Isaiah 7:14-16 entails how the Lord Himself gives a sign to the house of David that He will not forget His covenant promise. The sign is that a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and His name will be Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” Jesus’s virgin birth is the fulfillment of this prophecy. The Lord further announces that when the boy is old enough to choose good and refuse evil, Jerusalem will face another, but more significant siege, but before this siege takes place the lands of the two kings that Ahaz dreads will be deserted, affirming that their threat is both temporary and under God’s sovereign control.
Isaiah 7:14-16 announces the sign that God gave to the house of David and Ahaz which prove the Lord’s faithfulness. The sign will, in one fulfillment, show that God will deliver Judah from the looming invasion of their land by an alliance between the northern kingdom of Israel (also called Ephraim and Samaria) and the kingdom of Aram (Syria). But the prophecy also points to the sign of the Messiah’s miraculous birth. This portion of the sign is fulfilled roughly 730 years later when Jesus, the Messiah was born.
The circumstances in which the sign was given The Judean king, Ahaz was under attack by King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel (Isaiah 7:1). This alliance had already dealt devastating blows to Judah—capturing the port city of Elath (2 Kings 16:6), slaying 120,000 fighting men of Judah, and taking 200,000 prisoners of war (2 Chronicles 28:6-8). But their ultimate aim was to take Jerusalem and replace Ahaz and the house of David with their own king—the son of Tabeel (Isaiah 7:5-6). But Rezin and Pekah had not yet taken the capital city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 7:1b).
Ahaz and the house of David were afraid (Isaiah 7:2)
The LORD then sent Isaiah, with his young son, Shear—jashub, to reassure Ahaz that the plans of these enemies of Judah would fail (Isaiah 7:7). They would not break God’s promise to David that his house and throne would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16,Luke 1:32-33).
The LORD invited Ahaz to trust Him. He promised the king that his name would endure if he would believe (Isaiah 7:9). But Ahaz did not believe.
God then invited Ahaz to ask Him for any sign, no matter how grand, that He could give that would convince Ahaz to trust Him (Isaiah 7:10-11). Again, Ahaz refused to believe, hypocritically masking his disobedience in religious language (Isaiah 7:12).
Exasperated by his wickedness and doubt, the LORD rebuked Ahaz and told the faithless king that He would give him and the house of David a sign.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (v 14a).
Since Ahaz refused to ask God for a sign to prove that He can deliver him and preserve the house of David from its enemies, the Lord Himself determined to personally give the entire house of David a sign that it will endure.
The complete sign as recorded by Isaiah was:
Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken (vv 14b—16).
It is simplest to interpret Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single sign with two prophecies and the first of these prophecies having a double fulfillment. A double fulfillment means the first prophecy is fulfilled twice. But prophecy is not always simple. And Isaiah 7:14-16 can also be interpreted as two signs according to their own distinct timelines, with the first sign’s single prophecy being fulfilled centuries later and the second sign containing two distinct prophecies, both of which were fulfilled within a few decades from when Isaiah delivered the sign.
The difference in interpretation rests mainly on how verse 14 is understood.
Those who understand Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single sign believe that verse 14 is part of the sign that was fulfilled for Ahaz and his era, with a greater fulfillment taking place centuries later at the virgin birth of Jesus.
Those who understand this passage as two distinct signs understand verse 14 as a sign for the House of David that was fulfilled at the virgin birth of Jesus. They also understand verses 15-16 as a different prophetic sign that was fulfilled during the era of King Ahaz.
The Bible Says Commentary will explain Isaiah 7:14-16 according to both interpretations.
But before we continue, we want to emphasize that even though there are two approaches to understand the prophecies of Isaiah 7:14-16, both lead to similar conclusions. Both interpretations point to:
God’s faithfulness to His promises
Ahaz’s deliverance from the two kingdoms (Aram and Israel) colluding to depose him
The imminent downfall of the two kings of those kingdoms (Rezin and Pekah)
The not—too—distant invasion of Jerusalem (from Assyria)
And centuries later, the virgin birth of Jesus, the Messiah
We first explain Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single sign with multiple prophecies and times of fulfillment. Then we will explain Isaiah 7:14-16 as two distinct signs.
ISAIAH 7:14-16 AS A SINGLE SIGN WITH TWO PROPHECIES AND MULTIPLE FULFILLMENTS
The Prophetic Sign as it Pertained to the Era of King Ahaz
In the Hebrew text, when Isaiah says: the Lord Himself will give you a sign, the pronoun you is in a plural form. This is significant because it means that the Lord’s sign was not for Ahaz only—but for you—the entire house of David.
Whether Isaiah 7:14-16 is interpreted as one or two signs, this passage contains two prophecies that pertain to the era of King Ahaz.
The first prophecy predicts that the house of David will endure and Jerusalem will be saved from defeat by Aram and Israel and that the two kings who are attempting to depose Ahaz and the house of David will themselves soon be destroyed (v 14 and v 16).
The second prophecy is that sometime later, Jerusalem will experience a greater military threat than the one they are currently enduring. This greater military threat will come from Assyria (v 15).
If Isaiah 7:14-16 is a single sign for King Ahaz, then verse 14 begins the prophetic clock and it contains the first prophecy:
Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (v 14).
Isaiah begins with the imperative verb, Behold, to call his audience to pay attention to the prophetic sign he is about to utter.
The sign begins: a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
The term—virgin—refers to a young woman of marriageable age, who is not yet married and/or never had sexual relations.
According to the single—sign interpretation of this verse, the term a virgin is used to start the prophetic clock of fulfillment.
In the immediate context of Isaiah 7,a virgin refers to a young woman who is not yet married and/or never had sex at the time Isaiah spoke these words to Ahaz. But this identified virgin will soon marry, and be sexually united with her husband, and they will conceive. At which point she will no longer be the virgin she was when Isaiah first spoke these words to King Ahaz. But soon after the prophet spoke these words, the young woman married. Then she will be with child and she will give birth to a son.
