What led
Rabbi YAPHETH’s predecessors to construct the hypothesis that Isaiah had two
wives? When the prophet speaks for the first time to Ahaz, he is already the
father of a son, Shear-Yashub, who is old enough to witness the word addressed
to the king. If the commentators mentioned by Rabbi YAPHETH believed that the “prophetess”
was the mother of Shear-Yashub, they would have had to judge that it would be
impossible for her to also be the mother of Immanuel. There are two possible
reasons for this and these reasons might not be incompatible: the age designated
by the word ‘almâ (early adolescence), and /or the physical state which
this term implied (virginity). Rabbi YAPHETH’s commentary could bear witness in
this case to an ancient attribution of the meaning “virgin woman” to the word ‘almâ.
The theory
that Isaiah had two wives was mentioned by JEROME as an explanation defended by
some Christian authors. According to this interpretation, Immanuel, the sons of
Isaiah and the prophetess, is a type of Jesus, while Shear-Yashub, the son of
Isaiah and the wife of the prophet, is a type of the Jewish people. Here again
the reasoning at work seems to be analogous: if one gives the word ‘almâ
the meaning of “virgin, woman,” it follows that the mother of Immanuel could
not also be the mother of Shear-Yashub. (Christophe Rico and Peter J. Gentry, The
Mother of the Infant King, Isaiah 7:14: ‘almâ and parthenos in the World of the
Bible, a Linguistic Perspective [trans. Peter J. Gentry; Eugene, OR: Wipf
and Stock, 2020]. 52)
Here is Jerome’s commentary on Isa 7:14
referenced by Rico and Gentry:
16. (7:14) Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a
sign. Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth, and you shall call his
name Emmanuel.
God will
not speak “in many and various ways,” according to the Apostle Paul [cf. Heb
1:1]; nor according to another prophet will he be “represented by the hands of
the prophets” [cf. Hos 12:10]; but he who previously spoke through others will himself say, “I am here” [Isa 58:9]. The
bride in the Song of Songs also asked of him, “Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth” [Song 1:1]. For “the Lord of powers is himself the king of glory”
[Ps 24:10]. He himself will descend
into a virginal womb and will enter and exit through the eastern gate that is
always closed [Ezek 44:1–2]. Gabriel speaks to the virgin about him, “The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the holy thing that will be born in you will be called the Son of
God” [Luke 1:35]. And in Proverbs it says, “Wisdom will build a house for
itself” [Prov 9:1].
Now when it
is said, The Lord himself shall give you
a sign, this must be something new and amazing. But if, as the Jews think,
a young woman or a girl gives birth, and not a virgin, what kind of sign
would it be, since this is a term of age, not of integrity? And indeed, let us
fight toe to toe with the Jews, and in our tug-of-war let us offer them no
occasion for laughter at our ignorance.43 In Hebrew, a virgin is
called bethula. This word is not used
in the present passage, but instead alma
is recorded, which everyone except the Septuagint translated as “young girl.”
