Isaias 7:14 in Latin Vulgate, Greek Septuagint and Aramaic Tanakh vs Masoretic.

[Xavier]

Isaiah 7:14 is another text the Vulgate, continuing its Tradition of practically 100% accuracy, gets right, while the Masoretic is vague.

"14 Propter hoc dabit Dominus ipse vobis signum: ecce virgo concipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel."

I.e. "For the Lord Himself shall give us a Sign: Behold a Virgin shall Conceive, and bear a Son, and call Him Emmanuel [i.e. God with us]"

Here, therefore it is announced and confirmed that God will become Man and be born of a Virgin Mother, namely our Blessed Mother Mary.

1. In the Greek Septuagint, completed several centuries before the Incarnation of Jesus Christ Our Lord, Parthenos (Virgin) is correct.

7:14  ??? ????? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ??????? ???? ? ???????? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ??????? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ????? ?????????

2. The Masoretic is less specific. The earlier Hebrew texts known to both St. Matthew and St. Jerome by contrast were more clear.

7:14  ????? ?????? ??????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ????????? ????? ????????? ???? ???????? ?????? ???????? ?????

3. The Peshitta shows us even more clearly what the Hebrew would have signified, by the word Bethulta, a clear reference to a Virgin.

http://www.hebrew-streams.org/works/hebrew/yeshayah714.html

See also: "Viewing her from the context of Israel's biblical history, Yeshua's mother is Virgin Israel — Betulat Yisrael. Miryam represents a faithfilled and obedient nation Israel. She is what Israel as an entire people was meant to be. And the father of her baby is God, the Creator." http://www.hebrew-streams.org/works/hebrew/betulatyisrael.html

So St. Jerome gets it right, and his translation is backed up by the Septuagint and the Tanakh, even the Hebrew implicitly, "Jerome actually believed that the Hebrew ????? meant abscondita "hidden."  Therefore the girl in Isaiah 7:14 was more than a virgin.  She was a cloistered girl, which necessitates virginity." It is not just a Virgin Who would give birth to the Saviour of humanity, but a Cloistered Virgin, Consecrated in the Temple. https://septuagintstudies.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/the-ancient-versions-on-isaiah-7-14/

Finally, since the Birth is to be a sign, it is plain the birth is to be miraculous; moreover, that is confirmed by the preceding passages, where king Achaz understood the Lord was promising a display of His Power, and asking him to ask for a sign, "[11] Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. [12] And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord ... see http://www.drbo.org/chapter/27007.htm Yet, some deny it and say the Messiah is not be born of a Virgin. Many other passages throughout the OT Scriptures speak of Her, the Virgin Daughter of Zion, destined to become Mother of God and the Faithful.

Finally, the promise of a miraculous birth is confirmed in the same Prophet, under the image of the mystical city of God, or of the spiritual Jerusalem, Who is Mary where God dwelt, Isa 66:[6] "A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. [7] Before she was in labour, she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered, she brought forth a man child. [8] Who hath ever heard such a thing? and who hath seen the like to this? shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be brought forth at once, because Sion hath been in labour, and hath brought forth her children? [9] Shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, saith the Lord? shall I, that give generation to others, be barren, saith the Lord thy God? [10] Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her." What are the other ways in which Scripture pre-announced the Virgin Birth of Our Lord Jesus from His Mother Mary?