Given that human gestation period is typically nine months, from the time an unmarried virgin becomes married and bears a son could be figuratively understood to mean between one to two years from the time Isaiah first spoke these words to Ahaz.
This mother will call the name of her baby son, Immanuel. Her son’s name is prophetic. In Hebrew, the name Immanuel means “God is with us.” The boy’s name calls to minds God’s faithful presence through a time of difficulty.
One possible reason why a young virgin of Jerusalem who became married and soon conceived a child during a time when her city was in danger of conquest would name her newborn son “Immanuel” may be because God delivered her people from the hands of their enemies—and the LORD’s deliverance became apparent around the time of her son’s birth. This spectacular turn of events (from death to life) was a powerful demonstration of how “God is with us”—Immanuel through Jerusalem’s trials.
The significance of the virgin’s son’s name appears to prophetically indicate that the danger Ahaz fears (Isaiah 7:2) will soon pass. Indeed, the two kings scheming against Ahaz (Rezin and Pekah) would be dead within two years of Isaiah’s prophecy. This timeframe fulfilled the one—to—two—year prophetic window poetically put forth in verse 14.
Here is a possible parallel timeline of Isaiah’s prophetic virgin and foretold events:
The former virgin delivers a son and gives him the name of Immanuel in honor of God’s deliverance.
(We will discuss the important second fulfillment of v 14 as it relates to the birth of Jesus after we finish talking about how the entire passage relates to Ahaz).
Isaiah 7:15 contains the second prophecy of this passage, The second prophecy of this passage addresses the somewhat later siege of Jerusalem by Assyria.
He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good (v 15).
If Isaiah 7:14-16 describes a single sign, then the pronoun—He—refers to the son whom the former virgin gave birth to and named Immanuel.
Observant readers may also notice how the pronoun He is capitalized by the translators in verse 15. This means the translators understand this pronoun to refer to Jesus, the Son of God. The NASB—95 translators interpret the Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single prophetic sign.
The expression—curds and honey—refers to basic, but nutritious foods. Curds means yogurt, cheese, or fermented dairy. Honey likely means honey produced from wild bees.
But in the context of the prophecies of Isaiah 7, the expression He will eat curds and honey indicates a military invasion. (See Isaiah 7:21-22).
During an ancient siege, curds and wild honey were often among the last nutritious foods available to eat after the supply of more cultivated foods had become exhausted and the city’s supply chain was cut off by the invaders.
The second prophecy of Isaiah 7:14-16 is a warning to Ahaz, that Jerusalem will be besieged. But Jerusalem’s besieger will not be either of the two kings or kingdoms Ahaz currently fears (Isaiah 7:2). It will not be King Rezin or King Pekah. Those kings are “two stubs of smoldering firebrands” (Isaiah 7:4) whose kingdoms will soon be forsaken.
The invasion Isaiah is predicting will not come from Aram or the northern kingdom of Israel, but rather it will come from Assyria (Isaiah 7:17-18).
This is ironic because Ahaz unwisely chooses to put his trust in Tiglath—pileser, the king of Assyria, instead of the Lord to protect him from the threats of Aram and Israel (2 Kings 16:7-8). It is ironic that the one Ahaz turned to for help was the one who led to his downfall. Ahaz should have put his hope in the Lord and His covenant promise.
Ahaz, who was a son of the Davidic covenant and through that covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16) a son of the Lord, faithlessly chose to make himself a “son” of a faithless pagan king through a Suzerain—Vassal treaty (2 Kings 16:7).
About a year after this prophecy, Isaiah’s words began to come to pass.
Just as the Lord had said, the prediction in Isaiah 7:7-9 was fulfilled—the alliance between Rezin king of Aram and Pekah king of Israel would not stand or come to pass. This occurred during the lifetime of King Ahaz. Though the threat to Jerusalem was very real, and Ahaz trembled at the defeats he suffered during their invasion and the prospect of what might come next (Isaiah 7:2), the Lord declared that the plot to replace him with the son of Tabeel would fail (Isaiah 7:6-7).
This prophecy began to unfold within about a year when Assyria, the rising superpower, responded to Ahaz’s appeal for help and wiped out both Aram and Israel. Interestingly, the Lord used Ahaz’s own doubts and wickedness to bring about the fulfillment of His word.
Ahaz had sent messengers with silver and gold to Tiglath—pileser III, king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me” (2 Kings 16:7). In response, the Assyrian king attacked Damascus, the capital of Aram:
“The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.” (2 Kings 16:9)
With Rezin dead and Damascus fallen, the Aramean half of the alliance was eliminated.
Soon after, the northern kingdom of Israel fell (2 Kings 17:5-6).
The reign of Pekah, king of Israel, ended when he was assassinated by Hoshea, who conspired against him and took the throne (2 Kings 15:30). This most likely happened in 732 or 731 B.C. This marked the collapse of the anti—Ahaz alliance. About a decade later, during Hoshea’s reign, Assyria completed its conquest of Israel,
“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria.” (2 Kings 17:6)
The northern kingdom of Israel’s fall took place around 722 B.C.
Thus, within just a few years of Isaiah’s prophecy, both hostile kingdoms—Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel—were shattered, and their land forsaken exactly as God had declared.
Ahaz may have felt relief when Assyria captured Damascus, the capital city of Aram. He may have even felt pride in his own cleverness at helping orchestrate the destruction of his enemy who was seeking to destroy him. But his invitation led to an invasion of his own lands.
After this, Assyria invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. This took place in 701 B.C. during the reign of Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, after Ahaz was dead. The biblical record for this attack is found in 2 Kings 18:13 - 19:37, 2 Chronicles 32:1-21, andIsaiah 36-37.
Ultimately neither Ahaz’s status as a vassal to Assyria nor his tributes to them appeased Assyria’s lust for conquest,
“So Tiglath—pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the LORD and out of the palace of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.” (2 Chronicles 28:20-21)
Assyria besieged Jerusalem, just as Isaiah foretold Ahaz they would (Isaiah 7:17-18).
