The Elusive Woman and Enigmatic Sign of Isaiah 7:14: a History of Their Interpretations

KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 48 No. 3 The Elusive Woman and Enigmatic Sign of Isaiah 7:14: A History of Their Interpretations Daniel FREEMYER, Ph.D. Candidate Adjunct Professor, Old Testament Azusa Pacific University, U.S.A. SONG Inseo, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor, Church History Fuller Theological Seminary, U.S.A. I. Introduction: The Missing Woman in Isaiah 7:14 II. What Does ‘Almah Mean?: Ancient Versions of Isaiah 7:14 III. Who Is the Woman?: Patristic Commentators on Isaiah 7:14 IV. Who Is the Son?: Rabbinic Commentators on Isaiah 7:14 V. What Does the Sign Do?: Sixteenth-Century Interpretations of Isaiah 7:14 VI. Who Else Can Be the Woman?: Modern and Post-Modern Commentators on Isaiah 7:14 VII. Whom Do We Trust?: A Contextual Reading of Isaiah 7:14 VIII. Conclusion Korea Presbyterian Journal of Theology Vol. 48 No. 3 (2016. 9), 81-108 DOI: 10.15757/kpjt.2016.48.3.004 82 KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 48 No. 3 Abstract Two scholars from different continents (Asia and North America) and trained in two different fields (Old Testament Literature and Church History) have collaborated to produce a history of interpretation for a key text in both fields: Isaiah 7:14. This hybrid article utilizes the interaction between Old Testament hermeneutics and historical theology to trace the responses to two main questions: “Who is the woman?” and “What is the sign?” The article first addresses the early philological debate between patristic theologians and Jewish interpreters regarding the connotations of the word for the woman (‘almah) as either a virgin or a young woman. Secondly, it discusses the two trajectories within the development of rabbinic interpretation, focusing on the identity of the future son. Also, the reformation commentaries of Luther and Calvin are presented next to reveal different hermeneutics employed to address the function of the sign. Subsequently, the article proceeds to the treatment of the verse in the rise of historical criticism, which itself provides a clear contrast to pre-critical exegesis in its concern for a single identity and its return to philological concerns. The history of interpretation concludes with recent postmodern approaches that have challenged the singularity of historical criticism. In the spirit of current scholarship, a unique interpretation by the scholars is presented for consideration that utilizes Ancient Near Eastern literature and contextual analysis to propose a more inclusive understanding of the passage. Thus the article stands as an attempt to foster dialogue about biblical texts that impact theological decisions not only across disciplines but across traditions and time. Keywords Isaiah 7:14, Virgin, Sign, History of Interpretation, Immanuel The Elusive Woman and Enigmatic Sign of Isaiah 7:14: A History of Their Interpretations DOI: 10.15757/kpjt.2016.48.3.004 83 I. INTRODUCTION: THE MISSING WOMAN IN ISAIAH 7:14 When filing a missing person report, it can be helpful to have a picture, sign, or detailed description of the person. Imagine searching for a person with the following description: “future mother.” Where would one begin to look, especially with the person filing the report being anonymous or deceased? Finding such a person could take a while. Even with the aid of entire communities, the absence of clear information can make the task daunting, even for experienced detectives. Imagine not just trying to find this future mother but also her “future son.” Now the missing person report has doubled from one mystery to two. For interpreters of Isaiah 7, such mysteries have taken over two thousand years and are still ongoing to determine the identity of the “future mother” of Isaiah 7:14 and her “future son.” The following paper, written together by a church historian and a scholar of the Old Testament, was initiated by a friendly conversation between the two as to the identity of the woman in Isaiah 7:14. Having realized that there is a significant discontinuity between pre-critical viewpoints and the current scholarship on the woman and the sign, the conversation developed into a scholarly cooperative research of the history of exegesis of Isaiah 7:14 in both pre-critical and historical- critical eras. This hybrid study therefore reflects a church historian’s interest in how a biblical text has been understood within the broad history of interpretation and a biblical scholar’s contemporary inquiry into how the text can be read contextually. The paper will examine the patristic, the rabbinic, the reformation, and recent commentaries on Isaiah 7:14 respectively and will attempt to discern whether they share common philological and theological views regarding the identity of the woman and the nature of the sign.1 After examining the history 1 For an overall discussion of the history