Isaiah 7 Bible study: Ask a sign

"In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it" (7:1). The first verse already says they "could not prevail against it" (7:1). Then comes the news: "David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind" (7:2). In Hebrew trembled and tremble are one verb. Ephraim is Pekah's kingdom: "The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son" (7:9), and 7:1 calls Pekah "king of Israel" (7:1). The news came to "David’s house" (7:2), and later in the chapter the words before the sign are spoken to the "house of David" (7:13): in Hebrew the same two words. 2 Kings tells of the same war (2 Kings 16:5), and the notes on 2 Kings 16 set the two verses side by side.

Isaiah 7:14→leads toMatthew 1:22-23

In the days of Ahaz (Isaiah 7:1), the word came: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus: "After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:18). Then he says, "Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”" (Matthew 1:22-23). Joseph "took his wife to himself" (Matthew 1:24), and "He named him Jesus" (Matthew 1:25). Matthew doesn't name Isaiah in these verses; he gives the words of Isaiah 7:14 and says the birth of Jesus fulfilled them. The WEB words the two a little differently: will conceive, and bear a son and shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son, shall call and They shall call. Christians read the sign in Isaiah's own setting in two main ways, and the chapter's honest question sets out both without choosing; both hold Matthew's words as Scripture.

אוֹתotsay OHT

Brown-Driver-Briggs lists among its uses "signs, omens promised by prophets as pledges of certain predicted events". Strong's: "a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence". The LORD tells Ahaz, "Ask a sign of the LORD your God" (7:11), and when he won't ask, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign" (7:14). Isaiah has the word 11 times in Hebrew. In the next chapter Isaiah says, "Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel" (8:18). Later the LORD's word to King Hezekiah has it, "This shall be the sign to you" (37:30), and Hezekiah asks, "What is the sign that I will go up to the LORD’s house?" (38:22).