Isaiah's Immanuel Prophecy

During the Syro-Ephraimite War, when King Ahaz of Judah trembled in fear before the alliance of Aram and Israel marching against Jerusalem, the Lord sent Isaiah to reassure him: “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart.” God offered Ahaz a sign, but the king hypocritically refused: “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”

Isaiah responded: “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

The Hebrew word almah means “young woman” or “virgin”—in the immediate context likely referring to Isaiah’s wife or a contemporary young woman whose child would be a sign to Ahaz. Before the child grew old enough to know good from evil, the threatening kings would be destroyed.

But the prophecy carried deeper significance. The name “Immanuel” means “God with us”—pointing to God’s presence with His people. The Septuagint (Greek translation) used parthenos (virgin), and Matthew 1:23 applies the prophecy to Jesus’s virgin birth: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.”

Christianity sees this as a dual prophecy—immediate fulfillment in Isaiah’s time, ultimate fulfillment in Christ. Judaism sees it as addressing the historical crisis with no messianic implication. The prophecy became one of Christianity’s most-cited Old Testament texts supporting Jesus’s virgin birth and divine nature.