Isaiah did not just foretell to Ahaz that Assyria would invade. The prophet also correctly predicted when Assyria would besiege Jerusalem.
According to verse 15, Jerusalem would be besieged when the son of the former virgin grows and matures to be old enough to know how to refuse evil and choose good.
He will eat curds and honey (i.e. Jerusalem will be besieged) at the time He (the son of the former virgin) knows enough to refuse evil and choose good (v 15).
The age when the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choosegood most likely meant one of three things:
Age Thirteen—when the boy had his Bar—Mitzvah.
Age Twenty—when the boy reached military age.
Age Thirty—when, according to Jewish tradition, a man attained “full strength.” (Mishnah. Avot 5:21).
Most likely the expression the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choosegood meant age thirty. In Jewish culture, thirty was when a man was seen as reaching mature capability and was ready for serious responsibility, leadership, and life’s burdens. This maturity meant that he would have sufficient life experience to be able to discern between what is evil and what is good.
Thirty was also the age when:
A Levite could enter priestly service. (Numbers 4:3)
Joseph stood before Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:46)
David became king. (2 Samuel 5:4)
Ezekiel began having prophetic visions. (Ezekiel 1:1)
Jesus began His Messianic Ministry. (Luke 3:23)
In any case—whether Isaiah meant the boys’ Bar—Mitzvah (13), attainment of military age (20), or full strength (30)—this means that the invasion Isaiah was referring to in verse 15 was at least a decade or more away.
The boy who willeat curds and honey during the predicted siege has not yet been born at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy. Indeed, his mother is still an unwed virgin at the time Isaiah made this prediction.
The good news for King Ahaz was that he would not need to worry about the present military threat from Aram and Israel—those kings will soon be defeated and be no more. But the bad news was a greater military threat will materialize (Assyria) after those hostile kingdoms are gone. Isaiah's prediction in verse 14 is that within a short time, the current threats will vanish but then within a few decades Jerusalem will be invaded.
If Isaiah made this prediction in 733 B.C. and the boy named Immanuel was born in 732 or 731 B.C., then he would have turned:
Isaiah made this prediction to Ahaz around 733 B.C. And the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem during the reign of Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:13) about thirty—two years later in 701 B.C. Isaiah’s prediction that the siege would take place when the soon—to—be—born boy was thirty—years—old appears to best fit the historical record.
The prophetic words of verse 16 reinforce the first prophecy, that the hostile kingdoms of Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel will fail to destroy Jerusalem and overthrow the house of David:
For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken (v 16).
Before the invasion from Assyria comes, and the boy has then matured to manhood, knowing how to refuse evil and choose good, the kingdom of Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel will be destroyed. Their landwill be forsaken and conquered by Assyria. And those kings whom you (Ahaz) dreads will be dead.
The two kings Ahaz dreads are Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah the illegitimate king of Israel.
Approximately a year after Isaiah makes this prophecy, the forces of Assyria kill Rezin when they take his capital city of Damascus (2 Kings 16:9). This happens around 732 B.C. And around that same time, Pekah, who murdered his own king to assume the throne, is himself assassinated (2 Kings 15:30).
Thus both of those kings were killed and their lands forsakenbefore Assyria invaded Jerusalem—just as Isaiah prophesied would happen.
The Double Fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14-16 in the Birth of Jesus
As incredible as Isaiah’s prophetic predictions were about the imminent downfall of Ahaz’s enemies and Assyria’s siege of Jerusalem three decades later, there is a far greater fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14-16.
The second fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy comes 730 years later in the miraculous birth of Jesus, the Messiah.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (v 14).
In the Hebrew text, the pronoun you is plural. The sign is for you—the house of David. Because the house of David began hundreds of years before Ahaz and continued long after him (it continues forever through Jesus), the prophecies of this sign can also have fulfillment that can come to pass well beyond Ahaz’s lifetime and era.
The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 was a sign that the house of David would endure forever, just as God had promised David centuries earlier: that his house and throne would endure (2 Samuel 7:12-16,Luke 1:32-33).
There are at least three fulfillments of this sign in Jesus.
The first fulfillment is that a virgin will be with child and bear a son.
A virgin is a female who has never had sexual relations before.
Humans conceive children through sexual relations. Because virgins have never had sexual relations, they cannot sexually conceive or give birth to children. The expression be with child means to conceive a child and/or to be pregnant. The expression bear a son means to give birth to a son. A virgin cannot be with child nor bear a son until she has had sexual intercourse with a male and is no longer a virgin. It is impossible for a virgin to become pregnant.
But Isaiah’s prophecy says that these impossible things that cannot happen—the virgin will be with child and bear a son—will happen. If a virgin did conceive and was found to be with child and gave birth to a son, it would be a stunning event and a spectacular miracle. Only God could make such impossible things happen, “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
This impossible event, the virgin conceiving and being with child and bearing a son, was the amazing sign which God chose to giveyou (the house of David) ensuring that the LORD would fulfill His promises.
It is important to acknowledge that the Hebrew word that is translated as virgin in verse 14 is not the typical Hebrew word for virgin. The typical Hebrew word for virgin is בְּתוּלָה (H1330— “betulá” pronounced: “beth—oo—law”). The word Isaiah uses in verse 14 is עַלְמָה (H5959—“almah” pronounced: “al—maw”).
“Almah” is used 7 times in the Old Testament (Genesis 24:43,Exodus 2:8,Psalm 68:25,Proverbs 30:19,Song of Solomon 1:3, 6:8, and here in Isaiah 7:14). But in all these verses, with the possible exception of Psalm 68:25, the uses of “almah” clearly describes a girl and/or girls who is/are a virgin. And even though Psalm 68:25 does not decisively describe a virgin, it does not exclude the possibility.
