Who is the virgin who will conceive and bear a son?

Isaiah 7:14 reads, 'Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.' The Hebrew word translated 'virgin' is 'almah, meaning a young woman of marriageable age, often understood as unmarried. The Greek Septuagint renders this as 'parthenos,' which more explicitly conveys virginity. This linguistic difference shapes how the verse is interpreted.

In its immediate context, the prophecy was given to King Ahaz of Judah amid the threat of Syria and Israel (verses 1–9). The child Immanuel would symbolize 'God with us,' signifying God's protection of Judah. Verses 15–16 link the child to a short-term sign: before the boy knows right from wrong, the two threatening kings' lands would be laid waste. Some scholars see this fulfilled in Maher-shalal-hash-baz or Hezekiah.

Christian readers, following Matthew 1:23, see the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary. The name Immanuel ('God with us,' Matthew 1:23) expresses the spiritual significance: Christ is God incarnate dwelling among humanity. Jewish and critical scholars generally view the prophecy as a near-term sign for Ahaz rather than a prediction of the Messiah.

Chapter 7 opens during the Syro-Ephraimite War, when Syria (Rezin) and Israel (Pekah) besieged Jerusalem. Isaiah meets Ahaz at the upper pool and tells him not to fear: 'these two tails of smoking firebrands' (verse 4). Isaiah warns that the conspiracy will fail (verse 7) and prophesies Ephraim's downfall within sixty-five years (verse 8).

When Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign, Isaiah declares God's self-given sign: a virgin shall bear Immanuel. The chapter closes with judgments involving Assyria (verse 17) and a striking image of desolation (verses 18–25), contrasting the promised child with the devastation that looms.