Virgin
The sign Isaiah gave was a virgin conceiving, as the Septuagint and Matthew read it.
Modern versions: “young woman” (RSV, NRSV); “virgin” (ESV, NIV)
ʿAlmâ is a young unmarried woman, a maiden. It is used seven times, never of a woman said to be married. Rebekah, coming to the well, is an ʿalmâ in Genesis 24:43 and in 24:16 “a virgin, neither had any man known her.” Miriam, Moses’ sister, is one in Exodus 2:8. In Isaiah 7:14 the KJV renders it “a virgin.”
The Jews who translated Isaiah into Greek, long before Christ, chose parthenos, “virgin.” Matthew quotes their Greek word for word when he tells of Christ’s birth: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child” (Matthew 1:23). So the Holy Ghost Himself, through the apostle, settles what the prophet meant.
Isaiah calls it a sign from the Lord: “The Lord himself shall give you a sign.” Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, answering those who would read “young woman,” both asked what sign it would be for a young woman to bear a son, which happens every day. A virgin bearing a son is a sign only God can give.
Where the King James Bible Has It
Sources
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διὰ τοῦτο δώσει Κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον· ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, καὶ τέξεται υἱόν.
Checked against: Elpenor, 2026-10-16 -
Matthew 1:23, in the KJV’s Greek (KJTR)
Ἰδού, ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, καὶ τέξεται υἱόν.
Checked against: KJTR (CNTR), 2026-10-16 -
For if He also were to be begotten of sexual intercourse, like all other first-born sons, why did God say that He would give a sign which is not common to all the first-born sons?
Checked against: Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1, New Advent, 2026-10-16 -
For what great thing or what sign should have been in this, that a young woman conceiving by a man should bring forth — a thing which happens to all women that produce offspring?
Checked against: Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1, New Advent, 2026-10-16 -
Lo! a virgyn schal conseyue, and schal bere a sone; and his name schal be clepid Emanuel.
Checked against: Wikisource, 2026-10-16