Therefore, even with a touch of ambiguity, there is strong indication that even though Isaiah did not use the normal term for virgin (“betulá”), that he intended to mean virgin when he used (“almah”) and not merely a young female of marriageable age.
Moreover the ambiguity of “almah” helps the prophecy of verse 14 to strongly align with both understandings of this prophecy. Understanding “almah” as a young woman who is of marriageable age helps align this prophecy with its fulfillment in the time of Ahaz and Isaiah. And understanding “almah” as a literal virgin aligns with its fulfillment 730 years later when the virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus.
Mary did not conceive Jesus through sexual union. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and caused her to conceive Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke both emphasize how Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived inside of her by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18, 1:20, Luke 1:26, 1:30-31, 1:34-35).
Matthew’s Gospel explicitly states how Mary’s being with child and bearing a son was a fulfillment of the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy:
“Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.’” (Matthew 1:22-23a)
Matthew’s Gospel also points out that Mary was still a virgin until after she gave birth to Jesus (Matthew 1:25) thus fulfilling the second half of the verse 14 prophecy as well—that the virgin would not only conceive a child, but also that the virgin would bear and give birth to a son.
Isaiah also predicted that she will call His name Immanuel. This is the second fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14-16 in the life of Jesus.
In Hebrew, the nameImmanuel means “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). Mary’s Son was named Jesus, which in Hebrew means, “God saves.” But Jesus was also God as a human (John 1:14,Colossians 1:9, 2:9), so Jesus literally is Immanuel, God with us.
In the context of Isaiah 7, the fulfillment of the virgin—birth prophecy was to be a sign for you (plural) the house of David that the LORD would make good on His promise that David’s house and throne would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16).
Jesus was the promised descendant who would sit on David’s throne forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13,Matthew 1:1, 1:6, 1:17, Luke 1:32). And Jesus’s virgin conception and birth was a fulfillment of this sign from God to the house of David.
But in a larger sense, the miracle of the virgin—birth was a fulfillment not only of Isaiah’s prophetic sign for the house of David, but the virgin—birth was also a means by which God became human without inheriting the sin of Adam—the first man.
Through the virgin—birth, God took on human flesh while remaining untouched by the inherited sin passed down from Adam. Because Jesus did not have a human father, He was not born into the line of Adam’s sin, which entered the world through the first man's disobedience. As the Apostle Paul states in Romans:
“Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)
Unlike every other human, Jesus was born of a virgin by the power of God, the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). This miraculous conception was part of God’s plan to mysteriously preserve Jesus’s divine nature while allowing Him to become fully human (John 1:14).
Jesus was both fully God and fully human. And through Jesus, God fulfilled not only the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy about thevirgin—birth, but the entire Law of Moses, as Jesus kept the Law fully during His life (Matthew 5:17).
The future fulfillment of this sign for the house of David through the birth of Jesus would not come until 730 years after Isaiah uttered it.
The third way Isaiah 7:14-16 can be seen to have been fulfilled in Jesus is the prophetic line of verse 15: He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
As explained previously in this section of commentary, the expression He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good could refer to when a man of Israel attains his full strength—believed to be age thirty.
According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus began His messianic ministry at age thirty (Luke 3:23). And, as the expression eat curds and honey referred to how God faithfully sustained His people in Jerusalem when they were under siege from their enemy Assyria, God also sustained Jesus (at age thirty) when He fasted in the wilderness and was tempted by His enemy the devil (Luke 4:1-14).
ISAIAH 7:14-16 AS TWO DISTINCT SIGNS
Some understand Isaiah 7:14-16 not as a single sign, but as two distinct signs.
The first sign was for the house of David:
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (v 14).
The second sign vv 15-16 was for Ahaz:
He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken (vv 15-16).
According to this interpretation, The first prophecy (v 14) has nothing to do with Ahaz. It was fulfilled once—approximately 730 years later at the birth of Jesus (see above).
The reason some understand Isaiah 7:14-16 as two distinct signs with their own fulfillments rather than one single sign with multiple fulfillments is because they understand the expression the virgin will be with child and bear a son as only having one meaning—that of a literal virgin at the time she becomes pregnant and delivers a son. They do not accept that, within the immediate context of this prophecy, virgin could refer to a young girl who is a virgin at the time the prophecy was first given (and who is no longer a virgin when she gives birth).
Therefore, according to this interpretation, the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 can only refer to Mary who was a virgin when she conceived a son when the Holy Spirit came upon her and who was still a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus (Matthew 1:20, 1:25, Luke 1:26-37).
This sign was explicitly for you (plural) the house of David. But this sign that was fulfilled over 700 years after Ahaz’s death would have been of little consequence to the king in his immediate context, therefore the Lord also gave Ahaz a second sign.
The second sign included a prophetic warning that Ahaz’s kingdom would face invasion when the boy grew up, and a prophetic consolation that the two kings Ahaz feared would not overthrow him, but would themselves soon be destroyed. According to the prophecy, this deliverance would happen before Jerusalem would be besieged.
Accordingly, the boy who is referred to in the second sign is not the virgin’s son whose name was Immanuel, but rather was Isaiah’s young infant or toddler—age son, Shear—jashub, whom the LORD commanded Isaiah to bring with him when he went to deliver God’s message to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:3).
So, in order to hold this view, one must consider “the boy” in verse 16 to be a different person than the “son” spoken of in verse 14, and for “the boy” to not be previously introduced. Accordingly, to hold the one—prophecy—with—two—fulfillments view, one must conclude that there are two virgins, one who bore a son in Isaiah’s time who fulfilled the Isaiah—era prophecies and one who bore Jesus. And in order to hold the two—prophecy view, one must conclude that there is only one virgin who conceived and gave birth (as a virgin), and that two different boys are described.
Again, and as was stated near the beginning of this commentary, even with all the differences of these two understandings of Isaiah 7:14-16 (whether it was one sign or two signs), the conclusions are similar.
