February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 1 of 8 Isaiah 7:14 – Part 2 of 2: Refuting Christian Apologetics A Counter-Missionary Education Lesson by Uri Yosef, Ph.D., Director of Education Virtual Yeshiva of the Messiah Truth Project, Inc. [The article on this topic is located here - Copyright © Uri Yosef 2011 for the Messiah Truth Project, Inc. All rights reserved Counter-Missionary Education

February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 2 of 8 Introduction Ever since the advent of Christianity, 20 centuries ago, Christian apologists have been busy in fashioning arguments to defend their theology (ergo, the title “apologist” and the product “apologetics”). As these arguments were countered and refuted by responses from the Jewish Sages, new and more sophisticated arguments were created by Christian theologians – a chain of events that has continued to the present time. The verse Isaiah 7:14, being a foundational element of the Christian theological framework, has received a significant amount of attention in this “debate”. In this lesson, several popular apologetics Christian missionaries use in their effort to defend their interpretation of Isaiah 7:14, the so-called “proof text” for the “Virgin Birth”, are presented. Each of these arguments is followed by Judaism’s response that refutes it.

February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 3 of 8 (  ) Missionary Argument #1(  ) Judaism’s Response Every other instance of עַלְמָה in the Hebrew Bible refers to a virgin עַלְמָה represents an age group, not a state of sexual purity & innocence” בְּתוּלָה (b e tulah) is “a virgin” Isaiah uses בְּתוּלָה five (5) times (  ) Missionary Argument #2(  ) Judaism’s Response Isaiah uses עַלְמָה to remove ambiguity and add precision The omitted reference proves Isaiah knew how to apply בְּתוּלָה - Isaiah applies בְּתוּלָה four (4) times in reference to a nation Jeremiah uses בְּתוּלָה 15 times, eight (8) of which refer to a virgin/virgins - Jeremiah applies בְּתוּלָה seven (7) times in reference to a nation A study of all 50 instances of בְּתוּלָה leaves no doubt it means “a virgin” Claim: The word עַלְמָה [almah] means "virgin", therefore, this prophecy foretells the miraculous birth of Jesus. Conclusion: עַלְמָה & בְּתוּלָה are not interchangeable nouns. The female in Isaiah 7:14 is about a (very) pregnant young woman.

February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 4 of 8 (  ) Missionary Argument(  ) Judaism’s Response “1 st fulfillment” - Immanu’el born in 8 th century BCE “Dual prophecy” & “dual fulfillment” are unbiblical concepts “2 nd fulfillment” - Jesus born at the turn of the Era If there were two “virgin births”, what makes the 2 nd one more special? Does Isaiah 7:15-16 apply to Jesus? (  ) Missionary Counter-Argument(  ) Judaism’s Response “Dual prophecy” is hinted at by Isaiah’s use of singular and plural “you” pronouns in addressing Ahaz - Singular pronoun aimed at Ahaz and his personal current crisis - Plural pronoun aimed at the House of David and its future Both King Ahaz and the House of David were threatened by situation - Reference to House of David and plural “you” pertain to military crisis - Ahaz addressed both in singular and plural “you” to signify he and Davidic dynasty will be preserved Claim: This is a "dual prophecy“ with a “dual fulfillment” – a prophecy that was fulfilled on two separate occasions. Conclusion: The ideas of “dual prophecy” and “dual fulfillment” are unbiblical notions that were born out of desperation.

February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 5 of 8 (  ) Missionary Argument(  ) Judaism’s Response Biblical Hebrew is an “aspectual” language without the conventional temporal tenses The argument is irrelevant. As was demonstrated in Part 1 (Page 7), the term הָרָה is not a verb in Isaiah 7:14 Context and grammatical cues determine the temporal state of a verb rather than conventional past, present, and future tenses Any language that is used for human communication, such as Hebrew has been over the past several millennia, needs to have at least one past, one present, and one future tense, due to the fact that human experience depends on the linear progression of time from past to present to future Almost all verbs in the Hebrew Bible appear conjugated in all three tenses and in the imperative Claim: Biblical Hebrew has no tenses. Conclusion: The fact that almost all verbs in the Hebrew Bible appear conjugated in the three tenses and in the imperative, proves the claim that Biblical Hebrew has no tenses to be false.

February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 6 of 8 (  ) Missionary Argument(  ) Judaism’s Response The term בְּתוּלָה, as applied in the Hebrew Bible, is ambiguous since in some cases it refers to - females who are virgins (e.g., Leviticus 21:3,14, Ezekiel 44:22) - females of unknown sexual status (e.g., Deuteronomy 32.25, Psalms 148:12, 2Chronicles 36.17) - females who are not virgins (e.g., Ezekiel 23:3, Joel 1:8, Esther 2:17 Once the claims regarding females who are not virgins are refuted it will be clear that בְּתוּלָה means “a virgin” without exceptions - Ezekiel 23:3 uses the noun בְּתוּלִים (b e tulim), “a hymen”, the sign of virginity, not the noun בְּתוּלָה - Esther 2:17 uses the noun בְּתוּלוֹת (b e tulot), “virgins”, which, when considered in context of the nearby passage, Esther 2:19-20, leaves no doubt that it means “virgins” - Joel 1:8 uses the noun בְּתוּלָה. In the context of the traditional two-phased Jewish marriage process, this female was betrothed to a man who met an untimely death prior to their marriage being consummated and, therefore, she was still a virgin Claim: בְּתוּלָה is not exclusive to "a virgin" in the Hebrew Bible. Conclusion: The claim that בְּתוּלָה is not the exclusive term for "a virgin" is not supported from within the Hebrew Bible and is false.

February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 7 of 8 (  ) Missionary Argument(  ) Judaism’s Response To rule out the possibility that the female in Isaiah 7:14 was a virgin who conceived of God and remained a virgin, would place limitations on what God can do The possibility that a woman can conceive with her virginity remaining intact is recognized in the Talmud, though it can occur only by means of normal fertilization God is omnipotent God is incorporeal Claim: Ruling out a “Virgin Birth” limits the power of the Creator Conclusion: Given the Jewish view of God, the question is not whether God is able to incarnate via a “Virgin Birth” by impregnating a virgin and fathering an offspring who is God Himself. Rather, the issue is the need for self-incarnation, the realization of which is excluded by His incorporeal nature.

February 10, 2011Isaiah 7:14 and the “Virgin Birth” Part 2 of 2 Page 8 of 8 (  ) Missionary Argument(  ) Judaism’s Response The Septuagint (LXX) is an ancient translation into Greek of the Hebrew Bible by bi-lingual Jewish scholars The original Septuagint was a mid-3 rd century B.C.E translation into (Koine) Greek of only the Torah These learned Rabbis would have known to translate this term correctly Extant evidence shows that today’s LXX is a Church-rendered Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible - Works of Josephus & St. Jerome - Errors, omissions, inconsistencies - Koine Greek vs. Later dialect - παρθενος not exclusively “a virgin” Claim: הָעַלְמָה is rendered παρθενος ( parthenos ) in the Septuagint (LXX) Conclusion: Today’s LXX is not the same as the original Septuagint. The LXX is a Church-rendered translation of the Hebrew Bible, and the latter is a translation of the Torah by Jewish bi-lingual Rabbis/scholars.