:9-10, we have the promise of deliverance:
(Isaiah 8:9-10) Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered. Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
Clearly, the "God is with us” is a reference to Immanuel, and this describes the redemption of His people- but it comes after the flood sweeps into Judah and turns it into briers and thorns. That this child remains in the distant future is confirmed by two important points:
a. The language here is directly and clearly echoed in Isaiah 40 and 46:
(Isaiah 40:8-9) The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
The words of the wicked which will not stand in Isaiah 7 are contrasted here with the word of God which will stand- and note how this allusion to the Immanuel prophecy is directly connected to “Behold your God”- God-with-us brings the visible revelation of the Glory of God.
46:10 does for “counsel” what 40:8 did for “word”:
(Isaiah 46:10) declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
And as the prophecy goes on, we see exactly when the word will accomplish God’s purpose- it’s in Isaiah 55:
(Isaiah 55:11) so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
In other words, the promised deliverance of Isaiah 8:9-10 is threaded through Isaiah 40:8-9 and 46:10 to 55:11 so as to place its timeframe after the work of the Suffering Servant. The figure of Immanuel, therefore, is linked to the figure of the Suffering Servant.
b. Isaiah 8:11-17 places the fulfillment of the promised deliverance in the distant future:
(Isaiah 8:11-17) For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.
The wickedness and blindness of the people here refers back to Isaiah 6- the prophet is called to increase their blindness, and the opening of their eyes won’t take place for a long time. Most clearly, in my view, is the reference to “binding up the testimony” and “sealing the teaching.” This is language used in Scripture for sealing a prophecy whose deliverance is not near- Daniel 12 being one example. The Lord is presently “hiding his face”, but Isaiah in faith will do what Ahaz did not “I will wait for the Lord.”
All of this, to my mind, provides a close reading of the text which accounts for its details and which, on its own terms, places the fulfillment of Isaiah 7 after the exile.
One might object that only Assyria is referred to here rather than Babylon. I would respond in two ways: first, the same is true for Isaiah 10-11. The dawn of the messianic age in Isaiah 11 comes on the heels of the description of Assyria’s judgment in Isaiah 10. In terms of the narrative theology of the book, the Assyrian and Babylonian judgments flow into one another. That is the meaning of the sign given to Hezekiah- he is given a fifteen year extension on life, but death is still coming. The sun is turned back ten degrees, but the clock is still ticking. Evening is still coming. While I don’t want to make this my central point here, I have concluded that Isaiah 41-43 actually refers to the Assyrian invasion of Judah, God’s deliverance of Judah, and Judah’s failure to be faithful in that light- so that Isaiah 43 ends with a prophecy of judgment on the temple and exile. Isaiah 44-48 then describes the deliverance from Babylon, but Isaiah 48 says that now Judah confesses the Lord’s name “but not in truth or right”- the same sins called out in the Gospels. Israel is condemned for not taking God’s light to the nations, as He says “Will you not declare it?” Cp. Isaiah 66 where the survivors are sent out to “declare my glory to the nations.” Then the singular Servant of Isaiah 49-53 succeeds where Judah and Israel failed.
In other words, in Isaiah, the Assyrian and Babylonian judgments are in some senses collapsed into one, which is the only way to understand Isaiah 11 and its context.
3. Is the woman a virgin?
Since I am not a Hebrew scholar, I cannot give linguistic arguments here. However, I want to put up Eugen Pentiuc’s article here for consideration:
https://www.goarch.org/-/the-word-almah-in-isaiah-7-14-a-new-etymology-1-
Pentiuc, a scholar of Near Eastern languages, suggests (following Jerome’s ancient suggestion) that the word “almah” is not derived from the word for “young” but the word for “concealed.” It thus refers to a woman who has been betrothed but is still concealed with a bridal veil- and thus is a virgin. I think there is one important point, however, which strongly indicates that the birth must be miraculous. Isaiah 7:14 is almost a direct quotation of Judges 13, the annunciation of Samson:
(Judges 13:3-5) And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
Of course, the birth here is birth from a barren womb- a miraculous birth. The allusion to Judges 13 and the use of the language of “sign” indicates that Is. 7:14 is about a miraculous birth, which lends credit in my mind to Pentiuc’s reading, thereby explaining why the LXX translators rendered the text in the way that they did. Additional evidence that Isaiah is alluding to Judges can be found by noting that this portion of Isaiah is laden with allusions to Judges. James Jordan’s commentary on Judges points out that Isaiah 9 alludes to several judges, and particularly to Gideon in 9:4. Finally, Isaiah 9 alludes to Judges 13 itself. The first “name” for the child is “Wonderful Counselor”, which echoes the revelation of the Name in Judges 13:
(Judges 13:17-18) And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is Wonderful?”