Both interpretations understand Isaiah to accurately predict:
The endurance of Judah, Jerusalem, and the House of David
The swift downfall of Ahaz’s enemies (Aram and the Northern Kingdom of Israel)
The Assyrian siege of Jerusalem a few decades later
And the virgin—conception and birth of Jesus the Messiah
The rest of Isaiah 7 describes the trials, and most notably the Assyrian assault Judah will endure. To learn more about this see the next commentary for Isaiah 7:17-25.
Isaiah 7:14-16
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
15 “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
16 “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.
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Isaiah 7:14-16 meaning
Isaiah 7:14-16 announces the sign that God gave to the house of David and Ahaz which prove the Lord’s faithfulness. The sign will, in one fulfillment, show that God will deliver Judah from the looming invasion of their land by an alliance between the northern kingdom of Israel (also called Ephraim and Samaria) and the kingdom of Aram (Syria). But the prophecy also points to the sign of the Messiah’s miraculous birth. This portion of the sign is fulfilled roughly 730 years later when Jesus, the Messiah was born.
The circumstances in which the sign was given
The Judean king, Ahaz was under attack by King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel (Isaiah 7:1). This alliance had already dealt devastating blows to Judah—capturing the port city of Elath (2 Kings 16:6), slaying 120,000 fighting men of Judah, and taking 200,000 prisoners of war (2 Chronicles 28:6-8). But their ultimate aim was to take Jerusalem and replace Ahaz and the house of David with their own king—the son of Tabeel (Isaiah 7:5-6). But Rezin and Pekah had not yet taken the capital city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 7:1b).
Ahaz and the house of David were afraid (Isaiah 7:2)
The LORD then sent Isaiah, with his young son, Shear—jashub, to reassure Ahaz that the plans of these enemies of Judah would fail (Isaiah 7:7). They would not break God’s promise to David that his house and throne would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16, Luke 1:32-33).
The LORD invited Ahaz to trust Him. He promised the king that his name would endure if he would believe (Isaiah 7:9). But Ahaz did not believe.
God then invited Ahaz to ask Him for any sign, no matter how grand, that He could give that would convince Ahaz to trust Him (Isaiah 7:10-11). Again, Ahaz refused to believe, hypocritically masking his disobedience in religious language (Isaiah 7:12).
Exasperated by his wickedness and doubt, the LORD rebuked Ahaz and told the faithless king that He would give him and the house of David a sign.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (v 14a).
Since Ahaz refused to ask God for a sign to prove that He can deliver him and preserve the house of David from its enemies, the Lord Himself determined to personally give the entire house of David a sign that it will endure.
The complete sign as recorded by Isaiah was:
Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken (vv 14b—16).
It is simplest to interpret Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single sign with two prophecies and the first of these prophecies having a double fulfillment. A double fulfillment means the first prophecy is fulfilled twice. But prophecy is not always simple. And Isaiah 7:14-16 can also be interpreted as two signs according to their own distinct timelines, with the first sign’s single prophecy being fulfilled centuries later and the second sign containing two distinct prophecies, both of which were fulfilled within a few decades from when Isaiah delivered the sign.
The difference in interpretation rests mainly on how verse 14 is understood.
Those who understand Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single sign believe that verse 14 is part of the sign that was fulfilled for Ahaz and his era, with a greater fulfillment taking place centuries later at the virgin birth of Jesus.
Those who understand this passage as two distinct signs understand verse 14 as a sign for the House of David that was fulfilled at the virgin birth of Jesus. They also understand verses 15-16 as a different prophetic sign that was fulfilled during the era of King Ahaz.
The Bible Says Commentary will explain Isaiah 7:14-16 according to both interpretations.
But before we continue, we want to emphasize that even though there are two approaches to understand the prophecies of Isaiah 7:14-16, both lead to similar conclusions. Both interpretations point to:
We first explain Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single sign with multiple prophecies and times of fulfillment. Then we will explain Isaiah 7:14-16 as two distinct signs.
ISAIAH 7:14-16 AS A SINGLE SIGN WITH TWO PROPHECIES AND MULTIPLE FULFILLMENTS
The Prophetic Sign as it Pertained to the Era of King Ahaz
In the Hebrew text, when Isaiah says: the Lord Himself will give you a sign, the pronoun you is in a plural form. This is significant because it means that the Lord’s sign was not for Ahaz only—but for you—the entire house of David.
Whether Isaiah 7:14-16 is interpreted as one or two signs, this passage contains two prophecies that pertain to the era of King Ahaz.
The first prophecy predicts that the house of David will endure and Jerusalem will be saved from defeat by Aram and Israel and that the two kings who are attempting to depose Ahaz and the house of David will themselves soon be destroyed (v 14 and v 16).
The second prophecy is that sometime later, Jerusalem will experience a greater military threat than the one they are currently enduring. This greater military threat will come from Assyria (v 15).
If Isaiah 7:14-16 is a single sign for King Ahaz, then verse 14 begins the prophetic clock and it contains the first prophecy:
Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (v 14).
Isaiah begins with the imperative verb, Behold, to call his audience to pay attention to the prophetic sign he is about to utter.
The sign begins: a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
The term—virgin—refers to a young woman of marriageable age, who is not yet married and/or never had sexual relations.
According to the single—sign interpretation of this verse, the term a virgin is used to start the prophetic clock of fulfillment.
In the immediate context of Isaiah 7, a virgin refers to a young woman who is not yet married and/or never had sex at the time Isaiah spoke these words to Ahaz. But this identified virgin will soon marry, and be sexually united with her husband, and they will conceive. At which point she will no longer be the virgin she was when Isaiah first spoke these words to King Ahaz. But soon after the prophet spoke these words, the young woman married. Then she will be with child and she will give birth to a son.
Given that human gestation period is typically nine months, from the time an unmarried virgin becomes married and bears a son could be figuratively understood to mean between one to two years from the time Isaiah first spoke these words to Ahaz.
