-- Thomas p.80
- Matt1:23 with Isa 7:14.The Lord through Isaiah offered King Ahaz a sign in Isa 7:10-11, but Ahaz in feigned humility refused the offer in Isa 7:12.SinceAhaz refused that sign, the Lord chose another sign described in Isa 7:14, the miraculous birth of a son to a virgin. The Hebrew word translated “virgin” refers to an unmarried woman (Gen 24:43; Prov 30:19; Song 1:3;6:8), indicating that the birth of Isaiah’s own son in Isa 8:3 could not have fulfilled this prophecy. Besides, birth of a son to Isaiah would hardly have satisfied the promise of a “sign” and the son’s name of “Immanuel” in 7:14. Matthew noted the fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Israel’s Messiah in Matt 1:23and applied the name “Immanuel”(i.e., “God with us”) from Isa 7:14 to Him. That was a literal fulfillment of Isaiah’s OT prophecy.