Could it have more to do with controlling women’s bodies than any attempt to fulfill some biblical prophecy of Isaiah? A close look at the seventh chapter of Isaiah reveals the church’s misinterpretation of the text.
In the fourteenth verse, the prophet Isaiah addresses the king of Judah – Ahaz (reign: 732-716 BCE). Isaiah seeks to persuade Ahaz not to join the rebellion of Ephraim and Aram-Damascus against their Assyrian overlords by stating that Ahaz’s enemies will be vanquished before a child named Immanuel (God is with us), born to an עַלְמָה (‘almāh) is weaned.
This Hebrew word is usually translated as “young woman of childbearing age.” However, the Septuagint – used by the writers of the Gospel of Matthew and Luke –translated this Hebrew as παρθένος (parthenos) which means “virgin.” Since then, all English translations–except the RSV–have used the word “virgin.”
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