This mother will call the name of her baby son, Immanuel. Her son’s name is prophetic. In Hebrew, the name Immanuel means “God is with us.” The boy’s name calls to minds God’s faithful presence through a time of difficulty.
One possible reason why a young virgin of Jerusalem who became married and soon conceived a child during a time when her city was in danger of conquest would name her newborn son “Immanuel” may be because God delivered her people from the hands of their enemies—and the LORD’s deliverance became apparent around the time of her son’s birth. This spectacular turn of events (from death to life) was a powerful demonstration of how “God is with us”—Immanuel through Jerusalem’s trials.
The significance of the virgin’s son’s name appears to prophetically indicate that the danger Ahaz fears (Isaiah 7:2) will soon pass. Indeed, the two kings scheming against Ahaz (Rezin and Pekah) would be dead within two years of Isaiah’s prophecy. This timeframe fulfilled the one—to—two—year prophetic window poetically put forth in verse 14.
Here is a possible parallel timeline of Isaiah’s prophetic virgin and foretold events:
~735 B.C
(2 Kings 16:1)
~734 B.C.
(2 Kings 16:5, Isaiah 7:1-2)
~733 B.C.
(Isaiah 7:3-25)
~732 B.C.
(2 Kings 16:9)
(2 Kings 15:30)
~731 B.C.
(We will discuss the important second fulfillment of v 14 as it relates to the birth of Jesus after we finish talking about how the entire passage relates to Ahaz).
Isaiah 7:15 contains the second prophecy of this passage, The second prophecy of this passage addresses the somewhat later siege of Jerusalem by Assyria.
He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good (v 15).
If Isaiah 7:14-16 describes a single sign, then the pronoun—He—refers to the son whom the former virgin gave birth to and named Immanuel.
Observant readers may also notice how the pronoun He is capitalized by the translators in verse 15. This means the translators understand this pronoun to refer to Jesus, the Son of God. The NASB—95 translators interpret the Isaiah 7:14-16 as a single prophetic sign.
The expression—curds and honey—refers to basic, but nutritious foods. Curds means yogurt, cheese, or fermented dairy. Honey likely means honey produced from wild bees.
But in the context of the prophecies of Isaiah 7, the expression He will eat curds and honey indicates a military invasion. (See Isaiah 7:21-22).
During an ancient siege, curds and wild honey were often among the last nutritious foods available to eat after the supply of more cultivated foods had become exhausted and the city’s supply chain was cut off by the invaders.
The second prophecy of Isaiah 7:14-16 is a warning to Ahaz, that Jerusalem will be besieged. But Jerusalem’s besieger will not be either of the two kings or kingdoms Ahaz currently fears (Isaiah 7:2). It will not be King Rezin or King Pekah. Those kings are “two stubs of smoldering firebrands” (Isaiah 7:4) whose kingdoms will soon be forsaken.
The invasion Isaiah is predicting will not come from Aram or the northern kingdom of Israel, but rather it will come from Assyria (Isaiah 7:17-18).
This is ironic because Ahaz unwisely chooses to put his trust in Tiglath—pileser, the king of Assyria, instead of the Lord to protect him from the threats of Aram and Israel (2 Kings 16:7-8). It is ironic that the one Ahaz turned to for help was the one who led to his downfall. Ahaz should have put his hope in the Lord and His covenant promise.
Ahaz, who was a son of the Davidic covenant and through that covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16) a son of the Lord, faithlessly chose to make himself a “son” of a faithless pagan king through a Suzerain—Vassal treaty (2 Kings 16:7).
About a year after this prophecy, Isaiah’s words began to come to pass.
Just as the Lord had said, the prediction in Isaiah 7:7-9 was fulfilled—the alliance between Rezin king of Aram and Pekah king of Israel would not stand or come to pass. This occurred during the lifetime of King Ahaz. Though the threat to Jerusalem was very real, and Ahaz trembled at the defeats he suffered during their invasion and the prospect of what might come next (Isaiah 7:2), the Lord declared that the plot to replace him with the son of Tabeel would fail (Isaiah 7:6-7).
This prophecy began to unfold within about a year when Assyria, the rising superpower, responded to Ahaz’s appeal for help and wiped out both Aram and Israel. Interestingly, the Lord used Ahaz’s own doubts and wickedness to bring about the fulfillment of His word.
First, Aram was destroyed around 732 B.C.
Ahaz had sent messengers with silver and gold to Tiglath—pileser III, king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me” (2 Kings 16:7). In response, the Assyrian king attacked Damascus, the capital of Aram:
“The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.”
(2 Kings 16:9)
With Rezin dead and Damascus fallen, the Aramean half of the alliance was eliminated.
Soon after, the northern kingdom of Israel fell (2 Kings 17:5-6).
The reign of Pekah, king of Israel, ended when he was assassinated by Hoshea, who conspired against him and took the throne (2 Kings 15:30). This most likely happened in 732 or 731 B.C. This marked the collapse of the anti—Ahaz alliance. About a decade later, during Hoshea’s reign, Assyria completed its conquest of Israel,
“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria.”
(2 Kings 17:6)
The northern kingdom of Israel’s fall took place around 722 B.C.
Thus, within just a few years of Isaiah’s prophecy, both hostile kingdoms—Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel—were shattered, and their land forsaken exactly as God had declared.
Ahaz may have felt relief when Assyria captured Damascus, the capital city of Aram. He may have even felt pride in his own cleverness at helping orchestrate the destruction of his enemy who was seeking to destroy him. But his invitation led to an invasion of his own lands.
After this, Assyria invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. This took place in 701 B.C. during the reign of Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, after Ahaz was dead. The biblical record for this attack is found in 2 Kings 18:13 - 19:37, 2 Chronicles 32:1-21, and Isaiah 36-37.