of interpretation of the book of Isaiah, see John F. A. Sawyer, The Fifth Gospel: Isaiah in the History of Christianity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996); B. H. Lim, “Isaiah: History of Interpretation,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, ed. by Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 378-91; C. A. Evans, “From Gospel to Gospel: The Function of Isaiah in the New Testament,” in Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah, 84 KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 48 No. 3 of interpretation of the passage, the paper will suggest an alternative reading of Isaiah 7:14 based on the literary and historical context of the passage: the sign as ‘invitation’ to faith in God. II. WHAT DOES ‘ALMAH MEAN?: ANCIENT VERSIONS OF ISAIAH 7:14 Before exploring each group’s interpretation of the elusive woman and the nature of the sign in the history of exegesis, it would be necessary to analyze some philological challenges within the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin manuscripts. As we will see below, crucial to each exegetical group’s identification of the woman in history is the different implications of the word choices of the Hebrew term ‘almah in the passage. Depending on how one translates the original word ‘almah, Isaiah 7:14 could be read in the following ways:2 Masoretic Texts Septuagint Texts2 Vulgate Texts διὰ τοῦτο δώσει κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν propter hoc dabit Dominus ipse לָכֵן יִּתֵן אֲדֹנָי הּוא לָכֶם--אֹות הִּנֵה σημεῖον ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ vobis signum ecce virgo concipiet הָעַלְמָה הָרָ ה וְיֹלֶדֶת ּבֵן וְקָרָ את ׁשְמֹו ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν καὶ καλέσεις et pariet filium et vocabitis τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Εμμανουηλ nomen eius Emmanuhel עִ ּמָ נּו אֵ ל Thus Adonai himself will Through this the Lord himself For this, the Lord himself will give to you a sign: Behold will give to you a sign: Behold give to you a sign: Behold a the “concealed woman” is the “marriageable woman” in the “virgin woman” will conceive pregnant and will bear a son womb has and will bear a son and will bear a son and she will and she will call his name, and she will call his name call his name Immanuel. “With us is God.” “Immanuel.” vol. 2, ed. by C. C. Broyles and C. A. Evans (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 651-91; Brevard S. Childs, The Struggle to Understand Isaiah as Christian Scripture (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004); Bae Hee-Sook, “Isaya 56jang 1-8jeolui jaegeongongdongche” [The Restoration Community in Isaiah 58, 1-8], Korea Presbyterian Journal of Theology 39 (December 2010), 11-34; Kim Chang-Dae, “Jerusalem in Acts from the Perspective of Zion Theology of Isaiah,” Korea Presbyterian Journal of Theology 42 (October 2011), 27- 46. 2 The Septuagint texts listed here do not include the Sinai Codex which has a second masculine plural verb for the third to last word in the verse giving a meaning of “you will call his name Immanuel.” The Elusive Woman and Enigmatic Sign of Isaiah 7:14: A History of Their Interpretations 85 The chart above shows the progression from Hebrew texts to the Latin with regard to the woman. The Hebrew word, ‘almah, which is used in the Masoretic texts and the Isaiah scroll from Qumran, is a relatively rare word that is difficult to distinguish from other words denoting females before they become mothers.3 Easier to distinguish is betulah, which according to Genesis 24:14 indicates a woman who has not had sexual relations with a man.4 The specific uses of‘almah include Genesis 24:43 in reference to Rebekah before she agreed to become Isaac’s wife and Exodus 2:8 in reference to Moses’ sister before her suggestion of Moses’ mother being his nurse.5 Equally nondescript is its male corollary, which can be found in 1 Samuel 17:56 in reference to David after he slew Goliath and 1 Samuel 20:22 for the unnamed assistant who would fetch arrows for Jonathan.6 These references have little in common other than being men and women who are not married. That some of the references literarily precede mention of marriage could be significant especially if the root, ‘lm, which seems to be derived from the verb meaning to conceal as attested in Hebrew and Ugaritic, has connotations of pre-marriage seclusion.7 The definite 3 For a detailed discussion of the possibilities, see John Watts, Isaiah 1-33 (Columbia: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 2005), 136-37. 4 For analysis of the connotations of betulah, see Christophe Rico, La mère de l’Enfant-Roi Isaïe 7, 14 (Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2013), 42-43. 5 The description in Genesis 24:43 could suggest that an ‘almah is synonymous with virgin since Rebekah is described as a betulah in Genesis 24:16.

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