Isaiah 7:14 – The Virgin Shall Conceive
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Seven centuries before Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah delivered this remarkable announcement to a faithless king. What Ahaz rejected as irrelevant, heaven treasured as the cornerstone of redemption. A virgin would bear a son. That son would be called Immanuel—God with us. In one verse, Isaiah unveiled the method and the meaning of the incarnation: divine presence arriving through miraculous birth.
The Historical Situation
The immediate context finds Judah in crisis. King Ahaz faced invasion from a coalition of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel, who sought to replace him with a puppet ruler. “And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind” (Isaiah 7:2). Fear gripped Jerusalem.
God sent Isaiah with assurance: the coalition would fail. To strengthen this promise, God invited Ahaz to request a sign—any sign, from the depths to the heights. “Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above” (Isaiah 7:11). This was an extraordinary offer, unlimited in scope, designed to bolster the king’s faltering faith.
Ahaz refused with false piety: “I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD” (Isaiah 7:12). His real reason was that he had already decided to seek Assyrian help rather than trust God. He wanted no sign that might obligate him to faith. His refusal was not humility but rebellion dressed in religious language.
Isaiah’s response rebuked this pretended devotion: “Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?” (Isaiah 7:13). Then came the sign Ahaz refused to request—a sign given not just to him but to the entire house of David: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Immanuel.
The Interpretive Challenge
The Hebrew word translated “virgin” is almah, which means a young woman of marriageable age. Critics argue this does not necessarily indicate virginity, pointing to the more specific Hebrew term bethulah. They suggest the prophecy referred to a young woman in Isaiah’s own time—perhaps the prophet’s wife or a woman in the royal court—whose son would serve as a time-marker for the coalition’s defeat.
This near-fulfillment interpretation has merit as far as it goes. Isaiah 8 records the birth of a son (Maher-shalal-hash-baz) whose early childhood marked the timeframe for Syria and Israel’s defeat. Some connection to the immediate crisis seems necessary given the context.
But this reading encounters serious obstacles. If almah means merely “young woman” without virginal implication, what is the sign? Young women bear children constantly—nothing remarkable about that. A sign, by definition, must be unusual enough to signify something. Furthermore, the name “Immanuel” carries freight no ordinary child could bear. “God with us” applied to Isaiah’s son or any contemporary figure would be strange indeed.
The Septuagint—the Greek translation made by Jewish scholars before Christ—rendered almah as parthenos, which unambiguously means “virgin.” These pre-Christian translators understood the passage to predict virginal conception. Their interpretation predates any Christian theological agenda.
Matthew’s Authoritative Application
The New Testament settles the question of Isaiah 7:14’s ultimate meaning. When the angel explained Mary’s pregnancy to Joseph, Matthew added this commentary: “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23).
Matthew, writing under divine inspiration, declares that Jesus’ virgin birth fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. This is not creative reinterpretation but authorized revelation. The sign Ahaz rejected—and received anyway—found its complete fulfillment seven centuries later when Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit and bore a Son who was genuinely Immanuel, God incarnate among humanity.
The virgin birth matters theologically, not merely biologically. Jesus must be fully human to represent humanity; He must be fully divine to save humanity. Born of a woman, He shares our nature. Conceived by the Spirit without human father, He is not merely another fallen son of Adam but the sinless Son of God entering Adam’s race from outside to redeem it from within.
Luke’s account preserves Mary’s astonished question: “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34). The angel’s answer confirms the miraculous nature: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). What Isaiah announced in shadow, Luke describes in full light.
Immanuel’s Full Significance
The name Immanuel deserves careful attention. It does not mean merely “God is with us” in the sense of divine assistance or blessing. The construction indicates “God-with-us” as a personal identification. The child Himself would be the presence of God among His people.
This claim exceeds anything possible for an ordinary child. Isaiah knew this well, for later in his prophecy he would describe this same child in unmistakable terms: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). The child of the virgin is the mighty God. Immanuel is not a title of aspiration but a statement of identity.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the name Immanuel by being what no other human could be—God Himself dwelling in human flesh. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem represented God dwelling among Israel; Jesus Christ was God dwelling among humanity in the most intimate way possible—as one of us.
After His resurrection, Jesus commissioned His disciples with this promise: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Immanuel continues. Through His Spirit, Christ remains present with His people. The incarnation was not a temporary visit but the beginning of eternal Emmanuel—God permanently united with redeemed humanity.
A Sign for You
Ahaz refused God’s offered sign because he preferred his own solutions to divine provision. He would rather trust Assyria than the Almighty, human alliances than heavenly assistance. His faithlessness brought temporary relief but long-term disaster. The Assyrians he invited eventually became Judah’s oppressors.
The sign rejected by Ahaz is offered to you. The virgin-born Immanuel came not just for ancient Judah but for all who will receive Him. “God with us” means God came to where we are—into our world, our struggles, our mortality. The infinite became infant. The Creator became creature. The transcendent became touchable.
This sign demands response. Either Jesus was virgin-born, Immanuel, God incarnate—or the New Testament writers were deceived or deceiving. There is no middle position that preserves intellectual integrity. If the virgin birth is true, then God has acted decisively in human history, and that action claims your allegiance.
The sign given to Ahaz was meant to strengthen faith. Will you believe what he refused to ask? Will you trust the Immanuel whom Isaiah foretold and Matthew announced? God is with us—not as a slogan but as a Person, not as sentiment but as Savior. The virgin conceived. The son was born. His name is Jesus, and He remains Immanuel forever for all who come to Him by faith.