Ultimately neither Ahaz’s status as a vassal to Assyria nor his tributes to them appeased Assyria’s lust for conquest,
“So Tiglath—pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the LORD and out of the palace of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.”
(2 Chronicles 28:20-21)
Assyria besieged Jerusalem, just as Isaiah foretold Ahaz they would (Isaiah 7:17-18).
Isaiah did not just foretell to Ahaz that Assyria would invade. The prophet also correctly predicted when Assyria would besiege Jerusalem.
According to verse 15, Jerusalem would be besieged when the son of the former virgin grows and matures to be old enough to know how to refuse evil and choose good.
He will eat curds and honey (i.e. Jerusalem will be besieged) at the time He (the son of the former virgin) knows enough to refuse evil and choose good (v 15).
The age when the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good most likely meant one of three things:
(Mishnah. Avot 5:21).
Most likely the expression the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good meant age thirty. In Jewish culture, thirty was when a man was seen as reaching mature capability and was ready for serious responsibility, leadership, and life’s burdens. This maturity meant that he would have sufficient life experience to be able to discern between what is evil and what is good.
Thirty was also the age when:
(Numbers 4:3)
(Genesis 41:46)
(2 Samuel 5:4)
(Ezekiel 1:1)
(Luke 3:23)
In any case—whether Isaiah meant the boys’ Bar—Mitzvah (13), attainment of military age (20), or full strength (30)—this means that the invasion Isaiah was referring to in verse 15 was at least a decade or more away.
The boy who will eat curds and honey during the predicted siege has not yet been born at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy. Indeed, his mother is still an unwed virgin at the time Isaiah made this prediction.
The good news for King Ahaz was that he would not need to worry about the present military threat from Aram and Israel—those kings will soon be defeated and be no more. But the bad news was a greater military threat will materialize (Assyria) after those hostile kingdoms are gone. Isaiah's prediction in verse 14 is that within a short time, the current threats will vanish but then within a few decades Jerusalem will be invaded.
If Isaiah made this prediction in 733 B.C. and the boy named Immanuel was born in 732 or 731 B.C., then he would have turned:
Isaiah made this prediction to Ahaz around 733 B.C. And the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem during the reign of Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:13) about thirty—two years later in 701 B.C. Isaiah’s prediction that the siege would take place when the soon—to—be—born boy was thirty—years—old appears to best fit the historical record.
The prophetic words of verse 16 reinforce the first prophecy, that the hostile kingdoms of Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel will fail to destroy Jerusalem and overthrow the house of David:
For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken (v 16).
Before the invasion from Assyria comes, and the boy has then matured to manhood, knowing how to refuse evil and choose good, the kingdom of Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel will be destroyed. Their land will be forsaken and conquered by Assyria. And those kings whom you (Ahaz) dreads will be dead.
The two kings Ahaz dreads are Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah the illegitimate king of Israel.
Approximately a year after Isaiah makes this prophecy, the forces of Assyria kill Rezin when they take his capital city of Damascus (2 Kings 16:9). This happens around 732 B.C. And around that same time, Pekah, who murdered his own king to assume the throne, is himself assassinated (2 Kings 15:30).
Thus both of those kings were killed and their lands forsaken before Assyria invaded Jerusalem—just as Isaiah prophesied would happen.
The Double Fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14-16 in the Birth of Jesus
As incredible as Isaiah’s prophetic predictions were about the imminent downfall of Ahaz’s enemies and Assyria’s siege of Jerusalem three decades later, there is a far greater fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14-16.
The second fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy comes 730 years later in the miraculous birth of Jesus, the Messiah.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (v 14).
In the Hebrew text, the pronoun you is plural. The sign is for you—the house of David. Because the house of David began hundreds of years before Ahaz and continued long after him (it continues forever through Jesus), the prophecies of this sign can also have fulfillment that can come to pass well beyond Ahaz’s lifetime and era.
The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 was a sign that the house of David would endure forever, just as God had promised David centuries earlier: that his house and throne would endure (2 Samuel 7:12-16, Luke 1:32-33).
There are at least three fulfillments of this sign in Jesus.
The first fulfillment is that a virgin will be with child and bear a son.
A virgin is a female who has never had sexual relations before.
Humans conceive children through sexual relations. Because virgins have never had sexual relations, they cannot sexually conceive or give birth to children. The expression be with child means to conceive a child and/or to be pregnant. The expression bear a son means to give birth to a son. A virgin cannot be with child nor bear a son until she has had sexual intercourse with a male and is no longer a virgin. It is impossible for a virgin to become pregnant.
But Isaiah’s prophecy says that these impossible things that cannot happen—the virgin will be with child and bear a son—will happen. If a virgin did conceive and was found to be with child and gave birth to a son, it would be a stunning event and a spectacular miracle. Only God could make such impossible things happen, “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
This impossible event, the virgin conceiving and being with child and bearing a son, was the amazing sign which God chose to give you (the house of David) ensuring that the LORD would fulfill His promises.
It is important to acknowledge that the Hebrew word that is translated as virgin in verse 14 is not the typical Hebrew word for virgin. The typical Hebrew word for virgin is בְּתוּלָה (H1330— “betulá” pronounced: “beth—oo—law”). The word Isaiah uses in verse 14 is עַלְמָה (H5959—“almah” pronounced: “al—maw”).
“Almah” is used 7 times in the Old Testament (Genesis 24:43, Exodus 2:8, Psalm 68:25, Proverbs 30:19, Song of Solomon 1:3, 6:8, and here in Isaiah 7:14). But in all these verses, with the possible exception of Psalm 68:25, the uses of “almah” clearly describes a girl and/or girls who is/are a virgin. And even though Psalm 68:25 does not decisively describe a virgin, it does not exclude the possibility.
Therefore, even with a touch of ambiguity, there is strong indication that even though Isaiah did not use the normal term for virgin (“betulá”), that he intended to mean virgin when he used (“almah”) and not merely a young female of marriageable age.
