Tag Archive for: virgin

Isaiah 7:10-16

Reading

Again, the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,
Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.
Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?
Therefore, the LORD himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.
He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.”

Commentary

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.

Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.

Chapter 7 is an account of Isaiah’s involvement in the politics of the Kingdom of Judea in the years preceding the Assyrian conquest in 722 BCE of Northern Israel.

The King of Judea (Ahaz) was considering entering an alliance with Assyria against Northern Israel and Syria (Aram) – the “two kings you [Ahaz] are in dread” (v.16). Isaiah urged Ahaz not to enter the alliance. To strengthen the force of Isaiah’s advice, YHWH (through Isaiah) offered Ahaz a “sign” that Isaiah’s advice was sound. Ahaz refused (“I will not put the LORD to the test”), but Isaiah persisted in giving a sign.

The sign was that a “young woman” (v.14) would bear a son whose name would be Immanuel (God is with us). Notwithstanding Isaiah’s advice, Ahaz became a vassal of Assyria.

The “young woman” is usually identified by scholars as the mother of Hezekiah, the king of Judea who succeeded Ahaz and successfully resisted the Assyrians until 701 BCE.

The Hebrew word “almah” (young woman) was translated into Greek in the Septuagint (LXX) as “parthenos” (generally translated as “virgin.”) The version of the Hebrew Scriptures that the Gospel writers knew and used was the LXX, which is why Matt. 1:23 quoted Isaiah as “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel.”

Romans 1:1-7

Reading

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our LORD,
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name,
including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ.

Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among other messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

Nero’s predecessor (Claudius) expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 CE. During Nero’s reign (54-68 CE), he allowed Jews (including Jewish Jesus Followers) to return, and this created tensions within the Jesus Follower Community. (They were not called “Christians” until the 80’s.)

Paul died in 62 or 63 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah.

Today’s reading is the opening verses of the Letter. It is noteworthy that Paul refers to himself (v.1) as an “apostle” – one who is sent forth. Paul connected the Jesus Follower Movement to the Hebrew Scriptures (v.2) and stated that Jesus the Christ was descended from David (v.3).

Paul asserted that Jesus was “declared to be Son of God” by resurrection from the dead (v.4). In the Gospels (all of which were written later), this declaration was stated to occur earlier and earlier. In Mark and Matthew, it is at Jesus’ Baptism. In Luke, it is at the Annunciation. In John, the LOGOS, the Christ and Jesus are conflated from “the beginning.”