Missing Prophecy | Isaiah 7:10-17

Welcome to Gateways, where you experience the Nevi’im—the Prophets—through the teachings of Don Yitzchak Abarbanel, distilled into easy-to-follow lessons.

In this lesson, we’re going to dive into Abarabanel’s fourth question on this prophecy. This touches on one of the debates between Jewish tradition and Christians who attempt to interpret these verses as a reference to Jesus. Spoiler alert: Abarbanel totally dismantles their claims.

We’ll cover the verses, Abarbanel’s questions, and his answers. I’ll conclude with a short takeaway. For a full background on the people and history of this prophecy, please see His Story.

Jeff

Overview

The overarching intent of this prophecy is to make known the predictions that Isaiah the prophet foretold concerning the ascent of Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remalyahu to wage war against Jerusalem in the days of Ahaz king of Judah, and also what he foretold regarding the coming of Sennacherib against Jerusalem and his downfall at the hand of Hezekiah his son, as well as the success of Hezekiah’s generation and the destruction of Damascus and Samaria—all of which will be explained in the verses themselves.

Verses

י. וַיּוֹסֶף ה’ דַּבֵּר אֶל אָחָז לֵאמֹר׃

יא. שְׁאַל לְךָ אוֹת מֵעִם ה’ אֱלֹהֶיךָ הַעְמֵק שְׁאָלָה אוֹ הַגְבֵּהַּ לְמָעְלָה׃

יב. וַיֹּאמֶר אָחָז לֹא אֶשְׁאַל וְלֹא אֲנַסֶּה אֶת ה’׃

יג. וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְעוּ נָא בֵּית דָּוִד הֲמְעַט מִכֶּם הַלְאוֹת אֲנָשִׁים כִּי תַלְאוּ גַּם אֶת אֱלֹהָי׃

יד. לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא לָכֶם אוֹת הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ עִמָּנוּ אֵל׃

טו. חֶמְאָה וּדְבַשׁ יֹאכֵל לְדַעְתּוֹ מָאֹס בָּרָע וּבָחוֹר בַּטּוֹב׃

טז. כִּי בְּטֶרֶם יֵדַע הַנַּעַר מָאֹס בָּרָע וּבָחֹר בַּטּוֹב תֵּעָזֵב הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה קָץ מִפְּנֵי שְׁנֵי מְלָכֶיהָ׃

יז. יָבִיא ה’ עָלֶיךָ וְעַל עַמְּךָ וְעַל בֵּית אָבִיךָ יָמִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא בָאוּ לְמִיּוֹם סוּר אֶפְרַיִם מֵעַל יְהוּדָה אֵת מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר

10. The Lord continued speaking to Ahaz, saying:

11. Request a sign for yourself from the Lord your God Deepen your request,or raise it above

12. Ahaz said: I will not ask and I will not try the Lord.

13. He said: Hear now, house of David: Is it not enough for you to weary people, that you weary my God as well?

14. Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman, alma, will conceive and bear a son, and she will call his name Imanuel,

15. He will eat butter and honey, to teach him to spurn the bad and choose the good,

15. For before the child will know to spurn the bad and choose the good, the land that you abhor will be abandoned due to its two kings.

17. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house days that have not come since the day of the secession of Ephraim from Judah: the king of Assyria.

Photo by Jaya Endean

Question

The fourth question concerns His statement:

“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the young woman alma will conceive and bear a son, and she will call his name Imanuel.”

We do not understand in what way this was a sign.

If the sign was that the young woman would conceive—this is not a sign nor a wonder, for from three months of pregnancy and onward, anyone can recognize that a woman is pregnant.

And if the sign was that she would bear a son—this too would not be a wonder, for many people can discern from the appearance of pregnant women whether they will give birth to sons or daughters, and it is something close to being knowable in his view.

Answers

Abarbanel goes through a lengthy analysis to establish that the תנ׳׳ך uses different words for different types of miracles. We’ll pick up with his conclusion:

The conclusion that emerges from all of this is that these four terms (previously discussed), although at times they are used for matters that depart from the natural order, nevertheless in most instances they are also used for signs and proofs that people establish regarding their affairs — and that is their primary and original meaning…

Accordingly, the term “sign” (ot) in particular—which is the intention in this passage—is not something we are required to interpret as referring to an event that departs from the natural order.

In other words, the word אות isn’t referring to a miracle. But a sign, or a marker, of something that will happen. Returning to Abarbanel:

In this same manner it is fitting to interpret here as well:

“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign.”

The sign is not the conception of the young woman nor her giving birth. Rather, He will give them a sign for good—in their salvation from their enemies.

Not only this time, from the hands of Rezin and the son of Remaliah, but also later from the hands of Sennacherib, who will come against Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah—and afterward they shall eat of the good of the land.

Therefore, in order to clarify the sign He mentioned and when it would occur, he said:

“Behold, the young woman will conceive and bear a son.”

Meaning: you should certainly know that the young woman—who was either the wife of Ahaz or his daughter, as I have mentioned—although she is young in years, is already pregnant and will bear a son.

She will call his name Immanuel, because in his days the Blessed God will be with Israel and save them from their troubles.

Takeaway

(By the time this post gets published, we’ll just have celebrated Purim. There are tons of connections between this takeaway and Purim. I’ll let you uncover them yourself.)

There’s a German word, fernweh, which means missing a faraway place. It means something slightly deeper than just wanting to go somewhere. More like an ache.

This prophecy gives me that feeling, except instead of going to a place, going to a place in time. I wish to be alive at a time when prophets could tell us about a salvation that was going to happen, and it would all be so clear that a young woman would see it clearly (no surprises there) and name her son Immanuel, “God is with us.”

And yet, I know all this angsty longing isn’t what God wants from us. My proof? Song of Songs, 6:5.

Let me set the scene. A man (God) is upset with his beloved (Israel). And yet, his heart melts when he looks into her eyes. So he says to her:

ה. הָסֵ֤בִּי עֵינַ֙יִךְ֙ מִנֶּגְדִּ֔י שֶׁ֥הֵ֖ם הִרְהִיבֻ֑נִי שַׂעְרֵךְ֙ כְּעֵ֣דֶר הָֽעִזִּ֔ים שֶׁגָּלְשׁ֖וּ מִן־הַגִּלְעָֽד׃

5. Turn your eyes away from me, they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilad.

The Sforno explains this verse as follows:

5. Turn your eyes away, the prophets are referred to as “your eyes”, as it says, “He has closed their eyes…the prophets” (Isaiah 29:10). From me, so they won’t encounter a vision, even if they are worthy of it. They overwhelm me, they were the reason I took vengeance on you since you didn’t listen to their rebuke, making you more deserving of punishment than if there were no prophets at all.

Your hair, however, the customs you have from your ancestors are pleasing and precious to me like a flock of goats, which are ready to be prepared into a fine garment. So, keep practicing these honored customs, as it says, “We took commandments on ourselves…” (Nehemiah 10:33), and you no longer have a need for prophets.

This is our time. When we had prophets, we didn’t listen. But by following the customs our ancestors took on, we will always be beloved by God.