Isaiah 7:14 (WEB)
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Isaiah 7:14 (KJV)
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Key words
- עַלְמָהalmah · Hebrew
- 'virgin' — a young woman of marriageable age; in the Bible the word never clearly refers to a married woman.
- παρθένοςparthenos · Greek (LXX)
- 'virgin' — the Greek translators (two centuries before Christ) chose the unambiguous word for a virgin, and Matthew 1:23 quotes their rendering.
- עִמָּנוּ אֵלImmanu El · Hebrew
- 'God with us' — the child's name declares that in him God himself is present.
Why it matters
The sign of the virgin who conceives and bears 'God with us' is applied by Matthew to Mary and Jesus. Pitre's argument for the title 'Mother of God' rests here: if the child Mary bears is Immanuel, God with us, then Mary is the mother of God-with-us — a statement about who Jesus is before it is a statement about her. Honouring her as such guards the truth of the Incarnation.