Moreover the ambiguity of “almah” helps the prophecy of verse 14 to strongly align with both understandings of this prophecy. Understanding “almah” as a young woman who is of marriageable age helps align this prophecy with its fulfillment in the time of Ahaz and Isaiah. And understanding “almah” as a literal virgin aligns with its fulfillment 730 years later when the virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus.
Mary did not conceive Jesus through sexual union. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and caused her to conceive Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke both emphasize how Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived inside of her by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18, 1:20, Luke 1:26, 1:30-31, 1:34-35).
Matthew’s Gospel explicitly states how Mary’s being with child and bearing a son was a fulfillment of the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy:
“Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.’”
(Matthew 1:22-23a)
Matthew’s Gospel also points out that Mary was still a virgin until after she gave birth to Jesus (Matthew 1:25) thus fulfilling the second half of the verse 14 prophecy as well—that the virgin would not only conceive a child, but also that the virgin would bear and give birth to a son.
Isaiah also predicted that she will call His name Immanuel. This is the second fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14-16 in the life of Jesus.
In Hebrew, the name Immanuel means “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). Mary’s Son was named Jesus, which in Hebrew means, “God saves.” But Jesus was also God as a human (John 1:14, Colossians 1:9, 2:9), so Jesus literally is Immanuel, God with us.
In the context of Isaiah 7, the fulfillment of the virgin—birth prophecy was to be a sign for you (plural) the house of David that the LORD would make good on His promise that David’s house and throne would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16).
Jesus was the promised descendant who would sit on David’s throne forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13, Matthew 1:1, 1:6, 1:17, Luke 1:32). And Jesus’s virgin conception and birth was a fulfillment of this sign from God to the house of David.
But in a larger sense, the miracle of the virgin—birth was a fulfillment not only of Isaiah’s prophetic sign for the house of David, but the virgin—birth was also a means by which God became human without inheriting the sin of Adam—the first man.
Through the virgin—birth, God took on human flesh while remaining untouched by the inherited sin passed down from Adam. Because Jesus did not have a human father, He was not born into the line of Adam’s sin, which entered the world through the first man's disobedience. As the Apostle Paul states in Romans:
“Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
(Romans 5:12)
Unlike every other human, Jesus was born of a virgin by the power of God, the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). This miraculous conception was part of God’s plan to mysteriously preserve Jesus’s divine nature while allowing Him to become fully human (John 1:14).
Jesus was both fully God and fully human. And through Jesus, God fulfilled not only the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy about the virgin—birth, but the entire Law of Moses, as Jesus kept the Law fully during His life (Matthew 5:17).
The future fulfillment of this sign for the house of David through the birth of Jesus would not come until 730 years after Isaiah uttered it.
The third way Isaiah 7:14-16 can be seen to have been fulfilled in Jesus is the prophetic line of verse 15: He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
As explained previously in this section of commentary, the expression He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good could refer to when a man of Israel attains his full strength—believed to be age thirty.
According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus began His messianic ministry at age thirty (Luke 3:23). And, as the expression eat curds and honey referred to how God faithfully sustained His people in Jerusalem when they were under siege from their enemy Assyria, God also sustained Jesus (at age thirty) when He fasted in the wilderness and was tempted by His enemy the devil (Luke 4:1-14).
ISAIAH 7:14-16 AS TWO DISTINCT SIGNS
Some understand Isaiah 7:14-16 not as a single sign, but as two distinct signs.
The first sign was for the house of David:
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (v 14).
The second sign vv 15-16 was for Ahaz:
He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken (vv 15-16).
According to this interpretation, The first prophecy (v 14) has nothing to do with Ahaz. It was fulfilled once—approximately 730 years later at the birth of Jesus (see above).
The reason some understand Isaiah 7:14-16 as two distinct signs with their own fulfillments rather than one single sign with multiple fulfillments is because they understand the expression the virgin will be with child and bear a son as only having one meaning—that of a literal virgin at the time she becomes pregnant and delivers a son. They do not accept that, within the immediate context of this prophecy, virgin could refer to a young girl who is a virgin at the time the prophecy was first given (and who is no longer a virgin when she gives birth).
Therefore, according to this interpretation, the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 can only refer to Mary who was a virgin when she conceived a son when the Holy Spirit came upon her and who was still a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus (Matthew 1:20, 1:25, Luke 1:26-37).
This sign was explicitly for you (plural) the house of David. But this sign that was fulfilled over 700 years after Ahaz’s death would have been of little consequence to the king in his immediate context, therefore the Lord also gave Ahaz a second sign.
The second sign included a prophetic warning that Ahaz’s kingdom would face invasion when the boy grew up, and a prophetic consolation that the two kings Ahaz feared would not overthrow him, but would themselves soon be destroyed. According to the prophecy, this deliverance would happen before Jerusalem would be besieged.
Accordingly, the boy who is referred to in the second sign is not the virgin’s son whose name was Immanuel, but rather was Isaiah’s young infant or toddler—age son, Shear—jashub, whom the LORD commanded Isaiah to bring with him when he went to deliver God’s message to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:3).
So, in order to hold this view, one must consider “the boy” in verse 16 to be a different person than the “son” spoken of in verse 14, and for “the boy” to not be previously introduced. Accordingly, to hold the one—prophecy—with—two—fulfillments view, one must conclude that there are two virgins, one who bore a son in Isaiah’s time who fulfilled the Isaiah—era prophecies and one who bore Jesus. And in order to hold the two—prophecy view, one must conclude that there is only one virgin who conceived and gave birth (as a virgin), and that two different boys are described.
Again, and as was stated near the beginning of this commentary, even with all the differences of these two understandings of Isaiah 7:14-16 (whether it was one sign or two signs), the conclusions are similar.
Both interpretations understand Isaiah to accurately predict:
The rest of Isaiah 7 describes the trials, and most notably the Assyrian assault Judah will endure. To learn more about this see the next commentary for Isaiah 7:17-25.