Moreover, among them alma is an
ambiguous word, for it is used both of “young girl” and of one who is “hidden,”
that is αποκρυφος. This is why even in the heading of the
ninth Psalm, where in Hebrew almanoth
is recorded, the other translators rendered it, “for the youth,” which the
Septuagint translated, “for the hidden things” [cf. Ps 9:1]. And we read in
Genesis, where Rebecca is called alma
[cf. Gen 24:16, 43], that Aquila translated it neither as “young girl” nor
“girl,” but “hidden.” The Shunammite woman too who had lost her son, when she
prostrated herself at Elisha’s feet and Gehazi thrust her away, heard from the
prophet, “Dismiss her, for she is in grief, and the Lord has hidden from me” [2
Kgs 4:27]. What is said in Latin as, “has hidden from me,” is written in Hebrew
as, eelim memmenni. Therefore alma is said not only of a “girl” or a
“virgin,” but has an extension (cum επιτασει) of a “hidden” and “secret” virgin, who has never been exposed to the
sight of men, but who has been guarded by her parents with great diligence. In
the Punic language too, which is derived from Hebrew sources, alma is said of a virgin proper. And
that we might offer an occasion for laughter to the Jews, in our speech too alma means “holy.” The Hebrews use words
from nearly all languages; for example, there is that word in the Song of Songs
[cf. Song 3:9] from Greek, φοριον, that is, the “litter Solomon made for
himself,” which we read thus also in the Hebrew. In the same manner and with
the same meanings, the Hebrews also use the words nonsense and measure. And
the more I struggle to remember, the more I think that I have never read alma used in reference to a married
woman, but in reference to one who is a virgin. Consequently, she is not only a
virgin, but a virgin of younger age and in the years of her youth. For it can
happen that a virgin is old. But this virgin was in the years of her girlhood,
or at least a virgin, not a girl, and she was one who was not able to know a
man yet, but was already marriageable. Finally, even in Deuteronomy a virgin is
understood by the term girl and young girl. It says,
If a man
finds in the field a girl that is betrothed, and overcoming her by force he
sleeps with her, you will kill only the man who lay with her, and you will do
nothing to the girl; in the young girl there is no sin [worthy] of death. For
just as if someone rises up against his neighbor and takes his life, so does
this business come to pass. He found her in the field; the betrothed girl cried
out, and no one was found to help her. [Deut 22:25–27]
And we read
in the Book of Kings that they sought a virgin girl by the name of Abishag and
brought her in to the king, who slept and kept him warm; and the girl was
exceedingly beautiful and was serving him, and the king did not know her [cf. 1
Kgs 1:1–4].
And what
follows, And you shall call his name Emmanuel, both the Septuagint and the three
others have translated similarly. In Matthew this is written as, “They shall call” [cf. Matt 1:23], which
is not found in the Hebrew. Therefore let that child who will be born of a
virgin, O house of David, now be called by you Emmanuel, that is, God with us, since by these facts you will prove
that you have God present, having been delivered from the two hostile kings
[cf. Isa 7:1]. And let him who will later be called Jesus, that is, Savior, in
view of the fact that the whole human race will be saved, now be called by you
by the designation Emmanuel. The verb
carathi, which all have translated
“you will call,” can be understood as “she will call,” namely because the
virgin herself, who will conceive and give birth, will designate Christ by this
name. One should pay very careful attention to the fact that in many
testimonies that the evangelists or apostles have adopted from the old books,
they did not follow the order of the words but the meaning. This is why even in
the present passage, in place of, she
will conceive in the womb, Matthew recorded, “She will have in the womb”
[Matt 1:23]; and in place of, you will
call, “they will call.”
The Hebrews
think this is prophesied about Hezekiah son of Ahaz, because Samaria was
captured when he was ruling. This cannot be completely proven, if indeed Ahaz
son of Jotham reigned over Judah and Jerusalem for sixteen years [cf. 2 Kgs
16:1–2]. His son Hezekiah succeeded him in the kingdom at the age of
twenty-five years and reigned over Judah and Jerusalem for twenty-nine [cf. 2
Kgs 18:1–2]. How then, granting that this prophecy was made to Ahaz in his
first year, is there talk of the conception and birth of Hezekiah, when at that
time when Ahaz began to reign, Hezekiah was already nine years old, unless
perchance they say that the sixth year of Hezekiah’s rule [cf. 2 Kgs 18:10]
when Samaria was captured was called his infancy not in terms of his age but of
his rule? It is plain even to fools that this is a forced and violent
interpretation.
Some of our
own contend that Isaiah the prophet had two sons, Jashub and Emmanuel; and
Emmanuel was born from his wife, a prophetess [cf. Isa 8:3], as a type of the
Lord and Savior, so that the first son Jashub [cf. Isa 7:3], which means
“abandoned” or “turning,” signifies the Jewish people, who were abandoned, and
afterward will return; but the second, that is Emmanuel and God with us,
[signifies] the calling of the Gentiles, after “the Word became flesh and
dwelled among us” [John 1:14]. (St. Jerome’s Commentary on Isaiah: Including
St. Jerome’s Translation of Origen’s Homilies 1-9 on Isaiah [trans. Thomas
P. Scheck; Ancient Christian Writers 68; New York: The Newman Press, 2015],
168-71)
